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Test Results Quandry

B

Bigbaz

Member
Messages
19
Location
Newcastle upon Tyne
Hi

My HBA1c level has increased, I’m not sure by how much yet as I have to wait to see my Doctor. Prior to the test I had been diet control only for 3 months as I refused to take any more Metformin in any form as it totally took my life away.

I bought some test strips (not easy on the state pension) after confirmation of the increase as my Doctor would sooner throw pills at me than help me to stay off tablets by prescribing test strips. Anyway the readings I’m getting are confusing me as I’ve been trying to find out what is increasing my sugar levels.

In the morning when I get up I’m between 5.4 and 5.9 so I’m pleased with that.

Breakfast is cereal with sweetener and two hours later I’m getting between 9 and 12.3. I changed the milk from long life to semi skimmed with no difference, so I reduced the portion size which can’t be described as generous and changed the sweetener and I got a 9 this morning. Is cereal a no no, what’s the alternative, I have to live within a budget.

I get a snack at dinner time, usually a small tin of tuna with red cabbage and or a small amount of cheese and a slice of whole meal bread with marg and I get results between 4.1 and 5.3 after 2 hours again good.

For the evening meal which again cannot be described as generous I’m finding results again after 2 hours of between 8.6 and 10.5 which are not the end of the world.

Now comes the quandary, today being Sunday I had a Sunday dinner, roast beef cauliflower, peas and roast potatoes as midday meal and got a reading 2 hours after of 6.5 which I was very pleased with but for my evening meal I had tuna and red cabbage with a slice of bread and marg and after 2 hours I got a reading of 8.6 which is ok I know but why is it far higher than if I’d ate it midday.

I’ve only been testing for 6 days, perhaps not long enough to get a true picture and I know my readings are not really high but I would love to get them down even more.

Can anyone offer any insight please.

Barry
 
There will be far more experienced people to give you lots of advice but here's some of the things I've learnt so far.

Cereal is a no no for a low carb diet although it maybe some are better than others. Someone will advise you on that. I'm not a cereal eater except for crunchy nut cornflakes which are definitely a no now!

I've been having a couple of slices of bacon and an egg for breakfast or natural yogurt with frozen raspberries. Just as a couple of ideas. But I do miss my toast. There are low carb breads too but I haven't tried any of them yet.

The bread will spike BG too. Are you moving around more after lunch and perhaps sitting more after dinner? If you're moving then that will help take down BG and could be the difference.
 
Cutting the breakfast cereal out will help. And cutting the roast spuds and bread out. I have had to do this but it works.
 
Hi Bigbaz you’re very wise to get a meter, now you can already see that cereals for breakfast are not wise. How does an eggs and bacon fry up sound? Bread has also brought bad results for you. Roast potatoes are usually not a good choice but you appear to have ‘got away’ with that one, possible because you had them with a fatty meat. Any small amount of carbs are better tolerated if eaten with fat. I can get away with eating a few raspberries or strawberries, so long as I eat them with double cream or full fat Greek yoghurt. You may also find that your tolerance of carbs varies through the day, personally I can eat more carbs at my evening meal than at lunchtime.
 
You are obviously new, or have not spent much time in this forum.
Many members (at least hundreds and probably thousands) here have proved over several years that all the accepted dietary advice for both Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes is completely wrong and is almost guaranteed to make things worse!

You need to drastically cut down on Carbs. It males no difference if they are Low GI and Whole grain - they are still converted to glucose in your blood! To a T2 Diabetic they are a mild poison. - So no Breakfast cereals, not even porridge, no toast or bread, fruit juice. No potatoes (sweet or otherwise). no pasta (with possible exception for re-heated pasta), no pizza. For some there is also no milk (but cream is fine), again some can't tolerate any root vegetables.

So what can you definitely eat? - Meat, the fattier the better, same with fish, butter, cream, cheese, eggs, leafy veg, cauliflower, broccoli, avocado. In moderation you may be able eat the following (check with the meter): beans, peas, tomatoes, berries and some other fruit - but not bananas and other high sugar fruits.

Eat to your meter, we are all slightly different because of genetics and out gut bacteria. Calories In - does not equal Calories Out - it depends upon how they are processed by your individual digestive system. Generally on a Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) and Protein diet most people lose weight and reduce Blood Sugars while eating the same (or even more) Calories. Even without additional exercise. Though obviously for most, a moderate calorie reduction and moderate exercise is a good idea!

Another way to reduce weight and blood sugars id to restrict eating to just an 8hr or a 6hr period each day. This is called 'Intermittent Fasting' (IF) and also works.
Personally I use LCHF (count the Carbs - not the Calories) with occasional IF.
 
