Is anyone doing a low G.I.-type diet?

Ailidh said:

Recently diagnosed, blood sugar 7 but I don't know yet quite what that means, and still waiting for my first appointment with the Diabetic Nurse (June 30th).

I had to see the GP on another matter (anxiety disorder raising its head), and he immediately issued Metformin, 1x500mg a day this week, 2 a day next week.

I fully understand and appreciate that for many people a low-carb diet works very well but for me (I've tried it for weight loss before, I've tried everything for weight loss before....) it doesn't, it plays havoc with my digestive system, and I can't cope with low-carb havoc and Metformin havoc ganging up together.

I prefer to try the "diabetesmatters.co.uk" advice: more high-fibre foods such as bread, pasta, potatoes, wholemeal chapatti; less fatty food; more fruit and veg; no sugary foods and drinks; less salt; no diabetic foods.

Since June 1st (before the diagnosis, how's that for sod's law?) I've lost 16.9lbs. First 19 days on JanePlan (lovely food, great customer support but I got it into my head that it was affecting my mood/sleep/anxiety, so out it went). The last 3.4lbs in a week of the diabetesmatters.co.uk advice. About 83lbs to go.

Is anyone around here eating the "traditionally" healthy way? I sometimes find I'm getting worried about ideas for a tasty and appropriate meal, and then my anxiety zooms.

As a for instance, yesterday I ate
breakfast: porridge (plain oats, microwaved with oat milk);
lunch: ham and mushroom omelette with a salad garnish, and a tiny bit of coleslaw;
afternoon snack: celery, walnuts and 1/2 oz grated cheese (don't usually snack but started to feel hungry, and the pharmacist had terrified me about missing meals while on Metformin leading to death-inducing coma)
dinner: Lidl buffalo burger, dry-fried; Brussels sprouts; small slice of Lidl multi seed bread
snack: 2 oatcakes; 4 fl oz semi-skimmed milk (a soother if I can't get to sleep at night).
1203 calories
107 g carbs of which
18g sugar
Earlier in the month I'd been eating roughly 140g carbs and 45g sugar.

If anyone else is following a similar, "traditional" route and could give me some recipe hints, I'd be very grateful; but, respectfully, not an argument about low-carbing. I'm really happy for those who're benefitting from it but it's not a route that I've enjoyed before.
Ta.

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I don't subscribe to the LCHF diet, as I don't like labels, and also the HF element is a bit of a mental, if not necessarily phusical struggle. But, on the other hand, I don't subscribe to a Low GI way of eating either.

Initially, I was eating reduced carb and probably low fat too. That wouldn't have been because I was eating anything labelled low fat, but because I simply didn't replace the calories I was giving up (in the form of carbs) with fat. I didn't have masses of weight to lose, but what I did have to lose fell off me. In order then to stop the weight loss, and keep my by then non-diabetic levels, bloods in check, I found eating a bit more fat was the way for me to achieve this.

On your roughly 100gr of carbs a day, what are your blood scores doing? For me, that was my primary, indeed only goal post diagnosis. Losing weight was a bonus, but never something I strove for. When testing, I found that eating too many of the traditional carbs (bread, pasta, potatoes and rice) drove my bloods too high. And my rationale was I was fighting diabetes, not being overweight. OK, there is no doubt, that carrying additional weight isn't great for diabetics, and losing some weight will usually improve matters all-around. For me, if I got my vlood sugars into rein, but didn't lose any weight, that was fine for me. If I had lost weight, but my bloods didn't improve, I would have failed in my battle with diabetes.

So, I think what I am saying is that if your bloods are returning good scores on the traditional way of eating, then crack on. If you don't know, because you don't test, I would suggest that is a big drawback because you simply have no idea if you are improving your bloods.

Good luck with it all.

I'm recently diagnosed T2D, but have been getting pre-diabetic blood sugar test results for 9 years before this. All my results have been in the 6.5 to 7% range. In all those years when they were warning me this might happen, I gradually got myself back on the rails of a generally healthier sort of diet, definitely not low-carb. I'd spent much of my life as a vegetarian on a wholefood sort of diet, so I went back to lots of those habits. Then an Australian friend send me loads of info on low-GI diet and I gradually moved onto that. But I'll admit that years of nothing more than blood test results a bit too high, making the GP and nurses frown and tell me to lose weight and exercise more, I drifted away from the strict low-GI to more of a nod in that direction. Now I've crossed the line and am T2D, I'm gradually shifting to a low-carb diet, and although some of it seems very odd after years of wholefoods, I think I'm going to find it easier than I expected. Does that help?

Have you read 'Reverse your diabetes' by David Cavan? That's my source of advice for now - he seems more into working out what works long, long term for you than some of the other things I've read.

Like you not everyone is happy doing LCHF many just do not think it is right for them so they find other ways of eating and still manage to control their diabetes the LCHF is not a.. one size fits all... diet we all have to find what is best for us which is not necessarily what is best for others
What you say you ate yesterday all seems pretty good and healthy and yes nuts and cheese make good snacks nothing there I would not eat

Everything is speculation unless you are testing your BG to see how it responds in relation to the foods you ingest.

