New prediabetic - Advice on eating & snacking

[Helen100%]

Hi and good to find this thread. I was told a couple of weeks ago that I was pre-diabetic after routine blood tests (can't remember the figure at the moment) and have been giving it some thought since then. I'm 60 and was a bit shocked as I've been lucky to have always been fit, active and healthy...although on reflection I've been deluding myself that I eat a healthy diet, When I eat a meal it is generally healthy, but a lot of the time I don't actually eat meals - I either just don't eat, or I eat whatever is going at the time (biscuits in the office, cake with friends, ice cream treat with daughter), and I always thought I "got away with it" as I don't put on weight. I've got a phone appointment on Monday with my local medical centre, where I'll hopefully find out more, but in the meantime I guess it's a case of being honest with myself about what healthy eating is and cutting out all the sweet stuff, and making a point of eating regular healthy snacks - is that right? I've been trying to do this but I'm not sure whether I'm eating the right kind and size of snacks, or how often I should eat. If anyone has got any tips I'd be grateful. How will I know that I'm doing the right thing? Thanks! Helen

 

[Resurgam]

Hi and good to find this thread. I was told a couple of weeks ago that I was pre-diabetic after routine blood tests (can't remember the figure at the moment) and have been giving it some thought since then. I'm 60 and was a bit shocked as I've been lucky to have always been fit, active and healthy...although on reflection I've been deluding myself that I eat a healthy diet, When I eat a meal it is generally healthy, but a lot of the time I don't actually eat meals - I either just don't eat, or I eat whatever is going at the time (biscuits in the office, cake with friends, ice cream treat with daughter), and I always thought I "got away with it" as I don't put on weight. I've got a phone appointment on Monday with my local medical centre, where I'll hopefully find out more, but in the meantime I guess it's a case of being honest with myself about what healthy eating is and cutting out all the sweet stuff, and making a point of eating regular healthy snacks - is that right? I've been trying to do this but I'm not sure whether I'm eating the right kind and size of snacks, or how often I should eat. If anyone has got any tips I'd be grateful. How will I know that I'm doing the right thing? Thanks! Helen

Constant snacking is not a good idea, particularly if it is starch and/or sugar.
There are blood testing meters available, so you can see the level of glucose in your blood. I got mine from Spirit Healthcare, a Tee2 + and it seems to be reliable.

 

[Helen100%]

Constant snacking is not a good idea, particularly if it is starch and/or sugar.
There are blood testing meters available, so you can see the level of glucose in your blood. I got mine from Spirit Healthcare, a Tee2 + and it seems to be reliable.

Thanks very much Resurgam - much appreciated. I can see that I'm going to need to look into this. I've just had a quick google and there is lots of advice on this site so I'll start with that (my google search last night just brought me straight to this forum).

I'm grateful for the tip about testing meters too, given that my next blood test will be a year away and I have no idea of whether its because of how my body reacts to carbs, or because of my overall poor diet, or both.

Just for info I checked my recent HbA1cfigure and it was 45 mmol/mol. My LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol were also high - 6.9 and 4.5 mmol/L - although the ratio was OK. Not entirely sure what this means....except that it is a message to find out and do something about it!

Very well done to you by the way. Cheers, Helen

 

[Resurgam]

Thanks very much Resurgam - much appreciated. I can see that I'm going to need to look into this. I've just had a quick google and there is lots of advice on this site so I'll start with that (my google search last night just brought me straight to this forum).

I'm grateful for the tip about testing meters too, given that my next blood test will be a year away and I have no idea of whether its because of how my body reacts to carbs, or because of my overall poor diet, or both.

Just for info I checked my recent HbA1cfigure and it was 45 mmol/mol. My LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol were also high - 6.9 and 4.5 mmol/L - although the ratio was OK. Not entirely sure what this means....except that it is a message to find out and do something about it!

Very well done to you by the way. Cheers, Helen

I am sometimes embarrassed about just how easy it was to achieve normal numbers - I never liked the high carb diet I was pushed to eat so I had a good start.
As your Hba1c is not all that high I suspect that just a few changes to the amount of carbs you eat every day, or using the meter and pinpointing a particular type of food which seems to cause spikes almost every time you eat it should sort out the problem.
There are lots of options.
I steam and chop cauliflower to use as a base for curry, rather than have rice.
Swede to replace potato - I use it for bubble and squeak - on cold mornings, with bacon - yum.

 

[TriciaWs]

regardless of whether you are within the normal weight range or not, cutting carbs rather than just sugar can improve blood sugars. If you don't need/want to lose weight then eat more unprocessed/slightly processed fat - double cream, full fat Greek yogurt, butter, olive oil, etc.
I cannot eat muesli, far too many carbs, or porridge, so breakfast is either a very low carb porridge consisting of milled flaxseed and chia seeds with some nuts and cinnamon plus salt, cooked with water and a little coconut milk, or a cooked breakfast of bacon and mushrooms.

