Dear All,
I know it’s completely normal to feel knocked off your feet by a diabetes diagnosis. I know I was – even when ‘only’ diagnosed pre-diabetic!
It took me a little while to discover what I needed to do to wrestle back control of my health from my rising blood glucose/sugar levels, and search for the answers to my questions as they arose. And once I discovered this site I found all the information you could need is contained in the forums and in the extremely helpful information for newcomers that Daisy1 seems to send to every new member who introduces themselves.
As I’ve read through the forums, I’ve noticed regular posts from new(ly diagnosed)comers who are understandably shocked, scared and confused and feel they don’t know where to start. So I wondered if it might be helpful to write a sort of overview of what I’ve learned. Something along the lines of the information I would have liked to have seen in one place when I first started searching. Of course, more experienced and much more knowledgeable posters have already noted all this information but I hope that by starting a new thread and bringing it to the top of the pile newcomers might be reassured a little before going into the forums and researching the topics in depth.
Note: This is really aimed at those who are diagnosed pre-diabetic or Type 2. If you are Type 1, on insulin or have specific queries about medication please reach out to other more experienced posters.
‘BG’ = Blood Glucose (i.e. Blood Sugar)
The importance of keeping a food diary
For the first month or more after diagnosis – or as soon as you are able to start – keep a food diary listing EVERYTHING you eat and drink and at what time.
The importance of testing
Unless you’re Type 1, it’s likely you’ve been told you don’t qualify for a free BG meter, you don’t qualify for free testing strips, and you really don’t need to test at all.
I think the polite response to that is Baloney! If you don’t test your BG, you can’t control your BG. Search the forums for info/recommendations for Meters.
FBG (Fasting Blood Glucose) – test first thing in the morning before eating anything – record in your food diary. Research ‘Dawn Phenomenon’ if necessary.
Before eating – test just before eating. This will be your ‘baseline’ against which you’ll measure your after eating tests. Record result in your food diary along with a description of everything you eat/drink.
1 hour after eating – test again. Record in your diary.
2 hours after eating – test again. Record in your diary*
* - if your 2-hour test result is LOWER than your 1-hour result you can stop testing. If your 2-hour test result is the same or HIGHER than your 1-hour test, keep testing every 30 minutes (and recording the results) until it starts to decrease.
The ‘ideal’ result would be to see only a small rise from your baseline test at the 1-hour mark and a return to/or very near to your baseline test at the 2-hour mark. A big rise at the 1-hour mark means you’ve eaten something (probably carbs – see below) that has ‘spiked’ your blood sugar. A long, continued rise past the 2-hour mark likely means that you’ve eaten something that is spiking your blood sugar but over a longer time (like a ‘slow-release’ whole-grain) OR that you’ve eaten something (such as fat – that will slow down the speed of the spike) alongside the food that’s causing the spike.
Keep a food diary/full test results for at least a month or two. It’s best to eat and test each meal at least 3 times within that time period as BG results will differ depending on the time of day and your physical/emotional well-being. The diary/test results combo will give you an extremely good idea of what spikes your blood sugar and, therefore, what you need to avoid eating in order to avoid the spikes and reduce your BG overall. Search the Forums for information re BG levels to aim for and the reasons why you don’t want to spike your blood sugar.
Dietary advice from the NHS
If you’ve had any dietary advice you’ve either been told to “carry on as you are, just eat ‘healthily’” – or you’ve been given more specific advice which likely tells you to eat (‘healthy’ amounts of) carbohydrates/starches* at every meal. (*Carbohydrates/starches are wheat/grain products (bread, pasta, pastry etc.), root vegetables, potatoes, rice, etc.)
Your food diary/test results will most likely show that when you eat carbohydrates/starches your blood sugar spikes/rises and is generally less controlled. So – against NHS advice – you could do what so many people do on these forums and follow a LCHF diet.
