• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Sugar

sugarfreelife

Member
Messages
9
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Good morning, I am very new to Diabetes having been diagnosed this month ( Feb) and I am trying to get my head around what I can and cannot eat, I have been told to not add salt sugar and very little fat to my cooking but when I look at some of the recipes I notice it is asking me to add them, can anyone enlighten me - I am type 2

I thank you in anticipation

Roz
 
Hi sugarfreelife and welcome to the forum :) I'm afraid I can't answer your specific questions but someone will be along soon to help you. In the meantime, as you were recently diagnosed, you will find this basic information useful. It was written by the forum monitors for newly diagnosed diabetics and includes information on diet:

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS.
Here is the advice we usually give to newly diagnosed diabetics. We hope that these few ideas gained through experience help you to gain control and give you some understanding of Diabetes. This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different.

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

This is NOT a low carb diet suggestion, just a reduction in your intake of carbohydrate. You have to decide yourself how much of a reduction will keep your blood glucose levels in control.

The main carbs to avoid OR reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, starchy root veg and also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

If you are on Insulin you may find that reducing the carb intake also means that you can reduce your dose of insulin. This can help you to keep weight gain down as Insulin tends to make you put on weight and eventually cause insulin resistance. This should be done slowly so as not to cause hypos.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating, then two hours after eating, you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels. Some foods, which are slow acting carbohydrates, are absorbed more slowly so you may need to test three or even four hours later to see the effect that these have on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.


As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try!!

If you are an Insulin user in theory you should have no problem getting test strips.

The latest 2010 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l........(Type 1 & 2)
2 hrs after meals......no more than 8.5 mmol/l.....( Type 2)

2hrs after meals....... no more than 9 mmol/l ......(Type 1)

If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do 30 minutes moderate exercise a day. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

The above is just general advice and it is recommended that you discuss with your HCP before making any changes. You can also ask questions on the forum on anything that is not clear.

Sue/Ken.
 
Roz,
Welcome.
I'm a type 2 too.
With respect to salt, I add as little as possible (usually zero), relying on the salts within the ingredient itself (meat has some salt naturally) :evil:
With regard to sugar, I usually use artificial sweetners. All carbs WILL convert to sugars so I tend to stay low carb. :twisted: :twisted:
Fat - there is the controversy for some but I try to keep my fat intake not too high and avoid low fat as it usually means added carb.
Good luck in your cooking as if you make it yourself you know what went in so you can fine tune your food to match what you want/need. :D :D
Fergus.
 
I too use absolutely NO added salt in cooking or when eating out, what is in the foods is plenty for me. Taste is not a problem as some seem to find, you soon get used to the more natural flavour of any food. I usually add spices such as Pepper instead, just as good and much more healthy that the salt.

Fats are kept to a bare minimum and you can eat low fat without adding carbs, just means reading nutritional information before you buy and don't believe all the low fat labelling you see !

Carbs are also kept to a minimum which allows good health and good Bg levels.....a compromise. I was recently down to 30g or less of carbs per day as I needed to lose a few pounds but now that is done I am back on 60 - 80g carbs per day. Works well for me but it is a constant vigil not to go over the limits I set myself. Moderation is the word......... :D
 
"Moderation is the word"- says the MODERATOR :lol:

I agree!
My Nephrologist told me to forswear all salt and that I wouldnt miss it after a few months. I never was heavy with salt but soon got used to salt-free and can tell if a cook is salt-heavy :shock:
Three years on I'm "no added salt" but because of the salt naturally in flesh I can't be "salt free" so I don't "sweat it" as the worry would raise BP even more :twisted:
 
SFL,

Ground black pepper is much healthier than salt to season food and tastes great too.

Nigel
 
Back
Top