Pre diabetic - sugar amount

[CatJA]

Hello there and so sorry to ask a daft question. I have started my journey to lower my number less than a week ago. I get the 130g or less for carbs but so confused about sugar! II get less than 25g of added sugar, when I google but what about sugar in foods. How much sugar in total should you stay below? Thank you and wishing you all a good evening.

 

[lovinglife]

No daft questions

All carbs turn to sugar so I only count carbs, I also avoid anything with added sugar but some foods like veggies, Greek yogurt, berries, have natural sugars, high cocoa chocolate has some added sugar but is also good for you in small amounts but those are counted in my carbs - I also avoid anything that has more than 5% sugar per 100g

Take your time to learn and be led by your metre readings, I’m on 20g carb a day you may not have to go as low as that and may be able to eat more carbs or you may find you have to go lower than the 130g a day

Are you testing before first bite and 2 hrs after starting your meal to see what effect the foods you are eating are having on your BG?

Your journey is very new and it can take time to get your head around everything, it’s a big learning curve and you’ll get there

 

[Chris24Main]

It's a question people have been asking pretty much as long as there has been sugar... you're in good company; it isn't daft at all...
Part of the trouble is that we start off thinking (I did) - I never add sugar to anything, so I already have zero added sugar.
I wasn't counting the honey, because that was "natural" - but your body doesn't care.
I wasn't counting the punnets of grapes, because that was fruit, but your body doesn't care.
I wasn't counting the orange juice, and I wasn't counting the bread, or the bran flakes..

As @lovinglife says - try not to get overwhelmed by this - the fact that you're here means you've decided to do something; that's amazing, but don't worry if it seems like a lot - the best way to learn about your own response to food, is to use a CGM (you don't need to use one forever, and there are trial periods) - and actually see what happens to your blood glucose when you eat different things.

You have time...

 

[CatJA]

No daft questions

All carbs turn to sugar so I only count carbs, I also avoid anything with added sugar but some foods like veggies, Greek yogurt, berries, have natural sugars, high cocoa chocolate has some added sugar but is also good for you in small amounts but those are counted in my carbs - I also avoid anything that has more than 5% sugar per 100g

Take your time to learn and be led by your metre readings, I’m on 20g carb a day you may not have to go as low as that and may be able to eat more carbs or you may find you have to go lower than the 130g a day

Are you testing before first bite and 2 hrs after starting your meal to see what effect the foods you are eating are having on your BG?

Your journey is very new and it can take time to get your head around everything, it’s a big learning curve and you’ll get there

Thank you for your kind words. I am not testing and no medication. Just had a text from doctor with a You Tube video last Thursday, saying I am pre diabetic. Another blood test in three months. I am reducing carbs and dropping weight (need to lose 7 - 10 pounds). I am going to eat what I want (within reason) for three days at Christmas.

 

[lovinglife]

You’re welcome, I strongly recommend you get yourself a meter, they are the biggest tool in your armoury, it’s difficult to know how your sugars are behaving if you’re not testing, like driving a car without a petrol gauge & a speedometer.

You will probably have to self fund as it’s rare that GPs will prescribe meters for T2 not on any meds let alone someone pre diabetic, test at first bite and 2 hours after first bite for each meal - to begin with you are looking for a rise of no more than 2, if it’s more than that try adjusting your carbs down a little, ideally you also want to be below 7.8 2hrs after but that may not happen at first until you get your carb level at what works for you. I know it’s a lot to take in but having a meter is really the best way forward to learn about your diabetes

I’ll tag one of our members @Rachox who has some info on meters that you can purchase

Keep asking questions and read around the forum and take time to learn

 

[CatJA]

You’re welcome, I strongly recommend you get yourself a meter, they are the biggest tool in your armoury, it’s difficult to know how your sugars are behaving if you’re not testing, like driving a car without a petrol gauge & a speedometer.

You will probably have to self fund as it’s rare that GPs will prescribe meters for T2 not on any meds let alone someone pre diabetic, test at first bite and 2 hours after first bite for each meal - to begin with you are looking for a rise of no more than 2, if it’s more than that try adjusting your carbs down a little, ideally you also want to be below 7.8 2hrs after but that may not happen at first until you get your carb level at what works for you. I know it’s a lot to take in but having a meter is really the best way forward to learn about your diabetes

I’ll tag one of our members @Rachox who has some info on meters that you can purchase

Keep asking questions and read around the forum and take time to learn

Thank you

 

[Rachox]

Hi @CatJA and welcome to the forum, here’s some info with links for 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.



If you’d like to try a free 15 day trial of the Freestyle LIBRE 2 plus (a continuous glucose monitor) follow this link:

Sampling | Diabetes Care | Abbott

 

[OrsonKartt]

Hi @CatJA and welcome to the forum, here’s some info with links for 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.



If you’d like to try a free 15 day trial of the Freestyle LIBRE 2 plus (a continuous glucose monitor) follow this link:

Sampling | Diabetes Care | Abbott

I second what everyone else said about getting a meter.

It really does help and after all you wouldn’t think about loosing weight without scales or sticking to the speed limit without a speedo.



-best thoughts in all events

 

[KennyA]

Thank you for your kind words. I am not testing and no medication. Just had a text from doctor with a You Tube video last Thursday, saying I am pre diabetic. Another blood test in three months. I am reducing carbs and dropping weight (need to lose 7 - 10 pounds). I am going to eat what I want (within reason) for three days at Christmas.

Hi - like others here i would strongly recommend testing before and after eating. It's the only way to see directly what foods affect your blood glucose most in the short term. You're not testing to see "how high you go" - the actual peak will probably be somewghere around 45 minutes after eating. You are testing to see how well your body deals with what you eat. Blood glucose levels will naturally rise (for everyone, diabetic and non-diabetic) after you eat anything that's digested to glucose - that is, all carbs - starches and sugars. The big question is how quickly your body can bring them down. BGs should be back to near the starting point after two hours, and this is where anyone with insulin resistance will probably have a problem.

I'm another 20g/day person - it's worked well for me. You probably won't need to be so extreme. Just remember that there are carbs/sugars in many foods that you might not think of at first - for example, milk has lactose, which is a sugar. The dietdoctor website https://www.dietdoctor.com/ has lots of basic carb information about foods. It's not just the percentage of carbs - it's the quantity eaten as well. So 10g (a teaspoon) of a 25% carb food (4g carb) has less carb than 100g of a 5% carb food (5g carb).

I was diagnosed about five years ago (9 December 2019), started carb reduction, and dropped to the 20g level straight away. I also took a day or two off at Christmas. That was a mistake - the biggest being having some Christmas pudding and a couple of mince pies. I was very ill for a couple of days. No idea what happened to my BG as I hadn't started regular testing then, but the high sugar experience after a few weeks without any was awful. Doesn't mean it will happen in your case, but just my experience.

Best of luck!