Recently Diagnosed & Confused

[k0ss0ff]

Morning,
I was diagnosed T2 on Friday and have spent most of the time since reading leaflets and website forums. My confusion at the moment is about food, i.e. what I should eat, what I should avoid etc. I was also told to test 2 or 3 times a week but I'd like to find out how what I eat affects my levels, advice please?
Is there a source for food advice that you can recommend? I've seen advice that says don't eat smoked fish more than once a week and information that says it's good for me. I hope it's good as I love smoked fish.
Also because of the job I do it's difficult to eat at the same time each day, I get up around 5.15 am most days and don't feel like having anything other than a cup of coffee at that time. :?:

 

[fergus]

Hi k0ss0ff,
Welcome to the forum by the way & I hope you find it useful as you get a handle on your diagnosis.
You're absolutely right - dietary advice can be extremely confusing, with contradctory opinions almost everywhere you look.
What I think you'll find here is a broad consensus on here that non-diabeic blood sugars can only be achieved by restricting dietary sugars and starches. The relevant question is then by how much should you restrict them? The answer is surely by as much as necessary.
This goes against much current NHS dietary advice which still seems to recommend that diabetics base their meals around starchy carbohydrates. This is outdated and very poor advice since starchy carbs are one of the principal sources of blood sugar.
Take a good look around at some of the many threads which discuss these issues, and feel free to ask any questions.
Oh, and no problem at all with smoked fish as far as I know - I love it too! Can't see the point of the dyed stuff though, unless the fridge light is broken and you need to see it in the dark :shock:

All the best,

fergus

 

[k0ss0ff]

"Oh, and no problem at all with smoked fish as far as I know - I love it too! Can't see the point of the dyed stuff though, unless the fridge light is broken and you need to see it in the dark"

LOL thanks Fergus, luckily I hate the dyed stuff as well. :mrgreen:

 

[DiabeticGeek]

I know it can be confusing at first, there are a lot of things to learn and this is made worse by the fact that there is a lot of outdated and just downright wrong information out there. Many GPs (and so-called "diabetes nurses") have a limited and somewhat out of date knowledge of diabetes - so your doctor won't necessarily give you the best advice. Also Diabetes UK publishes some pretty dubious information. So... how do you know who to believe? I suggest that you start off by talking to knowledgeable patients. They have been through it all, and are very highly motivated to find out the best possible healthcare strategy. Fortunately, you have come to the right place - this forum has lots of such people on it (as well as a sprinkling of professionals).

So, if you look around these forums you will find lots of good advice on diet - for example you might like start out by reading the "Newly diagnosed and so confused" thread. If you have a lot of time, then another thread that is worth reading is the NEW COMPLICATION !!! thread. This is bit long, and you have to ignore the odd outbreak of a minor flame war, but if you persevere there is a lot of really useful information in there.

Once you start to get to terms with this, I suggest that you get some books. There are some great books out there (as well as some dodgy ones) - you will see references to several in various postings, or you can always post yourself to ask for recommendations.

Lastly, about the smoked fish. I have never heard of this causing any problems specifically to diabetes management. There have been minor health scares suggesting that since there are carcinogens in smoke, smoking food isn't necessarily a very good idea. However, I have never seen any real evidence that smoked fish causes any health problems. So, since smoked fish is seriously low carb (which is what you should be aiming for) - I suggest that you eat as much of it as you like!

 

[hanadr]

I'm surprised that "the geek" and Fergus haven't put you on to THE BOOK
Dr. Bernstein's Complete Diabetes Solution. This book has everything you will need to know. It's not cheap, so try ebay and Amazon for secondhand copies or the library. However, in my experience, library copies are always out. It's american, so you may need to learn how to convert quantities. It even has meal plans.
good luck. You have found the right place and will be fine.

 

[k0ss0ff]

I'm surprised that "the geek" and Fergus haven't put you on to THE BOOK
Dr. Bernstein's Complete Diabetes Solution. This book has everything you will need to know. It's not cheap, so try ebay and Amazon for secondhand copies or the library. However, in my experience, library copies are always out. It's american, so you may need to learn how to convert quantities. It even has meal plans.
good luck. You have found the right place and will be fine.

Thanks for that. In a roundabout way they both did put me on to "The Book" by pointing me to various threads.
I'm grateful for advice from those who seem to have more expertise and sense than the so called health professionals.

 

[hanadr]

We who live with diabetes 24/7, have an interest in getting our care right. The medics can bury their mistakes.

 

[Katharine]

The course at http://www.dsolve.com will help. It's up and running again after being hacked.