Just diagnosed Type 2

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

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

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

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

• 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

daisy1 said:

@avril18

Hello Avril and welcome to the forum Here is the advice we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you like and you will get many helpful replies.


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.

Click to expand...

dawnmc said:

Reducing carbs, such as pasta, rice, potato, bread. Fruits that end in berry are the best. Get a meter like the code free one the strips are cheaper I think. Don't worry you have found a good place to be.

Click to expand...

avril18 said:

Thanks Amanda, did you find it difficult to start with, i am really unsure what foods to eat as not a good eater anyway, so at the moments i stick to fruit and veg, eat pasta but think that's a no no. Going back to see diabetic nurse in a few weeks to see what happens next, just the not knowing what i should be doing. Thanks x

Click to expand...

amanda19640 said:

I was terrified to eat anything at first but after a few questions I now eat well, cheese, leafy green veg, almonds, brazil nuts, lots of meat done all different ways, proper butter!,full fat Greek yoghurt, berries, pate bacon,eggs,protein rolls from lidl, I'm loving the food and my weight is coming down slowly. Bloods also less than when I started, I also take 2x metformin a day think they have helped.

Click to expand...

goose64 said:

warning though - some people's cholesterol does go up on an LCHF diet so I'm now following a reduced carb (small portions of wholegrain only) rather than a low carb diet & try to avoid fats but when I so eat them they are full fat & this compromise seems to be working

Click to expand...