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Just Escaped

ardvark

ardvark

Well-Known Member
Hi members,
I've just escaped hospital after been rushed in on Tuesday after a heart atack. I'm sorry if this a repeat bunch of questions but I would like answers to a few questions I have. Before this attack I was not a diabetic but after the attack I am now classed as on.
After the attack my blood sugar hovered between 18 and 23. it's now about 8 but after tea last night it went to 13.4. Now from what I can suss out the raise was caused by a Banana I had for pudding.

Q1) What would be classed as a safe maximum blood sugar reading?

Before my escape I was advised to keep an eye on both blood sugar and fat consumption to look after my arteries. I info I was give from the "fat" advisers ws that as part of my 5 a day Banana's were good for me. Reading on line this morning as far as "blood sugar" advisers are concerned Banana's are hight in sugar and will raise my blood sugar. I dare say this would be the reason for my jump last night.

Q2) How did I achieve my 5 a day to include fruit as a pudding without raising my blood sugar level?

Being totaly new to ALL this I've come across this traffic light system on food packaging. This has been going for some time but not been noticed by me.

Q3) If I eat food that is always graded as Green will it keep both the people from the "fat" and "sugar" camp happy? Or am I allowed a Red one now and again?

I'll not go on any more for now but I would be greatful to ALL replies and suggestions.
 
Welcome to the forum @ardvark. Most fruit, especially tropical fruit, are high in sugars so not good for Type 2 diabetics.
Berries are ok though.
In answer to Q1 Type 2s should aim for a bg reading of 4-7 mmol/L before eating, with a rise of no more than 2 mmol/L two hours after eating, with a maximum of 8.5 mmol/L.

The traffic light grading on foods isn't helpful for diabetics. You need to look at the total carbohydrates on the nutrition information. Go for the lowest carbohydrate content, less than 5% is best.
 
Hello, sorry to hear about the heart attack.

You can be sure you were already diabetic before the heart attack. Were you told what type of diabetes you have?
 
ardvark said:
Before this attack I was not a diabetic but after the attack I am now classed as on.
Click to expand...

You probably were without knowing it.. there are quite a few links between T2 and CVD.
I'll tag in @daisy1 for the intro to how to make yourself a healthier person.
Hello and welcome by the way.
Do you have a few pounds to lose? If so reducing the amount of carbohydrate in your diet will help significantly with this.
In answer to your questions
1. After 3 years of extremely low carb eating I like to remain sub 6 mmol/l at all times
2. Your 5 a day should come from green veg ideally with no or very limited fruit (raspberries/strawberries are good, olive and avocado, also fruit, are better)
3. ignore the traffic light labelling it is there for the easily led. Instead look at the labelling on the back and try to buy things that are 5% carbohydrate (5g of carbs per 100g) or lower. Even better buy food that doesn't come in a packet and eat fresh prepped fresh cooked stuff.
 
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Thanks for both of you replies.
I'm glad I now have a blood sugar max to work thing out by.
Sounds to me the Traffic Light System is for the "fat" camp but the explaination of the carbohydrate content is helpful thankyou.
As far as being diabetic before the attach, the consultant explained to me that I was "normal" according to my medical records from before Christmas medical. He said that when someone has a heart attack the body raises the blood sugar as part of the bodies way of combating the attack. After a while in most cases the blood sugar level comes down to it's previous level. In my case the blood sugar has not come down making me Type 2 Diabetic. He said it still may come down to it's previous level but in the mean time he's treating me as a Type 2 Diabetic.
 
Hi @ardvark, You might wish to avail yourself of info on the Home page under Type 2 diabetes and see what the various diets are. I do not think 5 bananas a day is there, but I might be wrong !!
Good luck with your post heart attack rehab !!
 
Great answers above.
In addition I urge you to look around the diabetes.co.uk website. It has an amazing library of easy to read diabetes articles which will answers questions like "what is my bg target?"
 
Just for future reference. Whenever you see your doctor or specialist. Make sure you get a copy of any test results available. This will help you keep track of progress. It's also helps when asking questions if you have results your can look up if someone asks what your most recent HBA1c was for example, and things like that.

I know it's not easy when first diagnosed.
 
Oh @ardvark ..poor you.

i was shocked when i found i was T2D.

i'd have been shocked to the core to of had a heart attack.

and to get both in the same week....:wideyed::bigtears:

i do feel for you.

