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New to diabetes

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Weezeylou74

Member
Messages
5
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi new to all this. I was told I had type 2 diabetes given tablets and told to come back in 3 months for a blood test. No advice on what to eat or not to eat just take tabs and come back. I'm afraid to eat anything other than dry crackers and 2 round of brown bread with a sausage lol. Advice would be appreciated.
Thank you
 
Weezeylou74 said:
Hi new to all this. I was told I had type 2 diabetes given tablets and told to come back in 3 months for a blood test. No advice on what to eat or not to eat just take tabs and come back. I'm afraid to eat anything other than dry crackers and 2 round of brown bread with a sausage lol. Advice would be appreciated.
Thank you
Click to expand...
Hi @Weezeylou74 , welcome to the forum.

I'd start with this piece written by one of our members. It explains T2 in a nutshell and gives lots of useful information on food: https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html

Ask anything you like on the forum!
 
You will find a lot of advice on this forum. Were you given any details about your blood test results i.e. was it a hbA1C result and what meds were you given. I have no doubt that what you are eating is not helping your blood sugar levels but you will not know that unless you are testing your blood. This is a recommendation too - if your doctor has not/will not prescribe a blood testing kit then you can buy your own. It is difficult to undertake this journey in the dark - by which I mean you need to know where you are starting from. In the meantime, the aim of the game is to reduce your blood sugar levels which is affected by what you eat. Carbs are usually the culprit - so no bread, crackers, rice, potatoes, etc. Have you been told to lose weight? A low carb program can also help with that. I'm sure other folks will weigh in with advice - and you have come to the right place.
 
Hello and welcome!

It doesn't sound like you've had the best introduction. I'm guessing that what's happened might be that you've had a blood test which is why you've been diagnosed. Did they tell you what the actual result was? It will have been (probably) an HbA1c test. You'll automatically be diagnosed as diabetic with a result above 48mmol/mol.

There's a lot to get adjusted to, and a lot of what you might do depends on decisions you'll have to think about. I'll say straight away that many of us here (I'm one) have had great success with a low carb diet which can reduce blood glucose levels and can put Type 2 diabetes into remission. I was back in normal BG range four months after my T2 diagnosis, and have stayed there for five years now. Basically that involves reducing or removing starches and sugars from what you eat. You might have seen Dr Unwin on the ITV news the other day - that's the lifestyle he recommends for his T2 patients. ITV should not say "cure" as it is NOT a cure - but it does manage the condition very well. Link here:


I'd suggest a couple of things.

The first is to try to forget all you know or think you know about what "healthy eating" is, including all the stuff the media talks about in terms of "healthy food". I wouldn't actually recommend eating crackers, bread, or most sausages - there are lots of starches and sugars in all of that.

The second is to read around a bit on this forum, especially the "Success stories" bit. That will show you what can be done.

The third is to ask as many questions as you like. You'll find that as you learn, you'll have more questions, not fewer.


best of luck
 
jeano999 said:
You will find a lot of advice on this forum. Were you given any details about your blood test results i.e. was it a hbA1C result and what meds were you given. I have no doubt that what you are eating is not helping your blood sugar levels but you will not know that unless you are testing your blood. This is a recommendation too - if your doctor has not/will not prescribe a blood testing kit then you can buy your own. It is difficult to undertake this journey in the dark - by which I mean you need to know where you are starting from. In the meantime, the aim of the game is to reduce your blood sugar levels which is affected by what you eat. Carbs are usually the culprit - so no bread, crackers, rice, potatoes, etc. Have you been told to lose weight? A low carb program can also help with that. I'm sure other folks will weigh in with advice - and you have come to the right place.
Click to expand...
Hi thanks for your reply yes it was the HBA1C test I had one last year which was 45 and this last one is 50 so no discussion just a prescription. I have looked into buying a monitor because it's hard to get on from the NHS yes told to lose weight my problem is finding a menu that I like lol I'm not great at Veg or fruit love chicken, pork not great at red meat once in a while and that spaghetti which is now of the menu. So confused
 
Weezeylou74 said:
I have looked into buying a monitor
Click to expand...
Tagging @Rachox who has up to date information on the best value for money meters in the UK.
Weezeylou74 said:
my problem is finding a menu that I like lol I'm not great at Veg or fruit love chicken, pork
Click to expand...
Chicken and pork are perfect, they won't raise your blood glucose!
If you don't like fruit much, no problem, most fruit has a lot of sugar.
Do you like bacon and eggs? Cheese? They are much more friendly on blood glucose than crackers or brown bread, and more filling too.
 
