Newbie

I'd strongly recommend testing your blood glucose when eating. That will show you what foods do to your blood glucose levels. All carbohydrates - that is both starches and sugars - are digested to glucose and so will raise glucose levels in the body. Starches are found in things like bread, rice, pasta, cereals, oatmeal etc. The question is how well our bodies can deal with those levels of glucose, both in terms of lowering them naturally through insulin action and avoiding damage from high glucose levels.

The essence of the T2 problem is that we cannot deal properly with carbohydrate (including sugars). That means that if nothing else changes and we continue to eat a high-carb diet, we are likely to end up with abnormally high levels of glucose in our system - not just in blood, but saliva, sweat, tears, the vitreous and aquaous humours in the eyes, etc.

The problem with that is that those levels of glucose will damage both nerves and capillaries, and that can lead to physical problems. I developed neuropathy in my feet while my blood glucose was around 44/45 mmol/mol, which is far from the highest, and that was only one of a large number of really unpleasant symptoms. Other people seem to be able to tolerate higher glucose levels without obvious difficulty.

My conclusion back in 2019 was to cut the problem off at source by cutting back drastically on carb eaten. That worked for me, very quickly and effectively, and I haven't had anything other than normal blood glucose results since January 2020*.

Best of luck. This forum is a great resource, and questions are strongly encouraged.

*Edit for clarity - my last "non-normal" HbA1c was in early January 2020. The next one in April 2020 (and all HbA1cs since) was normal - 38 iirc.

993Lady said:

I was just diagnosed a few weeks ago - landed me in the ER. My sugar has dropped, but I am still very under-educated on this matter. However, my husband has had T2 for years. Maybe we can learn together? Does anyone know of a specific fruit or veggie, etc., that makes a big difference? Thanks.

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Hello and welcome to the forum. It's well worth having a good read around - you'll find that there is variation in what works best for people.

The key thing for many of us is reducing glucose levels, and the intake of carbohydrates as starches and sugars is the biggest single influence on that. So rather than eating something to reduce BG levels (not that anything like that really exists), it's more a case of what you don't eat instead.

993Lady said:

Thanks for your post! It really helps me get a better perspective on all this. Sometimes I worry that I might not be able to safely drive. However, I am on tablets (Januvia and MetFORMIN) and monitor my glucose almost daily. I have so much to learn! I don't like finger sticks as I am a professional clarinet player. Sigh.

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As a pianist and organist I found that using the fleshy side of the finger tip caused fewer problems. Also ear lobes!

Mark Rawlinson said:

Often thought of trying ear as I suffer badly with chillblaines, it wow the hell do you see what you are doing ?
mirror ?

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Yes, I used to use a mirror, but it felt like trying to cut your own hair. I got used to it, so that I could give my fingers a rest!