Hi I’ve just been diagnosed as Pre-Diabetes. I had a fasting blood glucose test done and it came back as 6.4 so my doctor said to diet and exercise to reduce it also to keep an eye on it. The doctors surgery gave me a meter but I don’t know how often I should do a test. I done my first one as soon as I got up this morning and it was 7.1 I’m not following a specific food plan as I wasn’t advised to but I go to weight watchers. Can anyone advise me how often I should test and whether I should be following a specific plan please? Thank you!
Pre-Diabetes Info
- Thread starter Tracey62
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There is no Spoon
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Hi Tracey,
Get of the weight watchers diet strait away.
They use the Old Very Very Wrong idea that low fat food means you lose weight.
As your pre diabetic your trying to cut down on sugar all low fat foods have added sugar in them this is Bad For You.
Very Simple version.
You have to much sugar in your blood stream called blood glucose (bg)
You body can do 2 things with this bg use it as fuel for muscles or turn it into fat,
to store as fuel for a later date.
So if your eating weight watchers recommended meals, low fat with added sugar you will be putting on weight. Unless you are running a marathon ever day to burn up all the bg.
There are plenty of diet options to go for if you want to lose weight fast, I'm not a fan of the fast part. Why starve yourself to lose weight in 8 weeks when you can eat enough to be full and lose weight in 10 weeks. Makes sense to me.
When people are put on a diet they are told to eat less and exercise more.
- The 2 things that are guaranteed to make them hungry.
- Then there told to eat more fruit and carbs for the hunger.
- The 2 things that are guaranteed to raise your bg levels
- Raised bg mean you put on weight.
Try looking into Low Carb diets. www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb
- Reduce your carb and fruit intake will lower bg levels
- Exercise will burn up the bg in the blood
- With less sugar in your blood your body will break down your fat stores.
And that's about as simple as it gets Tracy ditch the weight watchers it will not work for you.
Last edited:
daisy1
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@Tracey62
Hello Tracey and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it interesting and useful. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will help.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS
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 well over 235,000 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:
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
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.
Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.
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 blood glucose 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.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.
Hello Tracey and welcome to the Forum
Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it interesting and useful. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will help.BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS
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 well over 235,000 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
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
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.
Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.
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 blood glucose 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.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.
- Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
- Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
Alison Campbell
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Hi Tracey
Welcome to the forum. I would recommend following the advice above to reduce the carbs including sugar from your diet.
Fasting test and testing before and two hours are food will really help you see what is causing your blood sugar to rise. Not for ever but until you find out what diet will keep your levels normal.
Have you had a HBA1C test?
Hi Tracey,
Get of the weight watchers diet strait away.
They use the Old Very Very Wrong idea that low fat food means you lose weight.
As your pre diabetic your trying to cut down on sugar all low fat foods have added sugar in them this is Bad For You.
Very Simple version.
You have to much sugar in your blood stream called blood glucose (bg)
You body can do 2 things with this bg use it as fuel for muscles or turn it into fat,
to store as fuel for a later date.
So if your eating weight watchers recommended meals, low fat with added sugar you will be putting on weight. Unless you are running a marathon ever day to burn up all the bg.
There are plenty of diet options to go for if you want to lose weight fast, I'm not a fan of the fast part. Why starve yourself to lose weight in 8 weeks when you can eat enough to be full and lose weight in 10 weeks. Makes sense to me.
When people are put on a diet they are told to eat less and exercise more.
Crazy isn't it.
- The 2 things that are guaranteed to make them hungry.
- Then there told to eat more fruit and carbs for the hunger.
- The 2 things that are guaranteed to raise your bg levels
- Raised bg mean you put on weight.
Try looking into Low Carb diets. www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb
You lose weight.
- Reduce your carb and fruit intake will lower bg levels
- Exercise will burn up the bg in the blood
- With less sugar in your blood your body will break down your fat stores.
And that's about as simple as it gets Tracy ditch the weight watchers it will not work for you.
What he said.
The meter is about as useful as the bottom half of a mermaid without a diet plan aimed at blood sugar control. If you are overweight, substantial carb reduction will work in your favour anyway.
Such a pity your given meter from docs surgery, and yet not explained followed up same time, re guideline of when or how many times to test. At least thankfully your Doc raised awareness you diet and exercise good recommendation you can start your own little planning on your new lifestyle change and exercise routine whilst you search information, seems an updated Doctor on what to recommend in the best interests of a patient with diabetes. Perhaps go back to the surgery ask for more help guidance regards daily weekly checking of blood sugars with your meter, if no success, get back to your doctor to see if he can guide you as each persons situation is different and what expectancy is required to check blood sugars accordingly. I would double check for peace of mind to allow you set a plan for yourself, based on advices you receive.
Hope this suggestion box helps.
JohnEGreen
Master
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This is the advice given by weight watchers to those who have pre-diabetes.
Eat a variety of foods, including veggies, whole grains, non-fat dairy, healthy fats, and lean proteins.
Choose lean protein (skinless chicken or turkey, lean ground beef, fish, shellfish, egg whites, lowfat/nonfat dairy, tofu)
Grab whole grains (look for items like wild rice, brown rice, quinoa, oats, millet, buckwheat noodles)
Go for fresh fruit
Not the best of advice to my mind.
