"loads"??

Doubt it if it doesn't work for you. If following their diet does not reduce your BG then it is the wrong diet for you.

On the other had if following the diet they give you reduces your BG then accepot what they say.

Just test test test as you eat to see what it does to you.

Ka-Mon
Eating generous portrtions of fat is good for low carbing and the only bad fats are the Transfats, or hydrogenated vegetable oils. It's best to keeep right off those
Hana
Include slices of cheese with salads and cream in drinks and soups

Ka-Mon said:

I'm a little confused about the use of the word "loads" by posters in this and other forums. What does it really mean?

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"Loads" is just another way of saying "A lot", it is not an actual unit of measurement.

:wink:

Ka-Mon said:

I'm a little confused about the use of the word "loads" by posters in this and other forums. What does it really mean?

Loads is not a term I would use in any reference to diet, to much of anything is bad for you and I would prefer to use the term ''moderation''.

I've read from some posters on here telling us to cut out the carbs and eat "loads" of fat, even the "bad" ones. But what does that really mean, how much fat is "loads" (in grams or ounces)?

It's important to distinguish between the good and the bad fats Ka-mon, the good fats are Monounsaturated fats found in olive oil, avocados and walnuts; Polyunsaturated Fats found in fish such as salmon, fish oils and sunflower oils. The bad fats include Saturated Fat, this should be limited and is found in meat, dairy products and coconut oil; Trans Fats should be avoided at all costs and are found in processed foods, fast foods and biscuits/cakes.

The same actually goes for carbs, how much is "loads"?

Again, not sure where you have seen this term loads used on here or elsewhere regarding carbs. It's important to find the level of carbs that you and your body can tolerate without going outside of your own personal blood glucose target, so if you are sticking to the NICE guidelines for example, you want to eat enough carbs to keep you within these limits. We always say ''Eat to your meter''-in other words your bg meter will tell you which foods spike your bg and by incorporating portion size will hopefully bring you within the limits. So reducing carbs to a level that suits your needs personally is the way forward, not what anyone else practices or preaches.

The reason why I am asking is that I've managed to convince my GP to refer me to a Dietitian and from some of the postings I have read here in the past some posters are not very happy about the advice they get/got or heard of from Dietitians. At what point should I start to doubt the Dietitians advice or indeed accept it?

My own experience with dietitians have been good and I have had my diet checked and given the all-clear by a dietitian, so this negativity is not always called for. Yes they do advocate carbs with every meal, but its important that you find your own level as I explained above, but they should advise you on the good/bad fats to eat and advice on getting your 5 portions of fruit and veg a day. What's important about discussing diet with a gp or dietitian is, they have knowledge about your past and present medical history.

Thanks in advance.

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Hope the above is helpful!

Nigel

I'm a little confused about the use of the word "loads" by posters in this and other forums. What does it really mean?

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As you realise not a lot.
In the same way the terms high carb, low carb are very frequently used in a meaningless way.What you need to eat depends on your activity levels and whether you need to lose or gain weight. What is 'loads' for one person may not be enough for another.That's one place that a good dietitian can help as they should be looking at your lifestyle rather than giving general advice, you can find that in a book
Just to show how meaningless. A few weeks ago I walked 10 miles with over 5000ft of climb carrying a 10kg pack on my back. For the walk alone, not the whole day, my garmin estimated I used 4050 calories; If I had eaten as many as 300g of carbs this would still only be about 30% of the calories expended . By comparison, if I sat down at a computer all day and drove to the shops I'd use about 1800 calories, the same proportion of carbs would only be 135g.
I totally agree with NIgels comments about fats.

I totally agree with Nigel's comments about transfats.

As with advice from medically trained professional ie eating carbs with all meals, I would advise you to do your own research and test. My test for what I consider to be good fats include blood cholesterol tests, my meter results and HbA1c results. For more than 30 years I adhered to the belief that sat fats were bad and eliminated them as far as possible.

Since two years ago most of the sat fats are in my diet especially coconut oil and none of my regular blood tests indicate I should be cutting them out. Hubby's been eating the same as me for 12 months and much to his surprise his annual results also improved big time. Neither of us use any medication. It has all been achieved with healthy for us foods.

I don't accept my dietician's carb level nor do I believe their advice on fats is right for me!
You should make your own, informed decision.
Alison

Ka-Mon said:

At what point should I start to doubt the Dietitians advice or indeed accept it?
Thanks in advance.