I guess i'd be worried that the fats we keep getting told are BAD, IS part of the advice on here to help us recover some control over the HBA1c (blood glucose measure).

as we CUT the carbs, we have to increase the FATS and/or protein to cover the shortfall, for energy and nutrients
FATS offer the best alternative, because of how the body uses them.

all of that must be a consideration for you., which just makes the balancing act so much harder.

being sensible, i'd also say no bananas, they spike me now..and i loved them.
....BUT do eat the berries as described by @bulkbiker and @Prem51
the rest you need as in five a day can come from the veggies you eat.



REAL food, as in meats veg, fats bought, cooked and prepared by you i would say IS the ideal way to go, but may not always be practical, but for your health should be maintained IF at all possible.

i suspect that hunger is going to be the enemy, that and conflicting information.

for hunger i use nuts , biltong, and yogurt, which seem to sustain me, until next due to eat.
i think a set time for meals also helps, though i don't practice that myself.

Bread and rice, should be easy to avoid as a T2D. and HA victim...though maybe missed.
the rest is harder due to the state of your heart etc, re recent events,
i'd hate to endorse or promote anything that might impact negatively.

But i'd guess SOME of the above would meet most peoples idea of what is 'healthy' in a diet :watching:

two links to DIETDOCTOR website..most links and advice IS free, (pretty well liked on here, so trusted by many )
but this first one is sign up, with a preview,
second one is the website itself with links, but i think that is also sign up, but it does seem to have free trial period, may be worth investigating further.

LINK 1

LINK 2

Best of Luck, ardvark
 
Wow. Tough week.

To help break your mindset a little as you have years of fat is bad to shake off.

I get up of a morning, kettle for my coffee. Get out the butter and cut off a quarter inch by inch square nob of butter.....

And drop it straight into my black coffee. Same at lunch and eat in the evening.

Once you see fat as fuel and adapt your mind away from carbs good health comes with it.

I was a lorry driver casing 16 stone and probably on a fast track to a week like yours. I'm now 12 stone (plus change) And for the first time since my 20's I'm really looking forward to the beach on holiday. Don't have any mid life spread anymore.

You are what you eat is really quite accurate. Eat well be well.

This site has all you need.
 
Hi. As others have said the traffic light system is EU driven and based on very weak science and is best ignored including calories. Look at the back of the packaging and home in on total carbs. The advice to reduce fat intake is based on the premise that the fat you eat contributes to arterial blocking; some of us feel that as the liver makes most of our cholesterol the liver needs to be the focus. Now I'm an amateur and you need to consider all the advice you receive and in particular the medics. Bananas are not good for anyone with raised blood sugar and the same is true for many tropical fruits. BS is best kept below 10mmol but it isn't always possible to avoid spikes going into the teens. The HBA1C measure is the result to follow.
 
@ardvark
Hello and welcome to the Forum :) Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it both interesting and helpful.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

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 well over 235,000 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

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.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

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 blood glucose 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.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

  • Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why

  • Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
 
ardvark said:
Hi members,
I've just escaped hospital after been rushed in on Tuesday after a heart atack. I'm sorry if this a repeat bunch of questions but I would like answers to a few questions I have. Before this attack I was not a diabetic but after the attack I am now classed as on.
After the attack my blood sugar hovered between 18 and 23. it's now about 8 but after tea last night it went to 13.4. Now from what I can suss out the raise was caused by a Banana I had for pudding.

Q1) What would be classed as a safe maximum blood sugar reading?

Before my escape I was advised to keep an eye on both blood sugar and fat consumption to look after my arteries. I info I was give from the "fat" advisers ws that as part of my 5 a day Banana's were good for me. Reading on line this morning as far as "blood sugar" advisers are concerned Banana's are hight in sugar and will raise my blood sugar. I dare say this would be the reason for my jump last night.

Q2) How did I achieve my 5 a day to include fruit as a pudding without raising my blood sugar level?

Being totaly new to ALL this I've come across this traffic light system on food packaging. This has been going for some time but not been noticed by me.

Q3) If I eat food that is always graded as Green will it keep both the people from the "fat" and "sugar" camp happy? Or am I allowed a Red one now and again?

I'll not go on any more for now but I would be greatful to ALL replies and suggestions.
Click to expand...
Everyone's already given excellent advice, basically, so i just wanted to say sorry about the double whammey, heart and T2... Hope you'll feel better soon! Read, learn, implement, and test... You'll be okay, I'm sure. Just takes a while to get your feet back under you. Give yourself time eh.
 
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