Type 2 Struggling to understand diet

It would be nice if you could get the advice of a qualified dietician on this, but in my experience they are not up to date on the lchf research. I hope that someone on this forum will come along with the info that you need. There others that also have this fat dilemma.

The simple answer to your question is yes.
The key part of LCHF is the LC or low carb. The higher fat content is what we use for satiety but it can come from many sources. Are there specific types of fat that you wish to avoid ?
Is the meantime have a read of some of the recipes here
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb
and see if they get you inspired.

So could you eat something like avocado for example or olives?
Chicken? reasonable fat without too much saturated.

The joy of the LCHF diet is that as long as its low carb you can eat pretty much what you want. I don't particularly like a lot of fat on my meals and I cook with either butter or olive oil but let whatever is cooking 'drip off' or dab it with kitchen towel before it goes on my plate. I also tend to cut the fat off of steak because I don't like the texture but I prefer the meat with it cooked with the fat on because it gives it additional flavour.

There is no hard and fast rules - the essential thing for LCHF is to keep the carbs.

Hi I suspect that you will need to experiment a bid.

As others have suggested the key factor in controlling/reducing blood glucose levels is the amount of carbs you consume.

To establish to what extent you need to reduce carbs you need to monitor your level by testing prior to each meal and two hours after. Your after count should be within 2mmol of your before count. If higher your meal contained too many carbs and you need to reduce accordingly next time you have it. Keeping a diary of what you it and the related glucose counts will help in this regard. There are a number of apps that can help you do it.

As you cut down your carbs two things happen, you reduce the number of calories you consume and you deprive your body of the most readily available source of fuel. The body will respond by fueling itself through fat and or protein for its energy demands. If these alternative sources are not provided through diet the body will use its own stores to fuel itself, burning body fat for example.

Increasing protein intake in diet can not happen th o great extent without placing an undue burden on the kidneys. That is why increasing fat intake is often resorted to. But that may not mean adding heaps of butter and other fat to your food. It could translate to just choosing the full fat rather than low fat versions of food. I understand that you have a separate health issue that stops you consuming saturated fats. You could experiment with other fats such as olive oil (dressing on salads)

wendas1960 said:

Unfortunately I'm unable to check my bloods as my diabetic nurse has told me not to do it. I am confused by this as most of the diabetic people I know all check their blood. Maybe I should ignore her and get a monitor myself.

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Your nurse I'm afraid is following the guidelines but is wrong. You really do need to test to get a handle on what your blood sugars are doing when you eat certain things. Then you can include and exclude foods from your diet if they have a bad effect on your sugar levels. Because the NHS can't afford meters for all they seem happy to tell you not to test rather than be hinest and say you should test but will have to self fund.

You check before a meal and then 2 hours afterwards.

Best meter to get is the SD Codefree as the strips are the most economical
https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/
you want the mmol/l and don't forget to tick the "I have diabetes" box so you can save the VAT.
Strips can be bought in bulk with a further discount
5 packs x 50 use code: 264086
10 packs x 50 use code: 975833
Hope that helps a bit.

wendas1960 said:

Hi. Can anyone help me. Is there a version of the LCHF diet that doesn't have a lot of fat in it. I am type 2 and my hba1c is 58. My diabetic nurse says if I go over this I will have to take medication however I have an autoimmune disease called PBC which affects my liver and would be unable to take the medication. I know LCHF lowers blood levels but with the PBC I have problems tolerating high quantities of fat. I need to get my hba1c down in the next 3 months as I have to go back to see her with a better result

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Many people don't realise that an LCHF diet does not have to be fat heavy specifically . If you are overweight ?? your body will supply the fat part so its not necessary to actually eat high quantities of fat . So if you eat good quality above ground vegetables, good quality meats, fish, seeds, nuts , avocado, then it won't matter that you haven't specifically added in extra fat. The critical part is to get rid of the processed carbohydrates and eat real foods - and for veggies focus on above ground ones. ,

If you are not overweight the nuts and seeds add a huge amount of calories and fat to any diet.

wendas1960 said:

Hi. Can anyone help me. Is there a version of the LCHF diet that doesn't have a lot of fat in it. I am type 2 and my hba1c is 58. My diabetic nurse says if I go over this I will have to take medication however I have an autoimmune disease called PBC which affects my liver and would be unable to take the medication. I know LCHF lowers blood levels but with the PBC I have problems tolerating high quantities of fat. I need to get my hba1c down in the next 3 months as I have to go back to see her with a better result

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No you do not have to eat high saturated fat as in meat or full fat dairy if you can't tolerate it. You can get the fat you need from good oils like olive rapeseed and coconut oils for cooking and salads..I dollop olive oil on my salads.. also olives avocados nuts and oily fish

wendas1960 said:

Unfortunately I'm unable to check my bloods as my diabetic nurse has told me not to do it. I am confused by this as most of the diabetic people I know all check their blood. Maybe I should ignore her and get a monitor myself.

Click to expand...

The reason health care professionals say not to test is because if they were to tell you to test they would have to issue you with a meter and then prescribe the test strips which, as you say, can work out expensive. As I see it, not testing is a bit like driving a car with a blind fold on - how could you possibly know when you're doing the right thing?

Don't forget to keep a note of what you are eating and the result of before and after testing. Some people use a spreadsheet others a notebook, it is a big help to spot what is raising your Bg levels. You may find that wheat or corn products also affect you. Try each meal twice to be sure that your readings are true, then try to reduce the difference between the before and after readings. If you are still feeling peckish then some olives, a little cheese, some high percentage chocolate might help if they don't exacerbate any other conditions.