We should all respect and support people whatever diet they choose to do even when it may be different to what we personally do.

Yes, but people can also give advice. If all everyone ever did was agree with everyone else's diabetic management or diet then how is anyone expected to learn or change ?

Indy51 said:

Everything is speculation unless you are testing your BG to see how it responds in relation to the foods you ingest.

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Ailidh - like me - is a recently diagnosed T2D - and after the tests which led to the diagnosis, I'm going to be re-tested at my GP's in 3 month's time. My guess is that this is standard UK / NHS practice. So we're not in a position yet to know from week to week or day to day how our diet changes are affecting us.

JenniferW said:

Ailidh - like me - is a recently diagnosed T2D - and after the tests which led to the diagnosis, I'm going to be re-tested at my GP's in 3 month's time. My guess is that this is standard UK / NHS practice. So we're not in a position yet to know from week to week or day to day how our diet changes are affecting us.

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The three months wait will not be beneficiall to you unless you obtain a meter and test strips and start to see, with the help of a food diary, which foods are affecting your blood sugar levels. Three months will be wasted.
Most Type2s are denied them with various arguments as to why they are not necessary but it is like trying to drive a car without a speedometer, useless.

This is the cheapest one on the market which many Type2s use. You can always keep it as a spare if you are lucky enough to get a prescription for a meter and test strips.
http://www.homehealth-uk.com/medical/blood_glucose_monitor_testing.htm


I will tag @daisy1 to give you and @Ailidh some basic information that you will find useful.

*****Will posters please note that this thread is not about which diet is the best one but rather about helping the OP who has already tried one method and is seeking help with another.****

catherinecherub said:

The three months wait will not be beneficiall to you unless you obtain a meter and test strips and start to see, with the help of a food diary, which foods are affecting your blood sugar levels. Three months will be wasted.
Most Type2s are denied them with various arguments as to why they are not necessary but it is like trying to drive a car without a speedometer, useless.

This is the cheapest one on the market which many Type2s use. You can always keep it as a spare if you are lucky enough to get a prescription for a meter and test strips.
http://www.homehealth-uk.com/medical/blood_glucose_monitor_testing.htm


I will tag @daisy1 to give you and @Ailidh some basic information that you will find useful.

*****Will posters please note that this thread is not about which diet is the best one but rather about helping the OP who has already tried one method and is seeking help with another.****

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That's incredibly cheap for a meter. How do I know whether to select mg/dL or mmol/L?

Should I also try asking my GP for one first - does anyone get them?

I strongly urge anyone doing low GI to test their foods rigorously, especially in the beginning.

Sometimes there are particular grains or food groups that drive blood glucose disproportionately high. With me, it is wheat and rice. Doesn't matter if it is white, whole grain, wild, black... The result is silly-high blood glucose.

Well worth testing to see if your diet is suiting YOUR body.

@Ailidh

Hi again Ailidh

As Catherinecherub mentions in her post, the basic information for new members will be useful to you, which I have posted on your other thread previously. Have another read and I hope it's helpful.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 150,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

Ailidh said:

Thank you for replying.
So far I've had little information from the health professionals.
Diagnosed by phone by the DN on June 15th, she had no appointments free until June 30th.
She told me not to worry, she could sort me out in 6 months. I took that to mean diet and exercise.
When I saw the GP on June 24th, because of the burgeoning anxiety disorder, he issued a script for Metformin and printed out some diet info based on the wellness plate and how to manage my insulin. I'm not taking insulin.
So at the moment I'm flailing.

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Oh dear. That's very unhelpful; both the delay and the doctor's misapprehension about insulin.

Clearly your appointment with the nurse is now just a few days away. That she says not to worry, she can sort you in 6 months is probably worry to me. Frankly, she might be able to give you some pointers and advice in terms of your diabetic management, but her sort you out? I don't think so.

For T2s, the absolute imperatives in terms of our management are not what medication we take or what our health professionals say, it's what we do. By that I mean how we manage our eating and ideally moving around a bit more. As so many others have said, testing is imperative. Without the feedback of your meter readings, you have no idea which foods you should be avoiding. That I can eat small portions of rice is all very nice, but that's not the case for everyone. I can also eat a bit of bread, but it makes me feel bloated. For me, pasta and pizza are tricky and frankly, I haven't had them for over a year. They're just not worth the messages they send back to my meter!

Testing isn't all gloom and doom. It tells you what can eat too, and in my experience there are far more things on the menu than off it. But, you really must test.

I would be very pleasantly surprised if your nurse prescribed a meter and strips for you. Most don't. But, if you possibly can, you must find a way of funding the testing.

So, this is your condition. You're stuck with it, for now at least. Sadly, you need to own it and show it who's boss.

nomistheman said:

Best advice I ever heeded was "Eat to your meter"

After diagnosis my focus was getting control of MY Diabetes. Testing prior to and 2 hours after every meal and keeping notes of the meal composition and blood results was, to me, critical!

I went from the highest ever seen at my surgery HbA1c to pre diabetic level in about 4 months.

..... If there was one piece of advice worth more than any other it would be ...

Eat to your meter.

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Thanks for this - it's really encouraging. Now I need to sort out getting a meter.