hi all ... Not new to diabetes but don't feel as if I've been given much info to help me in the past. I'm type 2 with 3 different types of tablets and a non insulin injection. I'm really struggling with my weight at the moment and this is not helping my sugar levels. Looking to find out more info in low carb eating.
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Liam1955
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daisy1
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@Cazza123
Hello Cazza and welcome to the forum
Here is the information we give to new members and I hope this will help you to find out the things you need to know. Ask as many questions as you like and someone will be able to help.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 150,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
Reduce your carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes
LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Hello Cazza and welcome to the forum
Here is the information we give to new members and I hope this will help you to find out the things you need to know. Ask as many questions as you like and someone will be able to help.BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 150,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
- Reduce your carbohydrate intake
- Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
Reduce your carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes
LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
- structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
- self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Liam1955
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@Cazza123 - Hi . A lot of forum members follow the LCHF Diet as it helps to lower blood sugars, HBA1C and helps in weight loss. Take a look at: http://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/60-seconds
. A lot of forum members follow the LCHF Diet as it helps to lower blood sugars, HBA1C and helps in weight loss. Take a look at: http://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/60-seconds
PenfoldAPD
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pleinster
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If you want to see an immediate impact, try testing your blood sugar level, eating two slices of toast, and testing again an hour and two hours after...that is what initially made me realise I had to do more than consider LCHF as an option. Be aware that not everyone agrees it's the way to go. Then again, some people think the Moon still just might be made of cheese. I'd suggest experimenting with foods, checking labels for how many carbs per 100g (10g per 100g being pretty low), keeping a record of levels before and after new/different foods. For most of us (though tolerance varies), the worst offenders are bread, cereal, spuds, pasta and rice (aside from the more obvious cakes, biscuits etc etc)...but beef, pork, lamb, chicken, oily fish, veg that grows above the ground - all good. Anyway, there's all kinds of opinions and advice - only one way to find out. Good luck.
4ratbags
Well-Known Member
Hi amd welcome to the forum. There is plenty of information on LCHF on the forum and on the web in general. It can take a bit of time to make the change over to LC but the benefits are great.
Bluetit1802
Legend
It is highly unlikely you will hear anything useful from the dietitian. They generally push the NHS Eatwell Plate, which is what they think is healthy eating. It may well be for healthy people, but is not a good diet for diabetics. All carbs convert to glucose once inside the system, so it makes sense not to eat them, or at least as few of them as possible.
Do have a look at the diet doctor link in Liam's post above, and also at this thread
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/a-new-low-carb-guide-for-beginners.68695/
and the low carb programme at
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/lowcarb/
pleinster
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Sadly, NHS dieticians tend to be focused on healthy eating for "normal" people not us lot! Even then, I would take issue with some of the general party line list of what's supposed to be so good for us. I know anyone new to the site, newly diagnosed even, must be very wary of sudden comments from "strangers" on what diets work, but let's face it...how well do we know our nurses and doctors. As for the fact that they are well qualified...I have two degrees, Classics and Law - doesn't mean there aren't gaps all over the place in that knowledge. Dieticians? Anyway..worth saying, some are very good while some are getting paid to do a job...same goes for plumbers, bakers, factory workers etc etc. These people don't...can't know it all for every one of us. WhatI have learned here, and due to having to know, is that experimentation and recording leads to the best info about what is good for me personally...and this low carb diet thingummyjig (ie. LCHF), well it is what many, many of us are doing, and we are finding that while it certainly won't cure anything..it WILL make things way, way more manageable. Also, we eat too much **** as it is...so take on board what your dietician says...then try it anyway...and see.
