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Some tips

bigbear1979

bigbear1979

Active Member
Messages
28
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Does anyone have any tips on what to cut out my diet to reduce my sugar in take?
 
Hi @bigbear1979 and welcome to the forum! Obviously cut out sugar itself (replacing with sweeteners), sugary drinks, anything sweet like biscuits, cakes, sweets, and chocolate.
But apart from sugar you also need to cut down carbohydrates as much as possible, as carbs turn to sugar in our bodies. So bread, rice, potatoes and pasta should be limited as much as possible. Many of us on here, including me, follow a Low Carbohydrate High Fat approach to eating which does lower our Blood Sugar levels.
Do you know what your BS or HbA1c readings are?
 
You need to check food labels for sugar and carbohydrate amounts. It's best to avoid or limit anything with a sugar content of more than 3g per 100g, and a carbohydrate level of more than 5g per 100g.
 
bigbear1979 said:
Does anyone have any tips on what to cut out my diet to reduce my sugar in take?
Click to expand...
Very good question. (Credentials: Type 2 Diagnosed Oct 2015, metformin/diet/exercise, weight loss so far 90 lbs, waist loss: 8 inches.
This is a bit hard core but worth it - I feel 15 years younger (and 35 was a great age!!)
Cut out bread, rice, pasta, wraps, cereals - all contain carbs
Cut out hi Glycemic Index veg - e.g. potatoes, parsnips, carrots (GI charts can be found on the internet)
Cut out chocolates and sweets (except the 85%/90% stuff as a treat)
Cut out sugar, honey most fruit (fruit sugar is sugar)
Cut out all fizzy drinks and squashes. Water is much more refreshing

Think about food differently: Don't look for a low carb bread to make a sandwich when you could be looking at the alternatives to sandwiches try soups.
Don't look at low sugar sweets when you could be looking at alternatives to sweets - cheese? nuts? vegetables/

Added benefits - so much fitter (15 years younger). I feel healthier. I can stay awake at the right times of day. Blood pressure is now 100 over 70 having previously been high - even with meds. Resting heart beat 60. IBS - gone too.

It's tough - if you are looking for motivation - take a look at the potential side effects of not being able to manage your blood sugar. Sorry - I'm a great believer in being motivated by fear but I do not live in fear. I'm happy because I'm beating this. Good luck
 
bigbear1979 said:
Does anyone have any tips on what to cut out my diet to reduce my sugar in take?
Click to expand...
Hi @bigbear1979,

A good place to start would be to read through the basic information that @daisy1 provides for new members.
Read through the forums, look at what others are doing to manage their diabetes and ask questions about anything that you are not sure of.
 
@bigbear1979

Hello and welcome to the forum :) Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find this helps you with your food choices. Ask more questions and someone will be able to help.

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 over 150,000 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

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

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

LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program


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 bloodglucose 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.
 
Hi @bigbear1979 do you have a blood glucose meter? not all GP's will offer them, many will tell you not to test, however until you know which foods raise your blood sugars you can't get control.

I bought a SD code free meter as the test strips are amongst the cheapest - important when buying your own, I initially got mine from amazon, but can get direct from Home&Health.

Once you test before and after foods you should be able to see what raises your BG and eliminate or reduce them. Many T2 follow allow carb diet as a way to control their BG levels, there are separate forums on diet control. One word of caution we are all unique, so one person may be able to tolerate a slice of bread whilst others can't even have a crumb.

Take your time to read all the info Daisy has given and don't beat yourself up if you make mistakes, we are human!
 
