I am type2 due to me not looking after my body when I had the chance and an accident at work. I am finally getting to grips but, already I have - neuropathy in my arms, legs and feet. I am going blind in one eye. Feeling really down, possibly losing my job due to sight issues. I also have depression, low mood, IBS and much more I need help urgently.
You didn't do this to yourself. Most T2's get it because they have a genetic predisposition, a co-morbidity (like PCOS, but you're not likely to have an ovarian cyst I guess.
), or medication that kicked it off. If you gained weight, you didn't know why it was piling on: when you become insulin resistant, a precursor of prediabetes and diabetes, your body becomes insensitive to insulin. So rather than helping you burn glucose for fuel, it just gets stored in fat cells instead. The weight-gain is a symptom, not cause of T2! Now, seeing that practically all carbs turn to glucose once ingested (so not just straight sugars, but starches too!), and most diets focus on low fat rather than low carb... If you'd tried to lose weight the conventional way, it probably wouldn't've worked, because it was the carbs that were the problem and you didn't know that was the problem, before. (I tried regular diets under the hospital's dietician, and just got bigger. Until morbidly obese.).
You can try to control T2 with meds, but then it is a progressive condition getting ever worse with more medication required, and in the end, most likely, insulin shots. If you change your diet you could maybe stall the progression of the disease, maybe even reverse some of the damage? My bloods have been in the normal range for 2 years now, no complications, no medication... Lost 50 pounds to boot, my cholesterol is down too... Just on diet. You might want to look into a Low Carb/High Fat diet (And yes, that is rather counter intuitive after everything we've been told for decades, but it does work). Meaning you cut out carby foods like bread (or anything made with regular flour), rice, potatoes, corn, cereals, beans and fruit. Except for avocado, berries, starfruit and tomatoes, those are okay. Stick with low to no-carb foods like meat, fish, poultry, above-ground veggies/ leafy greens, eggs, cheese, nuts, cream, full fat greek yoghurt, extra dark chocolate, olives, that sort of thing. I've found cauliflower rice and broccoli rice to be excellent substitutes for potatoes, rice and pasta so far. Usually toss in bacon and cheese to bulk it up, and whatever herbs/spices take my fancy.
Check the forum's related website for low carb meal ideas, or dietdoctor.com. Maybe read Dr Jason Fung's The Diabetes Code, as it is an excellent read and contains information you never even knew you wanted to know.
As a quick-starter thugh, these foods won't spike you:
Scrambled eggs with bacon, cheese, mushrooms, tomato, maybe some high meat content sausages?
Eggs with ham, bacon and cheese
Omelet with spinach and/or smoked salmon
Omelet with cream, cinnamon, with some berries and coconut shavings
Full fat Greek yoghurt with nuts and berries
Leafy green salad with a can of tuna (oil, not brine!), mayonaise, capers, olives and avocado
Leafy green salad with (warmed goat's) cheese and bacon, maybe a nice vinaigrette?
Meat, fish or poultry with veggies. I usually go for cauliflower rice or broccoli rice, with cheese and bacon to bulk it up. Never the same meal twice in a row because of various herbs/spices.
Snacks? Pork scratchings, cheese, olives, extra dark chocolate, nuts.
You do need to get yourself a meter... You have so many complications already, you really need to know where you're starting from and where you're headed. (Plus, you don't have to take some random stranger on the internet on their word: you can see what your bloodsugars respond well to, yourself). Check before a meal and 2 hours after first bite. If you go up more than 2.0 mmol/l, it was carbier than you could process out again. In all likelyhood your numbers will be high when you start testing, considering the complications you already have, but the main point is the rise between meals... If that remains at 2.0 or under, the over-all level'll drop eventually too. Could be in days, could be a few weeks, but it
will come down.
Also, considering your current position, I'm guessing you're on a lot of medication already...? If there's anything in there where the complications listed contain Hypoglycemia, do NOT attempt a low carb diet without help from your doc and/or a meter. If you change the way you eat drastically and don't do anything about your medication to fit the new lifestyle (and it is for life), and don't know when you are having a hypo because there's nothing to test with, you could hypo and that's not a situation you want to be in. So do be careful and don't charge in. Just learn, discuss with youe medical team, and go from there. And test, test, test!
Be careful and good luck,
Jo
PS: My IBS and depression responded well to a low carb diet. When your numbers are always high and you're facing complications, certainly has a mental impact. And our guts sometimes don't like what we're putting in there either... This may make you feel better over all. Eyesight improved too...
