pre dieabates

Hello and welcome @Seaview007

I understand that being told told you were pre diabetic with no other help must be very scary. There is some good news though. First you have stumbled upon what I think is the best resource in the world for diabetics (and those with pre diabetes ) and also being prediabetic means you can take some steps to assist you in delaying or preventing you ever becoming a diabetic.

First- take a deep breathe - it is going to be okay.

Second- what you will need to be aware of is carbohydrates - all carbs not just sugar and yes including the healthy carbs.

The first step I would recommend is to read around here- when I was first diagnosed I was able to learn a lot quite quickly by just reading around here.

The second thing I would recommend is to get a meter. As someone with pre diabetes you may find that you only need to reduce your carb intake a little to get your levels well within the normal range. However, you won't know what level of carbs your body can tolerate without testing.

Whether you can and should continue to have sugar in your tea is really a question for you. I had already given up sugar in both tea and coffee many years before being diagnosed so it wasn't a call I had to make. I did change from milk to cream in coffee and also now add salt. I won't lie- it did take a period of adjustment but now I wouldn't have my coffee any other way.

Good luck and welcome.

VashtiB said:

Hello and welcome @Seaview007

First you have stumbled upon what I think is the best resource in the world for diabetics (and those with pre diabetes )

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Read that a few times and think maybe that's an exaggeration..... but...
When you've toured around this place a coupe of days I think you'll agree with the statement.
When I was first diagnosed there was no way I was going to be able to stick to anything count and measure anything etc.
High fat diets what the hell kind of stupid is that?
Long story short if you don't understand anything or disagree speak up.
Ask questions.
Challenge what you are told if need be.
Not just a great place a place full of great people willing to share their experiences and knowledge but for me... a life changer and life saver.
Now you've landed don't be taking off again.

I was a two sugar in a cuppa person but I went to half a teaspoon straight away and hardly noticed any difference.
Haven't had any sugar in a brew for a long time now and can't imagine how on earth I ever enjoyed it like that.

If you want sweetened tea maybe think instead about alternative sweeteners such as stevia or erythritol, either alone in combination, as these should have no effect on your glucose levels. Try Natvia - available from Ocado or Tesco; there are other brands too but sometimes these may have additives which may not be so good for pre-diabetes, so learn to read and understand the nutritional content of foods, etc, particularly their complete carbohydrate content not just sugar - one of the reasons a getting and using a meter is important too!

JTL said:

I was a two sugar in a cuppa person but I went to half a teaspoon straight away and hardly noticed any difference.
Haven't had any sugar in a brew for a long time now and can't imagine how on earth I ever enjoyed it like that.

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Wife just reminded me about me going to none sweetened tea... I did it by forcing myself to drink almost a half cup of tea which I wasn't enjoying and the rapidly making a fresh one taking an unsweetened sip and then adding just about a half teaspoon and what a difference!
That half teaspoon suddenly tasted great!

Robbity said:

If you want sweetened tea maybe think instead about alternative sweeteners such as stevia or erythritol, either alone in combination, as these should have no effect on your glucose levels. Try Natvia - available from Ocado or Tesco; there are other brands too but sometimes these may have additives which may not be so good for pre-diabetes, so learn to read and understand the nutritional content of foods, etc, particularly their complete carbohydrate content not just sugar - one of the reasons a getting and using a meter is important too!

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Rob I know a few people who are happy to use artificial sweeteners and that's fine but for me I decided to fight the urge for sweetness.
I no longer crave sugar... that is until I see my wife's bar of chocolate and then... you know how it goes.
I'm happy to be imperfect!

@JTL I have a somewhat carboholic husband who has shopped & cooked for himself since retiring, and what he fills the fridge & his tum with doesn't bother me.

I was advised against sugar on diagnosis, and the only time I've craved it since was soon after when I had a few very minor false hypos. But I do like sweet stuff , and investigated alternative sweeteners after I decided to start low carb baking. I was somewhat surprised that my body knew the difference between them and "real" sugar, and personally I see no reason why I can't/shouldn't use these alternatives, if they don't interfere with my glucose levels,.

ETA I prefer the term "alternative sweetener" for those like I use, as opposed to other more synthetic varieties.

Hi

Going into a flat spin when diagnosis seems pretty common which isn't really surprising.

Try to get on with sensible changes to your lifestyle whilst you spin!

Unfortunately brown sugar - or honey, or syrup etc. - is no better than white sugar. It might help to drink something different for a while - maybe water with a slice of lemon, or jasmine, green or rooibos tea (no milk, no sugar) or even fruit teas at least for a while. (I hate fruit teas, I find them nearly all far too sweet)

If you live on your own I think it's far easier to make dietary changes than if you have a partner and/or family to worry about. However as you are pre-diabetic it won't take much to control and hopefully reduce your HbA1C.

Hopefully you have been prescribed some iron tablets, and vitamin D is easy to buy on the Internet - I take 4,000Iu per day from October to March. It should be D3 in whatever you take, and apparently it should include vitamin K2 as well. I found the following on the difference between K1 & K2:

"Vitamin K1 is principally transported to the liver, regulating the production of coagulation factors, while vitamin K2 is transported to extrahepatic tissues, such as bone and the vascular wall, regulating the activity of matrix Gla protein (MGP) and osteocalcin (bone Gla protein)"

Seaview007 said:

hi new on here ( but extremely worried) had bloods done at doctors as i have a gurgling tummy making huge noises ( not sure if related to pre menopause ) so bloods came back low iron vitiam d then sugar levels up !! they said im not dieabates but pre so now im terrified what to eat any help on here i ise to have two sugars in my tea am i allowed one sugar in my tea cod i have brown sugar instead any info please

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https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html this might help some, in figuring out what to eat or drink. And yeah, brown or white sugar, doesn't really make a difference... It's still sugar. I found straight erythritol or stevia to ruin the flavour of my hot drinks, but the mix of those two (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pure-Via®-Stevia-Sweet-Granules/dp/B07T14JNXB?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1) was excellent to tide me over until I could appreciate unsweetened tea/coffee/anything. It's very sweet though, so you don't need as much as you would with regular sugar. A packet is expensive, but it'll probably last you a year or longer.

You're going to be okay. Get your Vitamin D and iron up, your blood sugars down. All of which can be absolutely done. And you'll feel like a new person!
Hugs,
Jo

I think you'll find that sugar is highly addictive and the more you have, the more you want. I've cut out all added sugars (including cakes, biscuits, cereals, chocolate, etc) about a year ago. Once your taste buds get used to not having sugar, you don't really want it! I sometimes use a very small amount of honey or maple syrup in herbal teas - at least those have some added benefits. Also, if you cut out added sugar, your taste buds get more sensitised to sweet tastes and even a tomato will taste a lot sweeter!