Though one or two items not too far off but I think if you kept religiously to that you would most likely become a full blown T2 in time.
Eat a variety of foods, including veggies, whole grains, non-fat dairy, healthy fats, and lean proteins.
Choose lean protein (skinless chicken or turkey, lean ground beef, fish, shellfish, egg whites, lowfat/nonfat dairy, tofu)
Grab whole grains (look for items like wild rice, brown rice, quinoa, oats, millet, buckwheat noodles)
Go for fresh fruit
Not the best of advice to my mind.
Though one or two items not too far off but I think if you kept religiously to that you would most likely become a full blown T2 in time.
Ricky
Well-Known Member
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Hi Tracey62,
I have managed prediabetes for 15 years without medication using a low carb/low GI diet + exercise. I have the problem because it is inherited however if you have the problem because you are overweight you are lucky as all you have to do is lose weight and the problem will go away unless you start eating badly again.
Basically no pasta, rice, bread, cakes, sugar, potatoes. Re bread you need to look for a low carb bread. The best one around since Lidl stopped making their high protein rolls is Sainsburys Hi Low bread. You need to look at the carb value of everything you buy. Stick to 30g per meal or less. This might sound drastic to you but you can eat meat, fish, eggs, nuts cheese, cream , sweet potatoes and other veg but NOT parsnips, - best to stick to green veg. Re fruit , best to have any berry rather than other fruit and the best advice I was ever given was to eat fruit WITH a meal not on its own. Eat 3 meals a day and wait until you are hungry i.e. don't snack unless its the likes of celery and cucumber also peanut butter is a good filler. Do not worry about fats on a high protein low carb diet.
Someone above mentioned the Low Carb Program . Do it as you will learn loads of recipes.
If you like cooking there are loads of coconut flour/almond flour recipes for cakes. I make my own chocolate with 50% coconut oil to 50% cocoa, add sweetener of choice (I use natural xylitol) and flavouring (chilli and sea salt, orange whatever) , mix pour into moulds and put in the freezer to set for 20 mins and keep them in the fridge!!
Oh yes don't go near diabetic no sugar biscuits as they are full of carbs.
Good luck.
I have managed prediabetes for 15 years without medication using a low carb/low GI diet + exercise. I have the problem because it is inherited however if you have the problem because you are overweight you are lucky as all you have to do is lose weight and the problem will go away unless you start eating badly again.
Basically no pasta, rice, bread, cakes, sugar, potatoes. Re bread you need to look for a low carb bread. The best one around since Lidl stopped making their high protein rolls is Sainsburys Hi Low bread. You need to look at the carb value of everything you buy. Stick to 30g per meal or less. This might sound drastic to you but you can eat meat, fish, eggs, nuts cheese, cream , sweet potatoes and other veg but NOT parsnips, - best to stick to green veg. Re fruit , best to have any berry rather than other fruit and the best advice I was ever given was to eat fruit WITH a meal not on its own. Eat 3 meals a day and wait until you are hungry i.e. don't snack unless its the likes of celery and cucumber also peanut butter is a good filler. Do not worry about fats on a high protein low carb diet.
Someone above mentioned the Low Carb Program . Do it as you will learn loads of recipes.
If you like cooking there are loads of coconut flour/almond flour recipes for cakes. I make my own chocolate with 50% coconut oil to 50% cocoa, add sweetener of choice (I use natural xylitol) and flavouring (chilli and sea salt, orange whatever) , mix pour into moulds and put in the freezer to set for 20 mins and keep them in the fridge!!
Oh yes don't go near diabetic no sugar biscuits as they are full of carbs.
Good luck.
StevePayne
Member
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bulkbiker
BANNED
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Weight watchers is a return customer business model... lose a bit of weight, stop eating their cardboard food, put the weight back on and rejoin.. wrecking your metabolism little by little each time...
dbr10
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Not sure why they gave you a meter without explaining how to use it. Ditch weight watchers. Test before meals and two hours afterwards to see how much your blood glucose rises in response to what you have eaten. It should be no more than 2 mmol. Then try to eliminate the carb heavy foods which cause the biggest rises.
Have a lok at Jenny Ruhl's site - http://bloodsugar101.com.
Basic way to get most out of your meter:
Test before eating.
Record what you ate.
Test again two hours later.
If it raises blood glucose by more than 2 mmol/l eat less of that type of food.
You will find it useful to count grams of carbohydrate rather than the 'of which sugars'
Basic way to get most out of your meter:
Test before eating.
Record what you ate.
Test again two hours later.
If it raises blood glucose by more than 2 mmol/l eat less of that type of food.
You will find it useful to count grams of carbohydrate rather than the 'of which sugars'
Resurgam
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It might not have been weight watchers I tried but the advice was similar, I was not diabetic, but I put on weight with their regime - it was the usual slimming club format, but there was no fine tuning for individuals. I did explain that I was eating far more on their plan than I usually did but the organizer just stared at me in blank disbelief.
I don't know how we ever got into this state, but there needs to be a revolution in thinking about diet and controlling weight.
I don't know how we ever got into this state, but there needs to be a revolution in thinking about diet and controlling weight.
Hi too have been diagnosed as Prediabetic and I am also a coeliac. Is there any specific advice that people can offer. I know gluten free bread tends to have higher carbs.
John
