Background: diagnosed T2 four months ago with hb1ac of 11.8%. Followed the nhs diet for 3 months and after 3 months reduced my score to 8.2%. Now taking 200g metformin but after finding this forum, i want to make significant improvements by adopting lchf diet and blood testing.
I've got some general questions/concerns:
1. Lack of fruit. Always taught that fruit contains nutrients that are good for long term health. Will i be missing something by adopting lchf and if so, is there a supplement you recommend?
2. Saturated fat. For snacks, i eat cheese and whipping cream. Most of my fats are unsaturated. Should i be concerned about saturated fat? I think my cholesterol was 4.7%
3. Calcium. Is there a good alternative to standard milk you recommend? Used to drink a glass of milk a day so will miss this
4. Blood testing. I want to test and record my blood once a day to see if its improving. Whats the best time of day to do this? I assume morning before you eat anything?
5. Blood testing. For testing the impact of individual meals, i am testing before a meal and two hours after. If there is a rise of more than 2% then i am going to look at making the meal less carby and then retesting. If i get more than 2% increase 3 times then i will remove meal from diet. Is this the correct way to test?
6. Blood testing. My blood levels have been about 6.2% in the morning for the last 3 days. What should i realistically be aiming for and how quickly? I see lots of people with scores of about 5.5%
7. Whey protein. There's a company called phd that sells diet whey protein bars and shakes. The bars contain sugar alcohol but the shakes dont. They are both low on normal sugar. I'm basically looking for a special treat to drink and eat maybe once a week. Should i avoid these bars and shakes or are they ok? I'm going to do a blood test when i get them but i just want to know i'm not trashing my progress or health.
8. Cafes. I've got kids who like to eat cake at a cafe which makes me feel sad when i cant join them. Do you have any strategies to cope with this as i'm starting to resent going to them. I've resorted to taking some nuts with me but it doesnt do the trick.
Sorry for all the questions
I've got some general questions/concerns:
1. Lack of fruit. Always taught that fruit contains nutrients that are good for long term health. Will i be missing something by adopting lchf and if so, is there a supplement you recommend?
2. Saturated fat. For snacks, i eat cheese and whipping cream. Most of my fats are unsaturated. Should i be concerned about saturated fat? I think my cholesterol was 4.7%
3. Calcium. Is there a good alternative to standard milk you recommend? Used to drink a glass of milk a day so will miss this
4. Blood testing. I want to test and record my blood once a day to see if its improving. Whats the best time of day to do this? I assume morning before you eat anything?
5. Blood testing. For testing the impact of individual meals, i am testing before a meal and two hours after. If there is a rise of more than 2% then i am going to look at making the meal less carby and then retesting. If i get more than 2% increase 3 times then i will remove meal from diet. Is this the correct way to test?
6. Blood testing. My blood levels have been about 6.2% in the morning for the last 3 days. What should i realistically be aiming for and how quickly? I see lots of people with scores of about 5.5%
7. Whey protein. There's a company called phd that sells diet whey protein bars and shakes. The bars contain sugar alcohol but the shakes dont. They are both low on normal sugar. I'm basically looking for a special treat to drink and eat maybe once a week. Should i avoid these bars and shakes or are they ok? I'm going to do a blood test when i get them but i just want to know i'm not trashing my progress or health.
8. Cafes. I've got kids who like to eat cake at a cafe which makes me feel sad when i cant join them. Do you have any strategies to cope with this as i'm starting to resent going to them. I've resorted to taking some nuts with me but it doesnt do the trick.
Sorry for all the questions