Weezeylou74 said:
Hi new to all this. I was told I had type 2 diabetes given tablets and told to come back in 3 months for a blood test. No advice on what to eat or not to eat just take tabs and come back. I'm afraid to eat anything other than dry crackers and 2 round of brown bread with a sausage lol. Advice would be appreciated.
Thank you
Click to expand...
Oh dear - Carbs are not your friend in this situation.
Eat the sausage (or more than one) - as long as it not loaded with added starch - check the packet.
Crackers can be around 5 gm of carb each - check the packet, and the carb content of the bread should be on the wrapper too, both as a percentage and per slice.
An ordinary type 2 like me should see something close to cause and effect between intake of carbs and blood glucose levels.
Testing blood glucose levels after eating should show you how well you are coping with the carbs you chose in the last meal.
 
Weezeylou74 said:
Hi thanks for your reply yes it was the HBA1C test I had one last year which was 45 and this last one is 50 so no discussion just a prescription. I have looked into buying a monitor because it's hard to get on from the NHS yes told to lose weight my problem is finding a menu that I like lol I'm not great at Veg or fruit love chicken, pork not great at red meat once in a while and that spaghetti which is now of the menu. So confused
Click to expand...
That was my level on diagnosis too. No-one had mentioned my BG was rising, at all. I refused medication.

I would strongly recommend getting and using a glucose monitor. You will start to build up a picture of which foods to do to your blood glucose levels, and that way you can reduce or eliminate the things you don't want. The hidden cost with meters is the cost of the strips - manufacturers will sometimes give you the meter, because then you're tied into using their strips, and these can be quite different in cost.

Things that will increase blood glucose are things that are digested to glucose, so all the starches and sugars. There are sugars in things you won't expect - milk has a sugar called lactose, for example. I basically eliminated cereals, pasta, anything flour based like bread or pastry, sweets, anything sugary, rice, almost all fruit, beer, and almost all root vegetables. I wasn't eating much stuff out of packets and jars anyway, but it's now next to zero. Bear in mind that my daily carb level is around 20g/day - which is roughly the equivalent of one apple or a thick slice of bread (neither of which I eat).

I do eat all meats, fish, cheeses, butter, above ground veg, that sort of thing. Most of the time it's traditional "meat and two veg" except the two veg are eg broccolli and cauliflower - no potato. I've found that pulses and beans don't have much impact on my BG so I eat them sometimes (washing canned stuff to remove as much starch as possible). There are OK non-carby "breads" available, so a bacon sandwich is still possible. There are also some pretty good low/zero carb beers as well, while spirits are zero carb items and wine is a low carb option.
 
Thanks for the tag @Antje77 , welcome to the forum @Weezeylou74 , here’s some info with links for UK meters, and to be clear I have no commercial connections with any of the companies mentioned.



HOME HEALTH have the Gluco Navii, which is a fairly new model and seems to be getting good reviews.

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-produ...ose-meter-test-strips-choose-mmol-l-or-mg-dl/

Links to the strips for future orders:

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/glucose-navii-blood-glucose-test-strips-50-strip-pack/

Then they sell the older SD Code Free, details to be found here!

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/



SPIRIT HEALTHCARE have a meter called the Tee2 + which is quite popular:

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...e2-blood-glucose-meter?variant=19264017268793

The strips are to be found here:

https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/co...py-of-tee2-test-strips?variant=19264017367097

If there is a choice of units of measurement then ‘mmol/L’ are the standard units in the UK, ‘mg/dl’ in the US, other countries may vary.

Don’t forget to check the box if you have diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for all meters and strips)



If you’d like to try a free 15 day trial of the Freestyle LIBRE 2 plus follow this link:

Sampling | Diabetes Care | Abbott
 
Antje77 said:
Tagging @Rachox who has up to date information on the best value for money meters in the UK.

Chicken and pork are perfect, they won't raise your blood glucose!
If you don't like fruit much, no problem, most fruit has a lot of sugar.
Do you like bacon and eggs? Cheese? They are much more friendly on blood glucose than crackers or brown bread, and more filling too.
Click to expand...
Ah bacon eggs cheese chicken and pork that's good finding what to go with them will be hard as I like my carbs
 
Weezeylou74 said:
Ah bacon eggs cheese chicken and pork that's good finding what to go with them will be hard as I like my carbs
Click to expand...
With your hba1c only just over the diabetes threshold, you might find just reducing your carbs a bit could be enough. And that's where your meter comes in, it'll show you how your body deals with different meals.

There are lower carb substitutes for many things, some work better than others. I love cauliflower purée instead of mashed potatoes for instance, but finding a good low carb bread to your liking can be difficult.
A possible useful trick can be to have a smaller portion of the carbs with a larger portion of the rest. I don't mind having a little spaghetti with a whole lot of bolognese, or a single slice of bread with triple the amount of toppings...
 
Bean sprouts make a very good substitute for spaghetti. You'll be amazed how many substitutes (such as the cauliflower rice already mentioned) we can use that are diabetic-friendly. I also use thinly-sliced leeks topped generously with cheese for pie toppings (and no pastry underneath). Give 'em a try.

I don't respond well to pulses (that is to say - I respond too well to pulses!) but we are all different, so well worth you experimenting here too.
 
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