LCHF – Low carb – HighER fat
LCHF = Low Carb High Fat, but should really read as Low Carb HighER Fat. All that means is that when you reduce/remove carbs from your diet you need to replace them with something. And that something should be fat! I know, it’s shocking isn’t it?! You should not replace the missing carbs with greater amounts of protein. But ‘fat’ doesn’t mean any old fat. There’s a lot of information for you to look at about the whys and wherefores but what you need to know to start with is that you should NOT be eating Vegetable oils, hydrogenated and trans-fats. You should be eating good/beneficial fats – and they are saturated fats (yes, you heard right) such as Olive oil, coconut oil, lard (I know!), duck/goose fat, avocado.
I know it’s scary. We’ve all been told that fat – especially saturated fat – causes heart disease and does all sorts of nasty things to the body. Do lots of research – you’ll see that story has been pretty much completely debunked. Also search the forums for information about people who follow the LCHF diet and have lowered their Cholesterol levels – it’s not what you were expecting is it?
You’ll only know how many or how few carbohydrates your body can handle through testing.
LCHF isn’t the only answer – and it’s absolutely your choice as to whether you eat LCHF or not. All this is intended to do is to give you some starting information as to how you might best control – and eventually reduce – your BG levels. Search the Forums and other low carb diabetes info sites for lots of information/recipe ideas. http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf is a great site with lots of information.
Sugar/Fruit
You already know to stay away from biscuits, cakes, sugar in your tea/coffee, etc. but fruit is healthy right? Well. Yes. And. No. The fruit we generally like to eat is the sweet stuff – apples, grapes, bananas, tropical fruits like pineapple and mango, etc. This is the sort of fruit you’re probably going to have to avoid like the plague to begin with. To see what you can and can’t eat – eat then test. Most of the advice on these forums and other sites will tell you that berries are your best bet – blue- straw- and raspberries. Again, each of us are different. Research information on sugar and carb levels in your favourite fruits – and then test yourself. Your food diary/test results will soon show you which fruits benefit you and which don’t.
Emotions
This was/is the big one for me. I knew – for years – that grain-carbs (wheat/oats particularly) made me unwell. I had severe IBS – pain, gas – bloating, full-on acid reflux every night – you name it I suffered with it. I knew why I shouldn’t eat sugar. But I was so addicted emotionally and physically that I couldn’t even imagine ever being able to give them up.
Despite training as a clinical hypnotherapist years ago to try to help myself, it wasn’t until I learned a technique called EFT (aka ‘Tapping’) that I was able to really get to grips with my emotions. And I’m still working on them. Don’t blame yourself because you know you should ‘do’ something about your health/diabetes but find you can’t. There’s nothing wrong with you and you are not morally flawed. Most of us learn – some to a greater degree than others – to use food to cope with life. We both soothe and reward ourselves with food – we commiserate and celebrate with it. And our ‘drug’ of choice usually comprises the very carbs and/or sugar that so badly affect our blood sugar. On a physical level these sorts of foods once eaten spike a release of dopamine in the brain – the pleasure chemical – and that only adds to the emotional comfort we receive from eating these foods. That’s why the idea of giving them up feels like death! But if you deal with the emotional reasons driving your addiction to/cravings for these foods you WILL be able to give them up. Some people find looking at pictures of diabetic complications is enough to shock them into action. Some people might consider therapy. Some read self-help books, some keep journals. I happen to tap! Do whatever works for you to enable you to take back control of your health. You are worth it and you can do it.
Little bit about me – I self-fund my own meter and testing strips (use TrueResult and buy (half price compared to Boots) testing strips via Amazon). Using a food diary/regular testing I’ve got my BG down to ‘normal’ levels – in fact haven’t gone above 5.5 at all over last four weeks or so. Latest HbA1c – 5.7%. Following LCHF diet – but not carb counting. Have lost weight but it’s slowing now – still got a lot to go so might just have to start thinking about portion control (gulp – baby steps people, baby steps!)
Please feel free to correct this post or add to it if I’ve missed out something important.
I hope it’s been helpful. Good luck.