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Perhaps the time to doubt would be when your meter or blood tests indicate you are not headed in the right direction. Time to doubt would be when you are getting worse and prescribed meds to improve your health.
Alison

I agree with Nigel and clearviews mostly although I do restrict certain fats for medical reasons. I don't eat loads of anything - just enough to nourish and sustain me. Allows me to maintain good Bg levels and general health.

As Nigel says, moderation in all things.

The only issue I have had with dieticians was in the early days when I was given dietary advice which caused many of the problems with bg levels and increased weight. Thankfully I saw 'the light' and realised that advice was rubbish. By doing my own research and taking advice here I turned everything around ! Nowadays there are many good Dieticians who do advocate diets for the individual and not just some general advice which may or may not be suitable. We keep saying - everybody is different so what is good for one may not be good for someone else. If things are going wrong - question the advice .......

Loads ......... - some people are just prone to exaggeration ! :lol:

ah Ken you mentioned the good dietitians!!

I think one of the things that has to be mentioned is that up until about 10 years or so ago we did not have meters - they used to be very expensive nor routine HBA1c levels - now I am showing my age so we really had no mass data or experience from pts and staff about what happened outside the lab ! BS monitoring has changed that for the good. Newbies do take alot for granted lol!

Alot of the criticism showed to the profession has been from those who havent even seen one- for those of you do not know I am one. There are only 6000 registered dietitians in the Uk so they are swamped so to speak. In terms of clinical need diabetes/obesity may not be a priority- ITU , special care babies , tube feeds take up alot of the hospital dietitians time. Because it is such a small profession others get involved who have had very little training - it takes 4 years to get a degree in dietetics and it is not a part time degree - I know having taught at UWIC that students are in uni alot - not 10 hours like most degrees these days. I am in an unsual situation as I practice at 2 GP surgeries and as I have stated before my moderate approach and early detection gives my pts good control. without low carbing I have many pts with HBA1cs in the 5s!

No one should be using loads, moderation or plenty - it is important that portions are defined and also pts should not be encouraged to consume sugar in foods like DM UK suggests. This concept seemed to appear in the late 80s!

So to the first poster don't believe all you read about dietitians.
I am off to do a clinic - maybe back later.

As you can see ally is one of the good guys and if you were lucky enough to get an appointment with her you would be doing well.

However I was refered to an NHS dietician who gave no individual advice everything, was aimed at working to a standard plate, with (i think) it was 40% starchy carbs. She had no allowances for me being a veggie and my protein part of the meal being carby as well. She in fact had no idea how to deal with a diabteic veggie she insisted on a cetain percentage of starchy carbs regardless.

When I mentioned to her, that for a treat I had found a fresh cream meringue that had less sugar than a yogurt, she insisted I should eat the yogurt but then when I asked why? couldn't explain to me why the sugar in the yogurt was any better than the sugar in the meringue.

I tried eating her way and put on stones in weight and raised my BG to a point where instead of being diet controlled was on 4x metfromin a day, and my Hba1c was still rising.

The diabeteic nurse's only response was to tell me I was not doing things properly and to suggest sending me back to the dietician. That was the point when i decided that as things had started to deteriorate when I saw her, I didn't think this a good idea and decided it was time to ignore her advice and go over to low carbing - or to be more accurate leaving out the starchy carbs. I still eat pulses and all sorts of veggies which of course contain carbs I don't eat fruit as this either raises my BG or upsets my IBS.

I have now lost the weight that I put on since seeing the dietician and have had my meformin halved.

As I said uppost if the dieticians advice works for you do it, but if it doesn't ignore it and find the best way for yourself using your meter.

.

mm - the sad thing is that you said exactly what I think should not happen - pts get blanket advice not based on their requirements and food diaries.

One of the problems is lack of funding - you may be lucky if you get a 15 minute appointment - in many depts that is the case. Also alot of outpatient work is done by newly qualified staff with no experience of diabetes in practice. So how can that be effective - alot of the negative comments come from these sort of appointments.

You are right, I didn't get anything told to me that I didn't learn in biology when I was at school. everythign was scripted including the set pictures of the plate showing a 'good meal.'

A friend of mine who actually dislikes fruit and it also sends her BG's sky high was forcing herself to eat some, because the dietican told her she must eat fruit.

Another friend was told to test before meals - never after, she has no idea of how foods effect her. She was just told to once a week take fasting levels before all her meals! and her GP is planning her diabetic care on those fasting readings and it is months since she has had an Hba1c.