I wish I could eat bacon and egg but I’ve never enjoyed it except in a bun covered in tomato sauce so that a no no. As for fruit, again I don’t like it and due to another medical condition I have to keep vitamin C levels down. Yogurt I cannot think of anything worse so I think I’m in for an uphill struggle. I think the next step is to ask to see a dietician although my last encounter with one was less than helpful as she hadn’t heard of another condition that I have!
 
Thanks for the reply, I’ll have a look to see if I can find some low carb bread. Bacon, yogurt etc are not for me.
 
Bigbaz said:
I’ve ditched the cereal this morning, the roast potato well that was only one cut I not three and I will reduce bread.
Click to expand...
Might be an idea if you told us what your favourite foods are so we can make suggestions on stuff you actually like to eat?
 

I think your right with eat to the meter and I’m going to reduce in the first instance rather than completely cut out things such as bread, cereal has gone already even though I love it.

Over the last three months I’ve increased exercise by walking tremendously, I’ve lost 12 lbs so I am doing something right. Re intermittent fasting well I already do that as I tend to eat over an eight hour period plus two exceptions one being a cup of green tea in the evening and one that I cannot give up a half cup of low sugar fruit juice during the night. I have that because I have to use a cpap machine which leaves my mouth so dry that water alone or even cleaning teeth makes no impression so there is no way I’m giving up the juice unless I can find a viable alternative.
 
I don't usually eat breakfast, but if you don't like bacon and egg how about sausages? High meat content sausages are ok. Also mushrooms and tomatoes. Kippers are good too.
A substitute for cereal is chia seeds. They are cheap and available in most supermarkets and healthfood shops. Black chia seeds are best. Soak some overnight in any sort of milk, almond, soya, hazelnut or cow's milk - full fat is better than uht or semi/skimmed. You can add any flavouring or some sweetener. It's a bit like semolina in texture.
 
Bigbaz said:
I’ve ditched the cereal this morning, the roast potato well that was only one cut I not three and I will reduce bread.
Click to expand...
Ditching the cereal is a good move. Bread's bad, spuds too.... I'm thinking what'd work for breakfast if not eggs and yoghurt, but you could just go for meat? High meat content sausages? Chunks of salmon with some dill? Or, well, personally, I just have tea in the morning. Cheap and very low carb. (It's the carbohydrates that spike your bloodsugars). If you have a substantial meal for lunch and dinner, that'd work better than keeping things sparce... I usually go for a salad for lunch, just get a baggy of greens, toss in a can of tuna, capers, olives, and mayo, bob's your uncle. Or apple cider vinegar with softened goat's cheese in the leafy greens? Cheese and cauliflower, meat, fish or poultry, bunch of herbs or spices tossed in for dinner? For snacks, cheese, olives, extra dark chocolate, possibly with sugar free whipped cream or clotted cream? I'm just throwing suggestions out there. What do you love to eat? As for the fruit juice, that's.... That's really bad. As in, it's what a T1 could use to pull them out of a bad hypo, it's that carby and hits the system that fast. Viable alternatives may be a gulp of cream, coconut/almond/soy milk, bulletproof coffee (Coffee with MCT oil, coconut oil and butter. or just butter. Tastes a LOT better than it sounds!!!!).
 
bulkbiker said:
Might be an idea if you told us what your favourite foods are so we can make suggestions on stuff you actually like to eat?
Click to expand...

I have to eat as best I can a balanced diet, a little bit of everything. That said I have to avoid foods that are high in iron or have iron added so basically tiny portions of red meat and even some vegetables are all I’m allowed. I’m not a fish lover bar tinned tuna or tinned salmon, shell fish are banned. Oily fish such as mackerel I can only tolerate on a very rare occasion. Fruit I don’t like, never have and now I need to keep vitamin C levels low.

This was never going to be easy.
 
Bigbaz said:
I have to eat as best I can a balanced diet, a little bit of everything.
Click to expand...
That advice of moderation in all is what got many of us in a mess. As you point out another condition means you shouldn’t eat too much iron. Diabetes means you shouldn’t eat many carbs. Fruit isn’t great for diabetics so it doesn’t matter much you don’t like it. ( most of it is high sugar, doesn’t matter that it’s natural, it’s still sugar)

So a little red meat is ok, and white meats and poultry should work.

So you’ve told us what you don’t like, what do you want to eat? And why do you think you can’t? We may be able to suggest alternatives or reassure you that it is in fact ok on a lchf diet to eat it.

I’ll put some links below which might get you thinking. Try clicking these links for more detailed explanations that are well worth readings

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog/jokalsbeek.401801/ for info including low carb made simple as jo explained above.

