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I've got diabetes 2??

Robinstall said:
Hi all, yes I've been diagnosed with diabetes2, it's a bit of a shock to the system and looking to blame anything except myself.
I keep in moderate shape as I have a physical job, and I do watch what I eat, so where have I gone wrong?
There is no generic links but still I was told I was at a level of 78, so basically I never seen this coming.

So I find myself hitting the road running and need direction, I have been put on Metformin and now just started my second week taking 1000mg a day.
I am afraid to eat anything as research and a pharmacist has told me to keep off the salt, the carbs, the sugar etc.
My question is what can I eat? Myself and the wife are stressing, I'm basically saying no to everything she is cooking, do I really have to live off nuts, fibre cereal, eggs, and fish the rest of my life. Any information would be excepted with the highest of gratitude, it could also save my marriage. Stay Safe Warren xx
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Dear @Robinstall, welcome to the forum.

First don't panic. As a newly diagnosed type 2 (T2) diabetics you have come to the right place. Many of us have been in the same situation.
T2 diabetics do not tolerate carbs well, thus our bodies start producing too much insulin and our blood sugar goes up. The threshold for being diagnosed as diabetic is having an HbA1c above 48 mmol/mol. You are at 78, which is high, but many of us including myself have been over 100 when diagnosed, and you will be able to deal with this.

Second take control, You need to find out how your body reacts to food. Ask your surgery for a blood sugar meter and test strips, unfortunately GPs sometimes resist and you need to be persuasive or failing that it is worth buying these yourself. Some people here can point you to the most cost effective options. With such a meter, testing is easy, just a finger prick. Measure your blood sugar first thing in the morning, before eating and 2 hours afterwards. Thus you learn which foods you can tolerate and which do spike you, i.e. result in a raise of more than 2mmol/l. Other people have already commented, that carb heavy foods should be avoided, but all of us are different, so the level of how much carbs we can tolerate varies a lot. So you need to educate yourself which foods are high carb. Lots of people here go on a low carb, high fat (LCHF) diet and have managed to get our HbA1c values down. The high fat replaces the carbs, so that you won't go hungry. In fact, high fat is more satiating. What is important is that all this takes time, so please be patient. The HbA1c test measures an average over the last 3 months, and you should be asked to test again then, which will tell you that hopefully you are going in the right direction.

A few more remarks, Fizzy and sugary drinks are really bad, this includes fruit juices. A glass of orange juice is equivalent to eating 7 oranges. I stopped cold turkey with sugary drinks after diagnosis. Any food with the label low-fat has likely sugar in it, so this is banned in my house. We try to cooking fresh and real food with simple ingredients like our grandparents use to. They did not have diabetes. Depending on your current weight, you might want to consider losing weight. Some people report that switching to LCHF diet made them lose weight, I lost 10 kg with intermittent fasting where on 2 days of the week I only ate 600 calories. I was very lucky as my partner joined me in this, she wanted to lose weight, as she had high blood pressure.

Best wishes on journey, let us know how you get on and don't hesitate to ask further questions.
 
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Stephen Bond said:
The Keto thing worries me as it is a lot of fat, and i cannot believe that that is good for your arteries long term.
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If it helps, I’ve been eating ketogenically for almost 6 years and although I don’t usually add fat to meat (except to cook it), I deliberately choose fatty cuts of meat as the main basis for my meals. I had a CAC scan of my arteries earlier this year as part of a research study and scored zero, meaning my arteries are clear.

My lipid panel score is also excellent.
 
Stephen Bond said:
the odd treat
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You will see something called "carb creep" mentioned quite often as you read through the threads on this forum.

If you give yourself permission to have the occasional treat, something to look forward to, a little bit of what you fancy maybe once a week.

It's extremely difficult to stick to that, after all that desert a few days ago didn't cause much of a problem, a couple of biscuits won't kill me today and tomorrow I'll have to finish the rest of that cheesecake. Almost without realising it the carbs have come creeping back in to your diet.
 
