How Often...the sequel

[Tangoman]

As suggested by the wise ones on here, the outcome of my visit to the Diabetes Clinic at my local surgery. This is the nurse's view...
1. Yes it looks like I'm type 2, my BMI is higher than it should be (at the moment, see no. 4) so I could be Insulin resistant instead of not producing enough.
2. Following a low carb diet is good...the less refined sugars (simple carbs) the better.
3. Keep the fat intake low to reduce cholesterol risk.
4. No limits on exercise at the gym but don't be stupid. "Lose that weight and embrace your insulin, insulin is your friend" (actually the nurse didn't say that last bit...you'll get used to my...er...sense of humour)
5. Occasional bar of chocolate is ok but try not to eat it all at once. (my view on this is, if you weren't meant to eat it all at once, they'd have individually wrapped the chunks! Sorry!)
6. Got an Accucheck monitor for free and she suggested I ring the surgery when I run out of consumables for a prescription as they're a bit pricey(ish) otherwise.

All in all I felt a lot more relaxed afterwards. I'd read too much and had got explanation fatigue trying to get the myths about diabetes out of peoples heads.

There you go...

Rich

 

[totsy]

hya rich,
seems to have gone down quite well, well done

 

[hanadr]

Hi Rich
that looks like you have a good nurse there
Only thing I would disagree with is fats. You will need to eat fat on a low carb diet. It helps you to convert your fuel to ketones and to burn fat instead of sugar. Also it prevents hunger.

 

[Tangoman]

Hi Rich
that looks like you have a good nurse there
Only thing I would disagree with is fats. You will need to eat fat on a low carb diet. It helps you to convert your fuel to ketones and to burn fat instead of sugar. Also it prevents hunger.

Hi. Good point well made, I've been feeling really hungry today! But what sort of fats? My cholesterol is 'slightly high' apparently. I don't really know what affect fat has on cholesterol so any advice as i'm trying to low carb would be gratefully received.

Cheers,

Rich

 

[Dennis]

Hi Rich,

The biggest impact on cholesterol comes from carbohydrate. Fats only affect cholesterol when eaten in combination with high levels of carbohydrates. If you cut right down on the carbs, not only will your cholesterol level improve but fats in oils and dairy products won't do any damage.

 

[hanadr]

I butter my "Fergus" bread thickly, eat cheese and put cream in my coffee and anything else that I cook. I've just had Salami on 2 slices of buttered Fergus loaf for my lunch. And a few macca nuts and a delicious LIDL tomato.

 

[Trinkwasser]

Hi Rich,

The biggest impact on cholesterol comes from carbohydrate. Fats only affect cholesterol when eaten in combination with high levels of carbohydrates. If you cut right down on the carbs, not only will your cholesterol level improve but fats in oils and dairy products won't do any damage.

What he says!

My BG was only borderline diabetic but my lipids were truly horrendous - a result of insulin resistance and the huge amounts of insulin required to overcome it.

Things to do about IR - get your BG down, take metformin and grow and use muscle.

The dietician was so appalled at the amount of fat I "must have been" eating that she kept reducing it and replacing it with carbs, and when that made my lipids even worse she accused me of not complying with the diet.

By doing the exact opposite my trigs have fallen to ten percent of what they were and my HDL has doubled. My LDL went up a bit but by eating more saturated fats in the absence of the carbs and the high levels of insulin required to metabolise them, my LDL dropped and my HDL went up by about the same amount.

Not everyone can do this but it's by no means uncommon and is observed with nondiabetics also, see

http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/

(cardiologist)

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/

(principally concerned with obesity) among many many other sources