I know it’s completely normal to feel knocked off your feet by a diabetes diagnosis. I know I was – even when ‘only’ diagnosed pre-diabetic!
It took me a little while to discover what I needed to do to wrestle back control of my health from my rising blood glucose/sugar levels, and search for the answers to my questions as they arose. And once I discovered this site I found all the information you could need is contained in the forums and in the extremely helpful information for newcomers that Daisy1 seems to send to every new member who introduces themselves.
As I’ve read through the forums, I’ve noticed regular posts from new(ly diagnosed)comers who are understandably shocked, scared and confused and feel they don’t know where to start. So I wondered if it might be helpful to write a sort of overview of what I’ve learned. Something along the lines of the information I would have liked to have seen in one place when I first started searching. Of course, more experienced and much more knowledgeable posters have already noted all this information but I hope that by starting a new thread and bringing it to the top of the pile newcomers might be reassured a little before going into the forums and researching the topics in depth.
Note: This is really aimed at those who are diagnosed pre-diabetic or Type 2. If you are Type 1, on insulin or have specific queries about medication please reach out to other more experienced posters.
‘BG’ = Blood Glucose (i.e. Blood Sugar)
The importance of keeping a food diary
For the first month or more after diagnosis – or as soon as you are able to start – keep a food diary listing EVERYTHING you eat and drink and at what time.
The importance of testing
Unless you’re Type 1, it’s likely you’ve been told you don’t qualify for a free BG meter, you don’t qualify for free testing strips, and you really don’t need to test at all.
I think the polite response to that is Baloney! If you don’t test your BG, you can’t control your BG. Search the forums for info/recommendations for Meters.
FBG (Fasting Blood Glucose) – test first thing in the morning before eating anything – record in your food diary. Research ‘Dawn Phenomenon’ if necessary.
Before eating – test just before eating. This will be your ‘baseline’ against which you’ll measure your after eating tests. Record result in your food diary along with a description of everything you eat/drink.
1 hour after eating – test again. Record in your diary.
2 hours after eating – test again. Record in your diary*
* - if your 2-hour test result is LOWER than your 1-hour result you can stop testing. If your 2-hour test result is the same or HIGHER than your 1-hour test, keep testing every 30 minutes (and recording the results) until it starts to decrease.
The ‘ideal’ result would be to see only a small rise from your baseline test at the 1-hour mark and a return to/or very near to your baseline test at the 2-hour mark. A big rise at the 1-hour mark means you’ve eaten something (probably carbs – see below) that has ‘spiked’ your blood sugar. A long, continued rise past the 2-hour mark likely means that you’ve eaten something that is spiking your blood sugar but over a longer time (like a ‘slow-release’ whole-grain) OR that you’ve eaten something (such as fat – that will slow down the speed of the spike) alongside the food that’s causing the spike.
Keep a food diary/full test results for at least a month or two. It’s best to eat and test each meal at least 3 times within that time period as BG results will differ depending on the time of day and your physical/emotional well-being. The diary/test results combo will give you an extremely good idea of what spikes your blood sugar and, therefore, what you need to avoid eating in order to avoid the spikes and reduce your BG overall. Search the Forums for information re BG levels to aim for and the reasons why you don’t want to spike your blood sugar.
Dietary advice from the NHS
If you’ve had any dietary advice you’ve either been told to “carry on as you are, just eat ‘healthily’” – or you’ve been given more specific advice which likely tells you to eat (‘healthy’ amounts of) carbohydrates/starches* at every meal. (*Carbohydrates/starches are wheat/grain products (bread, pasta, pastry etc.), root vegetables, potatoes, rice, etc.)
Your food diary/test results will most likely show that when you eat carbohydrates/starches your blood sugar spikes/rises and is generally less controlled. So – against NHS advice – you could do what so many people do on these forums and follow a LCHF diet.