 

[coby]

I am sometimes embarrassed about just how easy it was to achieve normal numbers - I never liked the high carb diet I was pushed to eat so I had a good start.
As your Hba1c is not all that high I suspect that just a few changes to the amount of carbs you eat every day, or using the meter and pinpointing a particular type of food which seems to cause spikes almost every time you eat it should sort out the problem.
There are lots of options.
I steam and chop cauliflower to use as a base for curry, rather than have rice.
Swede to replace potato - I use it for bubble and squeak - on cold mornings, with bacon - yum.

I am so glad you admitted to being embarrassed by how easy it was to reduce your numbers @Resurgam because that's just how I feel, after doing it in under 7 weeks. I keep wanting to shout and tell everyone but then feel that I'm blowing my own trumpet, and I'm definately not one who puts herself out there! x

 

[MrsA2]

and making a point of eating regular healthy snacks - is that right? I've been trying to do this but I'm not sure whether I'm eating the right kind and size of snacks, or how often I should eat.

I've just been listening to an interesting podcast in that the concept of constant "snacks" and treats having to be sweet or fatty were only introduced in the 1970s onwards by marketing from food manufacturers.
We do not need to eat between meals, especially not diabetics. 1 2 or 3 nutritious and filling meals are enough, giving the body time to burn and use what what has been ingested. Its the regular topping up by snacking that is now thought to be a major cause of diabetes.

If you really need the odd something while getting used low carbing than a very few nuts, or a spoonful of fullfat plain yoghurt will help

 

[Andydragon]

I've just been listening to an interesting podcast in that the concept of constant "snacks" and treats having to be sweet or fatty were only introduced in the 1970s onwards by marketing from food manufacturers.
We do not need to eat between meals, especially not diabetics. 1 2 or 3 nutritious and filling meals are enough, giving the body time to burn and use what what has been ingested. Its the regular topping up by snacking that is now thought to be a major cause of diabetes.

If you really need the odd something while getting used low carbing than a very few nuts, or a spoonful of fullfat plain yoghurt will help

What’s the podcast out of interest? Sounds interesting

my parents, well mum, was very much of the opinion you had to snack in between. In fact they always has their evening cheese and crackers. She was convinced it was needed for diabetics (my dad was)

My nurse was not impressed saying as you do, just meals at the normal times.

it kind of makes sense to me, eating constantly surely must keep the body in a state of trying to release the insulin to cope. Not very scientific and just my thoughts but 3 meals or less surely is keeping the body less under pressure?

 

[Jaylee]

my parents, well mum, was very much of the opinion you had to snack in between. In fact they always has their evening cheese and crackers. She was convinced it was needed for diabetics (my dad was)

My nurse was not impressed saying as you do, just meals at the normal times.

Hi Andy,

It's a myth I believe born from the old days of fixed dosage insulin type one BG managment in order to deter hypos from the insulin? (When I was a lad, "snack here, snack there..")
Of course insulin regimes are a little more refined these days.

 

[MrsA2]

What’s the podcast out of interest? Sounds interesting

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aH...IucnNz/episode/QnV6enNwcm91dC05MzA2NTIw?ep=14

Low carb UK, with Nicola Howard from last week

 

[Helen100%]

I've just been listening to an interesting podcast in that the concept of constant "snacks" and treats having to be sweet or fatty were only introduced in the 1970s onwards by marketing from food manufacturers.
We do not need to eat between meals, especially not diabetics. 1 2 or 3 nutritious and filling meals are enough, giving the body time to burn and use what what has been ingested. Its the regular topping up by snacking that is now thought to be a major cause of diabetes.

If you really need the odd something while getting used low carbing than a very few nuts, or a spoonful of fullfat plain yoghurt will help

Ah - this may go some way to explain why I was getting confused, I had a vague idea that lots of healthy snacks helped to keep blood sugar stable. Plus, a friend - also told she was pre-diabetic - mentioned to me that she had been told to eat regular sugary snacks! I didn't ask who told her this, but the sugary part definitely sounded wrong.

 

[Helen100%]

I am sometimes embarrassed about just how easy it was to achieve normal numbers - I never liked the high carb diet I was pushed to eat so I had a good start.
As your Hba1c is not all that high I suspect that just a few changes to the amount of carbs you eat every day, or using the meter and pinpointing a particular type of food which seems to cause spikes almost every time you eat it should sort out the problem.
There are lots of options.
I steam and chop cauliflower to use as a base for curry, rather than have rice.
Swede to replace potato - I use it for bubble and squeak - on cold mornings, with bacon - yum.