Stephen Bond said:
My GP said it was OK to eat rice,pasta, bread up to three times per week in 100g portions, but after doing some research, i am not so sure that is good advice.
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Very poor advice in my opinion.. I might have asked the GP how many patients had achieved T2 remission whilst following his advice.. (my guess would be zero) and the GP might have been shocked at the very suggestion that "remission" is even possible.
 
I'm a coward. So, I decided to scare myself into carb submission! Another way of looking at the carb / glucose thing is how bad sugar is for us.
I'm T2, also with some vascular problems so watching the sugar is particularly important for me, same as it's important for diabetics generally.
We have over 60,000 miles of blood vessels in our bodies. These include tiny ones on the eyes, brain and extremities. These are the first to get compromised and partly why diabetics need to be careful.
Many of us thought the world had come to an end when we were told that bread, potatoes, rice etc. etc. were a no go. But, as mentioned above, there are loads of good things to eat.
Exercise is another important factor in getting healthy.

(N.B. Personal opinions only here. I'm no doctor, just a short little chap trying to avoid his eternal box)
 
We are more alike than different. Be careful to not be swayed by those in the minority, especially in the context of diabetes control. It is true that an apple may spike someone to 8 and another person 7, but I would wager on other items there are more similarities than not - none of "us" can do a 100 gram bowl of rice or 3 large potatoes.

Next month will be 6 years of remission for me, I eat similarly to @bulkbiker and @Goonergal with customisations. I subscribe to meat, fish, Greek yogurt, cheese, berries, nuts and low carb vegetables. From this foundation you can move each type of item up or down, e.g. I have to reduce nuts as they bind / bloat me (I should get rid really).
 
Goonergal said:
If it helps, I’ve been eating ketogenically for almost 6 years and although I don’t usually add fat to meat (except to cook it), I deliberately choose fatty cuts of meat as the main basis for my meals. I had a CAC scan of my arteries earlier this year as part of a research study and scored zero, meaning my arteries are clear.

My lipid panel score is also excellent.
Click to expand...
Excellent news!!!!!!:p
 
bulkbiker said:
Very poor advice in my opinion.. I might have asked the GP how many patients had achieved T2 remission whilst following his advice.. (my guess would be zero) and the GP might have been shocked at the very suggestion that "remission" is even possible.
Click to expand...
Indeed. I have given all sugar, rice pasta and all below ground veg a complete miss now. The no carb veg is a bit boring, but i am learning! Made a delicious avocado lettuce spring onion ( green part only), homemade mayonnaise, red pepper salad, with a pork chop the day before yesterday. Had kale fried with some orange zest and beetroot, spring onion tops, garlic, and another pork chop last night, that was really nice too... so getting there!
 
Lupf said:
Dear @Robinstall, welcome to the forum.

First don't panic. As a newly diagnosed type 2 (T2) diabetics you have come to the right place. Many of us have been in the same situation.
T2 diabetics do not tolerate carbs well, thus our bodies start producing too much insulin and our blood sugar goes up. The threshold for being diagnosed as diabetic is having an HbA1c above 48 mmol/mol. You are at 78, which is high, but many of us including myself have been over 100 when diagnosed, and you will be able to deal with this.

Second take control, You need to find out how your body reacts to food. Ask your surgery for a blood sugar meter and test strips, unfortunately GPs sometimes resit and you need to be persuasive or failing that it is worth buying these yourself. Some people here can point you to the most cost effective options. With such a meter, testing is easy, just a finger prick. Measure your blood sugar first thing in the morning, before eating and 2 hours afterwards. Thus you learn which foods you can tolerate and which do spike you, i.e. result in a raise of more than 2mmol/l. Other people have already commented, that carb heavy foods should be avoided, but all of us are different, so the level of how much carbs we can tolerate varies a lot. So you need to educate yourself which foods are high carb. Lots of people here go on a low carb, high fat (LCHF) diet and have managed to get our HbA1c values down. The high fat replaces the carbs, so that you won't go hungry. In fact, high fat is more satiating. What is important is that all this takes time, so please be patient. The HbA1c test measures an average over the last 3 months, and you should be asked to test again then, which will tell you that hopefully you are going in the right direction.

