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Nixterjoe

Active Member
Messages
40
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I havent been ‘officially’ diagnosed yet but high reading on 1st blood of 9.4(79) have been left for 2 months to changed diet and exercise, i am struggling with the low carb as i dont really know what i am doing and have not been told what to do either.. any tips will be great fully received
 
Welcome to the forum!
Here’s a guide written by one of the forum members. Have a read and come back with any further questions you might have:

The Nutritional Thingy

There’s a few things you should know. 1. Practically all carbs turn to glucose once ingested , so not just straight sugars, but starches...
josekalsbeek.blogspot.com

Edit to add, credit to @JoKalsbeek
 
Hi @Nixterjoe That was exactly 'me' at the start of this journey! The first reading of the day is more often than not high (ish) so it would be helpful to check just prior to eating and then two hours later. It's perhaps too early to give advice if you've not been diagnosed or know which tyoe you could be, but if you cut right down on high carb foods such as bread, rice, cereals, potatoes, etc it will certainly help.
 
Rarely any of us were told what to do... And those who were, got outdated advice more often than not! So you're certainly not alone there. Dietdoctor.com might help too, aside from The Nutritional Thingy. . (No need to register and pay, loads on there is free!). If you have questions, throw them out there, there's always someone around with answers!
Jo
 

thank you… its a jungle out there but will keep going
thanks for the advice
 
can anyone let me know about what sort if levels of carbs/protein/fats i should be aiming for on a daily basis
 
Nixterjoe said:
can anyone let me know about what sort if levels of carbs/protein/fats i should be aiming for on a daily basis
Click to expand...
Hi @Nixterjoe and welcome to the forum.
There are no set levels because Type 2's (and Type 1's) are all different, some react more strongly to carbohydrates than others, also more to different carbohydrates. So testing blood glucose before a meal and then 2hrs after first bite is the best way for a Type 2 to judge the affect of those foods on their own body.

For example, some can eat a small portion of whole oat porridge for breakfast , but that would spike my blood glucose far too much. So when I still ate breakfast it was strictly eggs (no bread) for me!
At first people think that the GI of food would tell them which foods were best for them, but the GI is based on results from a few people (and not diabetics) so it can be misleading. In general 'Low Carb' starts at roughly up to 130gms of carbs per day, but in some cases we need to go much lower than that. I'm OK in remission with between 20gms and 40gms of carbs per day and can even have a few squares of 90% dark chocolate within that.
But some others eat below 20gms of carbs per day, which is strictly Keto territory!

So far as Protein is concerned we need a minimum of amount of 1gm of protein (not 1 gm of protein containing food) per 1kg of weight per day. Athletes require more.
The eat enough fat to satiety, in general I found it best not to cut calories, so I ate more fat (traditional fat - not these so called vegetable oils which are actually industrially produced seed oils for lubricating machinery) to compensate for the reduction in calories from Carbohydrates. Don't fear animal fat, most find that their Cholesterol/lipids gets no worse or actually improve when eating traditional fats like butter, cheese, fatty meat and fatty fish.
 
Don't worry about Protein and fats, carbs are the only thing to restrict, unfortunately it's trial and error to work out what your body can cope with, and this requires a meter to test just before eating a meal, and 2 hours after, to assess the effect. By doing this you quickly learn which foods to avoid, we're all different and react in various ways as to what we can eat.
the main things to avoid are, Bread, Potatoes, Rice, Pasta, Pastry, most fruits, but berries are ok in moderation.
Avoid any processed foods. A simple way to look at things is to think, would a caveman have access to that, if no you have your answer.
DON'T be afraid of fats, Butter, Lard, Dripping and proper olive oil for cooking. Avoid seed oils like the plague.
Substitute fats and protein for any carbs you drop, ie increase the amount so as to not fell hungry. Eggs, Cheese and Cream are your new best friends
DON'T buy low fat foods, buy FULL fat varieties. They usually taste better anyway.
Above all else test, test, and test some more, at first it's a lot of testing strips, but usually within a month you will know most of the foods to base your meals on. At that point testing becomes a much rarer requirement.
 
Nixterjoe said:
can anyone let me know about what sort if levels of carbs/protein/fats i should be aiming for on a daily basis
Click to expand...
I find that I can eat butter, cheese, double cream, cream cheeses ect as much as I wish to because I don't need to lose weight (in fact they all helped me to lose the 18lbs I needed to) but you have to find what fits for you. Bacon and eggs is a FAB breakfast with no carbs, so no insulin spike. Carbs raise insulin ... insulin makes the body store fat ... so lower the carbs and number of times you eat between meals. So the fewest is carbs, then next is protein then most is fats for good diabetic health. The less often you eat (graze) the better
 
Last edited:
Hi @Nixterjoe and welcome
I agree with all the posters above about low carb, but none of them have yet mentioned getting a bg test kit and testing your own levels, usually immediately before eating and then again 2 hours after.
This will quickly show you which foods you can eat and those which raise your bg too much. Aim for a rise between the 2 readings of no more than 2.

@Rachox has some info on meters

And also, don't rush or panic, there's a lot to learn and new habits to adjust to. It's not going to happen overnight, and there's plenty more to read about yet
 
@Nixterjoe , here’s some info on 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 pre diabetes or diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for all meters and strips)
 
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