newbi needs advice

[tigerlily9813]

hello all. hope you can help. i have recently been told i have type 2 diabeties and have been put on metformin. i have also been told my colestral is very high and have been put on simvastatin.
i wanted to know what is the best artificual sugar to have and have been told to eat a low gi diet. i am so confused as to what sort of stuff i can and cant eat. i went to tescos a while ago and spent ages in there just looking at the labels, i got so stressed i burst in to tears when i got home.
i have been looking on your recipe pages and the food looks great, but can i have that. i noticed someone had put not to have too many raspberrys on a recipe and i thought they would have been good for you. its so confusing. i like to snack on sweet stuff in the evening or nuts but again i dont know if i can have that sort of stuff, and if so what can i have as i have to go on a low gi diet. please can someone help me get my head round it all and start to look forward to the next meal time.xx

 

[catherinecherub]

Hi tigerlily,
Yes it is confusing at first to know what you can and cannot eat. Telling someone to use a G.I. diet without explaining it is not very helpful as you have found.
I follow this eating plan but would stress that it does not work for everyone, we are all different and I'm afraid that one size does not fit all.
You need to get a good book called the G.I. Diet by Rick Gallop. Waterstones sell it where I live but if you cannot get a copy there it is for sale on Amazon. Several of the forum members who use this diet also use this book. It explains the principles behind it, how it works, how much you can eat of any given food and the amount of exercise needed. There is a reduction in the amount of carbohydrates for each meal but it is quite easy to follow.
You do not say if you have a meter to test your blood sugars. This is vital as you need to test to see how your blood sugars react to certain foods. They are reasonable to buy but the test strips are expensive. Ask your G.P. to provide one as it is impossible to monitor your progress without
Keep asking questions on the forum, we are all here to help.
Catherine.

 

[hanadr]

I personally find Splenda the only tolerable artificial sweetener.
As to what is good for you, that varies with your personal needs at the time. There's no such thing as good or bad food. I'm sure Ally would agree that even the foods she calls "junk" are ok once in a while for a treat.not the basis of an eating pattern. For example, I used to allow one trip per school holiday to a burger place.

 

[fergus]

Hi tigerlilly,

Just a couple of quick bits of advice. I have been trying out a new sweetener called Zsweet over the Xmas holidays. I was quite impressed that it tasted good and seemed to have very little effect on my blood sugar.

Second, I'd recommend a book called 'The Diabetes Revolution' by Professor Charles Clark. It's very concise, covers all of the important dietary advice, and comes with lots of great recipes too!

Good luck, and keep in touch

fergus

 

[tigerlily9813]

thank you so much for your help. i have been on ebay and brought some books and am going out on friday to get some more. i want to read up as much as i can on this to get it right. i have got a good book by andy warhol thompson with lots of recipes in it so that will be of great help. i havent got any test strips but i will ask my doctor for some. i am keen to get my blood sugar down as it was high on both readings 20 first and 16 with fasting. also just wanted to ask is pins and needles common and also does diabetes mess about with periods. im not complaining about not having one just wondering if that was normal aswell
thanks tracy xx

 

[Trinkwasser]

Be careful of "diabetic" cookery books, many of them push the Healthy High Carb Low Fat diet - which isn't. Dana Carpender comes recommended.

Sounds like you have the beginnings of peripheral neuropathy which should improve with BG control, mine never got beyond numbness, foot going to sleep and occasional pins and needles but now I have no symptoms - until my BG goes over around 8 when it comes back to bite me