And https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/success-stories-and-testimonials.43/ to show it really works and for motivation

and https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/what-have-you-eaten-today.75781/ for food ideas

also https://www.dietdoctor.com/ for more food ideas and general info of carb content of foods. Lots of other websites for recipes out there too. Just use the term low carb or keto with whatever you fancy.
 
Also the CPAP machine might not be the only reason your mouth is dry. I have regularly drunk almost a litre of water over night due to dry mouth which I put down do to breathing through my mouth. But then discovered that high blood sugar will do that too. Drinking the fruit juice maybe adding fuel to the fire.

Maybe Google keto recipes and see if there is anything that inspires you.
 
Tinned fish is fine. (Especially if they're in good oils, not brine). And a little bit of everything...? Thing is, there's 3 macro nutrients: Fat, Protein and Carbohydrates. Fats don't do anything to mess up your bloodsugars. Protein, well, they do cause a little blip, but that's okay. Carbs, they make your blood sugars skyrocket. And you don't actually need them: You can get all the macro nutrients (vitamins, minerals) from fats and protein. So the "balanced diet" with "a bit of everything" is, for a T2, a disaster. You have a metabolic disorder, you can't process the glucose that the carbs turn into, back out of your body. It gets stored in fat cells, it floats around your bloodstream damaging organs, eyes, veins... See it as an allergic reaction. If you can't tolerate peanuts, you don't eat them. If you can't tolerate carbs, same thing. Just something to mull over.

No-one said it was going to be actually easy.... I have migraine triggers and rheumatism agitators to consider, that narrows my menu too. Others here are coeliac's, or have autism an cannot tolerate the structure of certain foods, etc etc.... It's a lot to contend with. And yet we still manage, somehow. It's not hopeless. It's a puzzle.
 
I am in a comparable situation to you. Living on state pension and marginal T2 prediabetic.
Initially on Metformin. Once under control, my GP refused to prescribe test meter as I was not on medication. Well, a T1 I knew had a spare meter which they gave me; I registered it with the manufacturer who said it was out of date, and sent me (free of charge) a replacement. I then approached the nurse at the GP practice, who said my meter was not one the practice usually recommended and arranged for me to get the approved make, together with a prescription for lances and test strips (!) Very reassuring that I can now test my blood sugar and see when failure to stick to my own rules sends me hyper.
As for diet, this is important but needs to be balanced with exercise. I try to make it a rule to have at least ten minutes brisk exercise after every intake of carbohydrate, so total of over half an hour every day.
With carbohydrates, I try to only eat a half portion of what a healthy person would have. If non-carbohydrate, I eat a bouble portion (two eggs, not one) If I eat a ready meal with rice, I throw away half the rice. If anyone offers you a biscuit, break it in half and only eat that. Obviously, cut out all loose sugar (cheat: I add a quarter spoon of sugar to my porridge, no milk).
For bread, never buy a pre-sliced large loaf. I always buy a small wholemeal loaf and slice it thinly - so carbohydrate content is only about a quarter of that in a pre-sliced large loaf. I have eaten my last Danish pastry!
The other advice people have offered is excellent. The advantage of having a meter is that you can see what works for you.
Keep it simple, and good luck.
 

I bought some Chia seeds today but they weren’t cheap, question though how much do you need for a breakfast.
 
bulkbiker said:
Might be an idea if you told us what your favourite foods are so we can make suggestions on stuff you actually like to eat?
Click to expand...

Okay I like pastries especially cheese and onion pasties. I’m good with vegetables but have to eat very small quantities of some like cabbage and sprouts due to the iron content.

Salad I can eat but it’s a once a month thing, that said I like onion of all kinds cut up and mixed with tinned tuna.

Beef I like but again iron content is a problem, corned beef I’m unsure about, pork is fine but not chicken, I cannot stand it.

Cheese I love as I do deli meats, cannot stand anything with garlic though.

Chinese and Indian food I like but stopped those a while ago.

Sausage I can take or leave, I prefer beef but again iron content. Going to try some for breakfast perhaps with tinned tomato.

Eggs are okay but not all the time. Fruit I cannot have which is fortunate as I don’t like it.

Pasta not a great lover of it. Fish is not a favourite, tinned tuna or salmon being the best. Sardines on toast are okay but I know the bread has to go. Fish from the chippy I like.

My breakfast cereal was my favourite meal of the day and now that’s gone as has cheese on toast as a snack.

Basically I could go into a supermarket to find a dinner and come out with nothing.
 
Bigbaz said:
I bought some Chia seeds today but they weren’t cheap, question though how much do you need for a breakfast.
Click to expand...
Not a lot. Mixed with milk they swell. Say 3/4 of a cupful.
 
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