A few more remarks, Fizzy and sugary drinks are really bad, this includes fruit juices. A glass of orange juice is equivalent to eating 7 oranges. I stopped cold turkey with sugary drinks after diagnosis. Any food with the label low-fat has likely sugar in it, so this is banned in my house. We try to cooking fresh and real food with simple ingredients like our grandparents use to. They did not have diabetes. Depending on your current weight, you might want to consider losing weight. Some people report that switching to LCHF diet made them lose weight, I lost 10 kg with intermittent fasting where on 2 days of the week I only ate 600 calories. I was very lucky as my partner joined me in this, she wanted to lose weight, as she had high blood pressure.

Best wishes on journey, let us know how you get on and don't hesitate to ask further questions.
Click to expand...
Excellent post, thank you. I am pretty much following the same diet as you. Ate near to no processed food for the last 40 years but rice, pasta, biscuits, beer, coca cola, orange juice and an evening cocktail were the things that got me. All of that cut out now.
 
Hi Robinstall - I was diagnosed with Type 2 back in May. Let me offer you one helpful suggestion which I read on here.

A slice of bread will often have 20g of carb which makes sandwiches a problem. However, there is a type of granary bread called Liv Life. It is £2 for a small loaf and only seems to be available from Waitrose. I travel 10 miles to my nearest Waitrose and buy 6 loaves to put in our freezer.

It tastes as good as any other bread but has only 3.5g of carbs per slice.

To be able to have sandwiches for lunch or take them out as a packed lunch has been a real plus for me.

Good luck getting to grips with Type 2.

Dave
 
Stephen Bond said:
Really, i do not think it is as awful as when i tried a diet or two, years ago.. Maybe the prospect of Diabetes 2 is helping in that, plus i really have to lose some weight... seriously now. I am very new to this and each day i am finding new meal ideas, and missing stuff i loved much less. The sweetner in my tea i thought would be a big problem.. No problem after a week! The eating loads of fat like cheese and frying many foods does unnerve me though.. For so many years i was told that was bad bad bad! I love cheese and often have it instead of a desert........ but felt guilty... apparently wrongly as if you are not eating carbs it is not a problem. LOL i will miss a spot of pickle or a fig with it though :-)
My wife is being super supportive too and is taking the opportunity to lose a bit of weight too so we are both eating more or less the same.
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I feel your pain I'm newly diagnosed too. However I've done lots of Atkins & keto eating in the past & felt fabulous on it so don't feel as panicked as I might otherwise. There are lots of sugar & fat free products available online if you search for low carb stores. But make sure you test before & after to see how a little bit affects your blood glucose as they do vary. Handy things like salad dressing & ketchup, crackers & gravy granules that are sugar free & low or no carb really help me.
 
Stephen Bond said:
Do you stick rigidly to a list of foods you can eat and not have the odd treat? I am still trying to work out some meal planning that tastes good. The Keto thing worries me as it is a lot of fat, and i cannot believe that that is good for your arteries long term.
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We've had decades of being told fat is bad for us and what has that done for us? An explosion of obesity and diabetes in a fat phobic population.

We all have to eat and protein intake never varies that much so if we cut fat we end up eating more carbs.

The data on saturated fat being bad for the health is based on weak data and false assumption. On the other hand that data on the "healthy" seed oils that are now everywhere is pretty damning. Eat real food, mostly meat, not very often. Avoid carbs, seed oils and you won't go far wrong.
 
LauraGM said:
There are lots of sugar & fat free products available online
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Not sure I'd recommend anything "fat free".
Fat provies a level of satiety that can be extremely useful if following a time restricted eating pattern (which is also a very powerful tool for lowering blood sugar).
 
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