LCHF – Low carb – HighER fat
LCHF = Low Carb High Fat, but should really read as Low Carb HighER Fat. All that means is that when you reduce/remove carbs from your diet you need to replace them with something. And that something should be fat! I know, it’s shocking isn’t it?! You should not replace the missing carbs with greater amounts of protein. But ‘fat’ doesn’t mean any old fat. There’s a lot of information for you to look at about the whys and wherefores but what you need to know to start with is that you should NOT be eating Vegetable oils, hydrogenated and trans-fats. You should be eating good/beneficial fats – and they are saturated fats (yes, you heard right) such as Olive oil, coconut oil, lard (I know!), duck/goose fat, avocado.
I know it’s scary. We’ve all been told that fat – especially saturated fat – causes heart disease and does all sorts of nasty things to the body. Do lots of research – you’ll see that story has been pretty much completely debunked. Also search the forums for information about people who follow the LCHF diet and have lowered their Cholesterol levels – it’s not what you were expecting is it?
You’ll only know how many or how few carbohydrates your body can handle through testing.
LCHF isn’t the only answer – and it’s absolutely your choice as to whether you eat LCHF or not. All this is intended to do is to give you some starting information as to how you might best control – and eventually reduce – your BG levels. Search the Forums and other low carb diabetes info sites for lots of information/recipe ideas. http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf is a great site with lots of information.
Sugar/Fruit
You already know to stay away from biscuits, cakes, sugar in your tea/coffee, etc. but fruit is healthy right? Well. Yes. And. No. The fruit we generally like to eat is the sweet stuff – apples, grapes, bananas, tropical fruits like pineapple and mango, etc. This is the sort of fruit you’re probably going to have to avoid like the plague to begin with. To see what you can and can’t eat – eat then test. Most of the advice on these forums and other sites will tell you that berries are your best bet – blue- straw- and raspberries. Again, each of us are different. Research information on sugar and carb levels in your favourite fruits – and then test yourself. Your food diary/test results will soon show you which fruits benefit you and which don’t.
Emotions
This was/is the big one for me. I knew – for years – that grain-carbs (wheat/oats particularly) made me unwell. I had severe IBS – pain, gas – bloating, full-on acid reflux every night – you name it I suffered with it. I knew why I shouldn’t eat sugar. But I was so addicted emotionally and physically that I couldn’t even imagine ever being able to give them up.
Despite training as a clinical hypnotherapist years ago to try to help myself, it wasn’t until I learned a technique called EFT (aka ‘Tapping’) that I was able to really get to grips with my emotions. And I’m still working on them. Don’t blame yourself because you know you should ‘do’ something about your health/diabetes but find you can’t. There’s nothing wrong with you and you are not morally flawed. Most of us learn – some to a greater degree than others – to use food to cope with life. We both soothe and reward ourselves with food – we commiserate and celebrate with it. And our ‘drug’ of choice usually comprises the very carbs and/or sugar that so badly affect our blood sugar. On a physical level these sorts of foods once eaten spike a release of dopamine in the brain – the pleasure chemical – and that only adds to the emotional comfort we receive from eating these foods. That’s why the idea of giving them up feels like death! But if you deal with the emotional reasons driving your addiction to/cravings for these foods you WILL be able to give them up. Some people find looking at pictures of diabetic complications is enough to shock them into action. Some people might consider therapy. Some read self-help books, some keep journals. I happen to tap! Do whatever works for you to enable you to take back control of your health. You are worth it and you can do it.
Little bit about me – I self-fund my own meter and testing strips (use TrueResult and buy (half price compared to Boots) testing strips via Amazon). Using a food diary/regular testing I’ve got my BG down to ‘normal’ levels – in fact haven’t gone above 5.5 at all over last four weeks or so. Latest HbA1c – 5.7%. Following LCHF diet – but not carb counting. Have lost weight but it’s slowing now – still got a lot to go so might just have to start thinking about portion control (gulp – baby steps people, baby steps!)
Please feel free to correct this post or add to it if I’ve missed out something important.
I hope it’s been helpful. Good luck.