Hi hb1ac 57 can't seem to get it down nurse wants me to take meds I don't think I need meds stuck what to do any suggestions please
 
Prem51 said:
Hi @bigbear1979 and welcome to the forum! Obviously cut out sugar itself (replacing with sweeteners), sugary drinks, anything sweet like biscuits, cakes, sweets, and chocolate.
But apart from sugar you also need to cut down carbohydrates as much as possible, as carbs turn to sugar in our bodies. So bread, rice, potatoes and pasta should be limited as much as possible. Many of us on here, including me, follow a Low Carbohydrate High Fat approach to eating which does lower our Blood Sugar levels.
Do you know what your BS or HbA1c readings are?
Click to expand...
I don't find out until Friday
 
Sean01 said:
Very good question. (Credentials: Type 2 Diagnosed Oct 2015, metformin/diet/exercise, weight loss so far 90 lbs, waist loss: 8 inches.
This is a bit hard core but worth it - I feel 15 years younger (and 35 was a great age!!)
Cut out bread, rice, pasta, wraps, cereals - all contain carbs
Cut out hi Glycemic Index veg - e.g. potatoes, parsnips, carrots (GI charts can be found on the internet)
Cut out chocolates and sweets (except the 85%/90% stuff as a treat)
Cut out sugar, honey most fruit (fruit sugar is sugar)
Cut out all fizzy drinks and squashes. Water is much more refreshing

Think about food differently: Don't look for a low carb bread to make a sandwich when you could be looking at the alternatives to sandwiches try soups.
Don't look at low sugar sweets when you could be looking at alternatives to sweets - cheese? nuts? vegetables/

Added benefits - so much fitter (15 years younger). I feel healthier. I can stay awake at the right times of day. Blood pressure is now 100 over 70 having previously been high - even with meds. Resting heart beat 60. IBS - gone too.

It's tough - if you are looking for motivation - take a look at the potential side effects of not being able to manage your blood sugar. Sorry - I'm a great believer in being motivated by fear but I do not live in fear. I'm happy because I'm beating this. Good luck
Click to expand...
Thanks for that
 
Sean01 said:
Very good question. (Credentials: Type 2 Diagnosed Oct 2015, metformin/diet/exercise, weight loss so far 90 lbs, waist loss: 8 inches.
This is a bit hard core but worth it - I feel 15 years younger (and 35 was a great age!!)
Cut out bread, rice, pasta, wraps, cereals - all contain carbs
Cut out hi Glycemic Index veg - e.g. potatoes, parsnips, carrots (GI charts can be found on the internet)
Cut out chocolates and sweets (except the 85%/90% stuff as a treat)
Cut out sugar, honey most fruit (fruit sugar is sugar)
Cut out all fizzy drinks and squashes. Water is much more refreshing

Think about food differently: Don't look for a low carb bread to make a sandwich when you could be looking at the alternatives to sandwiches try soups.
Don't look at low sugar sweets when you could be looking at alternatives to sweets - cheese? nuts? vegetables/

Added benefits - so much fitter (15 years younger). I feel healthier. I can stay awake at the right times of day. Blood pressure is now 100 over 70 having previously been high - even with meds. Resting heart beat 60. IBS - gone too.

It's tough - if you are looking for motivation - take a look at the potential side effects of not being able to manage your blood sugar. Sorry - I'm a great believer in being motivated by fear but I do not live in fear. I'm happy because I'm beating this. Good luck
Click to expand...
Gr8t advice I'm normally really good about dieting didn't know about veg I'm going to download a chart ..
 
Welcome Big Bear
There is great advice on this site and actual experiences in the Forums. Low Carb is very popular with T2
 
Not for the first time @Sean01 has been direct and right on with the advice. Your body can do it (and don't rush too hard) and you need the mental strength to overcome it all. Think of it as a test of your will and once you get there, you won't ever look back
 
No matter the issue @bigbear1979 there is always someone else around here to push you along, give you some advice, warn you to watch out for the basics that always escaped many of us when we started out and I'm one of the many that thank the experts who pulled me out, got me going and I can never repay that debt.

You'll be fine ... might not seem like that today or next month, but determination works wonders. Seen it, copied it and it's an experience you'll not soon forget. Targets are great and when they're reached, the pride is immense

Good luck mate

Mike
 
bigbear1979 said:
Thanks everyone for the advice it's really hard to know what's good for you
Click to expand...
It,s not hard to know what's good for you it,s all here, just copy and paste this thread in to you life and things will improve faster than you think
 
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