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Pre-diabetic and under weight

Magisham

Well-Known Member
Messages
152
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi. My partner has been type 2 diabetic for the last 4 years so I am well into the low carb way of eating to control his blood sugar (and it works!). A good friend of mine has now been told he is pre-diabetic. He is underweight at less than 8 stone so cutting out carbs would probably make him lose even more weight, which he doesn't want to do. I told him to try to eat lots of fat instead of high carb foods.....put butter on everything....., but he said he's been told he has raised cholesterol as well so is a bit worried about doing that. Don't know what else to suggest. Any ideas? He is vegetarian too. Thanks.
 
Putting ON weight is probably harder than shedding it. I'm T2 and a thin T2. I lost a lot of weight before diagnosis - in fact it was my loss of weight that revealed my diabetes. Your friend shouldn't worry about high fat foods, there's lots of research now that shows that fat intake doesn't put up cholesterol and the high fat thing rubbish and disproven.
I can't suggest a diet for a veggie - it must be doubly difficult, but I'm sure others will.
As an omnivore I adopted a LHCF diet and managed to get my BG uder contol and gain a couple of kilos weight too.
 
Have a look in the Vegetarian Diet section of the forum, which migh give you some food ideas for him - we do have a number of vegetarian (and vegan!) low carbers.

But some suggestions from my omnivorous low carb eating: nuts and seeds, nut oils and butters, avocados and avocado oil , olives and olives oil, full fat dairy - cream, cheese, butter, yoghurt? Veggies stir fried in various fats and oils instead of boiled, and served with various creamy or cheesy sauces. Berries and other low carb fruits served with double cream or yoghurt, and salads with full fat mayonnaise or oily dressings. Low carb bread, cakes, etc can be made from nut and seed flours, and would maybe help in that they are not going to look too fatty! Does he eat fish - if so salmon, mackerel, sardines are all nice and oily too. I think sometimes adding a little fat or oil to lots of different foods may be psychologically easier to accept than opting for great dollops of fats.

Our bodies apparently make most of our cholesterol anyway, so diet's not going to have any dramatic effects on that...

Robbity
 
You're right that cholesterol in the diet has little effect on blood cholesterol - for this reason it's never been UK public health advice for the general public to restrict it. However, the amount of cholesterol we make IS influenced by how much saturated fat we eat so diet can have an influence. It's also worth noting that cholesterol restriction is recommended if someone has familial hypercholesterolaemia.
https://heartuk.org.uk/cholesterol-and-diet/low-cholesterol-diets-and-foods/dietary-cholesterol
 
Mmm. I have always had high cholesterol, my dad died from heart disease at 55 and ate a low fat diet. I had eaten low for the last 40 years, I also do not eat meat. It made no difference to my cholesterol.
Over the last year I have seen the consultant in a large teaching hospital in the lipid clinic. I had the whole low fat diet talk which I said' I do all that already, been doing it for 40 years'. I came out angry and decided to LCHF.
I have never eaten so much cheese. The upshot is my lipids have fallen. The consultant doesn't really know what to say when I tell him I am eating more fat.
Everyone is different. If he has his bloods checked regularly, he could try increasing his fat intake a couple of weeks before the test and see what effect it has. Or increase his fats through oily fish and olive oil.
Like the introduction of LCHF, I think things are going to change. Deaths from heart disease are falling but we are getting fatter despite low fat. Diabetes is now a bigger problem than heart disease.
 
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