Rising blood glucose readings

Welcome to the forum. Tagging @daisy1 for the welcome pack.

Are you still eating rice, pasta, bread, rice, breakfast cereals?

Frank68 said:

I am eating porridge, brown rice, whole meal seeded bread and whole meal pasta but none of these in quantity.

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However those are likely to be the culprits , as carbs turn to glucose once you've eaten them I'm afraid. Many T2's on these forums do well by going low carb.

Well done on getting a meter. Are you testing before and after meals to see the impact that different foods have on your bg levels?
Here's how to do that, test first thing in the morning before you start your day.
Test before the first bite of a meal then two hours after your first bite. The difference should be no more than 2mmol preferably less than that. The fewer carbs in your meal the less the the difference and this will gradually lower your overall readings. Keep a food diary and record your readings alongside what you have eaten and the amount of carbs in that meal. This will help you to learn which foods to cut down on, which foods to cut out and which foods you can pile on your plate without a second thought. Good luck.

Hi Frank!

Unfortunately it appears that in an effort to eat healthily, you’ve probably been turning to the very foods that will make things worse. It’s not your fault, everyone thinks they’re doing the right thing by turning to lots of whole grain breads and pasta. Sadly, they are a bad choice for anyone with any metabolic question marks over their health. The “whole” part of these foods is of little significance in this context. Most breads, for example, can spike blood glucose even more than table sugar. No matter what colour they are.

The good news is that you can still make informed choices that will hugely improve your long term health outcomes

Frank68 said:

I have been pre diabetic for 10 years but my last blood glucose reading was 6.5 or 50 which takes me into the type 2 diabetic range. For the last month I have cut out almost all sugar and got myself a home test kit. Can anyone tell me why my blood sugar has gone up significantly since coming off sugar? My average readings over this past week are now 7.7.

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Hello and welcome,

Yes, your HbA1c of 50mmol/mol is equivalent to an average meter reading of 8.1mmol/l (There is a converter here. https://www.diabetes.co.uk/hba1c-to-blood-sugar-level-converter.html ) You will see they are different measurement units.
So you are spending a lot of time above 8mmol/l. It will be because of your food choices. They may be healthy choices for people with a normal metabolic system, but sadly, diabetics (and pre-diabetics) have a dysfunctional metabolic system. The main culprits in raising blood sugar levels are bread, rice, pasta, potatoes and cereals - wholegrain varieties included. Fruit can also be a problem, as can milk.

Have a look at the dietdoctor website, which includes a list of foods and a list of foods to avoid or seriously reduce quantities.
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/foods#foodlist
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/foods#foodtoavoid
https://www.dietdoctor.com/

Please ask as many questions as you like, and meanwhile I will tag @daisy1 for her excellent introductory post.

I just wanted to add to the comments from the very knowledgeable guys above ... our BG is fickle. It can be affected by many things. Whilst food is the obvious one, our BG may go up if we are ill (or starting to feel ill) or stressed or in pain and even after some exercise. Whereas, things like alcohol and some exercise may bring our BG down.
Therefore, I wouldn't spend too long worrying about one or two odd readings but concentrate on a downward trend over a long time.

Frank68 said:

I am aware of the problem of carbs but have just gone over to whole grain versions of those I previously ate without increasing the quantity. I will try to reduce them and find low carb versions.

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Hi Frank, so your question isn't so much why are your glucose levels high (in the 7s) but why have they gone higher than they were before you cut out certain foods? Can you tell us what foods you have cut out?, have you replaced them with anything? I don't mean your wholemeal food because of course they will do the exact same to your glucose levels as white so you would expect your levels to stay the same as far as that goes. Are you able to give us a typical days meals, it really helps people to hazard a guess to your question.

Don't sweat early morning high numbers, they could be due to the dawn phenomenon, ignore them for now.

Much more important to measure before and after eating. Record your food, including portion size, along with your readings.

Download mySugr app to your phone. R cord your readings, after a few days it will estimate your HbA1c. I t is very motivating.

@Frank68
Hello Frank and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

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

Reduce your 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

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

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.
  

Frank68 said:

The problem I have got is that I have also got high cholesterol and cannot substitute high fat foods for carbs to satisfy my hunger.

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Why? Natural fats won't push up your cholesterol unless you are very unlucky. Unless your LDL and Trigs are through the roof, there is little to worry about anyway.

Frank68 said:

A typical days food could be as follows.
Breakfast. One rich tea biscuit, two cups of coffee, bowl of porridge with a small handful of grapes.
Lunch. Small tin of sardines on three pieces of whole grain, seeded toast.
Dinner. Three or four green veg, carrots, fish or meat plus a small potato or a vegetable omelette.

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There are a lot of carbs in that lot, which is why your BS levels are rising.

Porridge, grapes, 3 pieces of toast, carrots, potato. These are all carb heavy. What does your meter say about them?

Frank68 said:

A typical days food could be as follows.
Breakfast. One rich tea biscuit, two cups of coffee, bowl of porridge with a small handful of grapes.
Lunch. Small tin of sardines on three pieces of whole grain, seeded toast.
Dinner. Three or four green veg, carrots, fish or meat plus a small potato or a vegetable omelette.

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Hi frank, it's hard isn't it? I was surprised at the 'carbs' issue too. For example a handful of your grapes is probably about the same carb count as your ice cream, may as well have had that! I think the hardest thing is to get your head around the issue of 'healthy things' somehow being 'better', for most people generally grapes would give them more nourishment than a bowl of crisps, but if you looked at them carb for carb, then the effect on your glucose levels will be similar.