Thanks again Resurgam, that's very reassuring, and helpful

 

[Resurgam]

Ah - this may go some way to explain why I was getting confused, I had a vague idea that lots of healthy snacks helped to keep blood sugar stable. Plus, a friend - also told she was pre-diabetic - mentioned to me that she had been told to eat regular sugary snacks! I didn't ask who told her this, but the sugary part definitely sounded wrong.

Well - yes - blood glucose stable but sky high.

 

[Geordie_P]

This is a bit of an odd thread as some of the posts are really quite old, but there are some inportant points still being raised: one issue I can really relate to is that of: 'I was already eating a healthy diet of fruit and wholegrains etc" or "I was eating healthy food, not processed junk". That's just it- I was trying to lose weight eating brown rice, peas, near vegetarian diet- and I would have genuinely been much better off with Spam and bacon.

 

[Helen100%]

Well - yes - blood glucose stable but sky high.

Good to have that clarified (essential, actually - I really didn't know this!) - it's all starting to make sense now. Thanks again

 

[Helen100%]

This is a bit of an odd thread as some of the posts are really quite old, but there are some inportant points still being raised: one issue I can really relate to is that of: 'I was already eating a healthy diet of fruit and wholegrains etc" or "I was eating healthy food, not processed junk". That's just it- I was trying to lose weight eating brown rice, peas, near vegetarian diet- and I would have genuinely been much better off with Spam and bacon.

Yes, that's me too - the "healthy" meals I make have been very much like that. Again, good to have this clarified. The info is all out there.... but the penny is finally dropping!

 

[Andydragon]

Yes, that's me too - the "healthy" meals I make have been very much like that. Again, good to have this clarified. The info is all out there.... but the penny is finally dropping!

Although i am T2, way back when I was prediabetic I guess, just wasn't really enforced to me what it meant. It does take a need to rethink almost all of what we are told about what is healthy and what isn't.

Some of it is marketing, some of it is just because for the genetic lottery we cannot handle carbs in the way others can. Whilst the NHS is slowly catching up and more research is being done. The experiences of forum posters does highlight that it can make a real difference

The advantage you have is that its still early, you have the great opportunity now to take control. Good luck and ask questions, we are all here to help if we can

 

[Helen100%]

Although i am T2, way back when I was prediabetic I guess, just wasn't really enforced to me what it meant. It does take a need to rethink almost all of what we are told about what is healthy and what isn't.

Some of it is marketing, some of it is just because for the genetic lottery we cannot handle carbs in the way others can. Whilst the NHS is slowly catching up and more research is being done. The experiences of forum posters does highlight that it can make a real difference

The advantage you have is that its still early, you have the great opportunity now to take control. Good luck and ask questions, we are all here to help if we can

Thanks Andydragon (and everyone else) for your thoughtful responses. I really feel like I know where I'm going with this now and am putting it into practice. The good news is that I like pretty much all food, so its more about getting the balance right, rather than having to eat completely different foods. Also (and this is definitely a key part for me) planning ahead and prioritising food so that I don't just randomly eat what's there or nothing at all. I've always tended to try and do everything else out first and then eat last. I've got my nurse phone appointment tomorrow and will get a lot more out of it now, having had these discussions first - ta! I feel very lucky to have had pre-diabetes identified early.

 

[Helen100%]

Just to feed back that I had my phone appointment today - it was good, but not really necessary given what I now know (I sort of told her what I know and she said it was right). I mentioned some of the comments made here and she laughed (spam/bacon was one, and blood sugar stable but sky high was another)

She also commented on my cholesterol levels, and the possible need to take statins if I can't lower them with diet. The good part is that I will get tested again soon - she gave the option of either in 3 months or 6 (she said the disadvantage of 3 is that it may take longer than this for a difference to show, so it can be disappointing). I went for 3 and will bear her comments in mind. Going to give it my all anyway, and if things don't change at least I'll know I've tried. The figure she quoted to me about risk of a coronary incident in the next 10 years was pretty shocking and enough to spur me on.

On a side note, I bought a bar of chocolate for someone else today, who had asked me to buy it and I read the label for the first time ever. I now see where a good chunk of my saturated fats were coming from, I had crept up to eating several bars a week (rather than meals).

It's certainly been a very significant few days for me, with a steep learning curve - big thanks again to commenters here. I know of at least a couple of people who have mentioned having pre-diabetes to me in the past year or so, I'll direct them to this site if they need any help.

 

[Resurgam]

@Helen100% My Hba1c went from 91 to 47 in 80 days - when I found out I didn't know if I should laugh or cry so I did both - your nurse might not have met a type 2 like me before, but she must have heard rumours - surely?