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

Told NOT to test BG and I must eat carbs.


Yes, the treatment was far different, and cancer was only just being openly spoken about too! It was so secretive a subject, the big C-word was hardly mentioned. Seems incredible nowadays. It was two weeks from seeing her GP to her operation, but as you say, the modern approach to minimise surgery is so much better. My Mum's surgery totally changed the way she felt about herself, which was the only negative. She'd been widowed since I was 9 and did have a serious chance to re-marry, but she saw herself as deformed almost, and wouldn't go through with it. I'm sad about that but we're grateful to have had our Mum for so long!
BWs for your continued good health!
 
@Blueszoo, Thank you. That is so sad for your mum. Thank goodness we are no longer in the dark ages as regards cancer. Most ladies now chose to have reconstruction/implants following mastectomies, which makes all the difference to how they feel about themselves, and of course these were not available in the 1960's. Such a shame it spoilt her life in that way, but wonderful she is still here to tell the tale. Best wishes to her.
 
Thanks for your reply. I have researched it a bit more now. The dawn phenonmenon apparently. I have heard it is to do with hormones and your liver doing a glucose dump. Mine are really high though and I am still feeling tired.
 

Thank you. No I am talking about a morning reading. I am totally confused that is why I sound confusing. It is all becoming a bit clearer slowly but surely.
 
My doctor told me to eat carbs. When I started to say what I had read online, he interrupted me with, "Don't believe what you read online! They don't know what they are talking about!" I calmly said, "None of them?" He replied, "The only website you should be reading is *diabetes.co.uk*. AHEM.......
 
I was diagnosed with type 2 12 years ago and then a few years later I was diagnosed with type 1 and through all this time I have been encouraged to eat a high carb diet, which definitely did not suit. I tried a medium carb diet, which worked a lot better for me. At present my diabetes is not well controlled, but I will work on it. For the first few years I was fine. I have now been given a meter where I can adjust my Insulin to the food I eat, which is trial and error. I will learn what suits me. It does make my blood boil that the Health profession still encourage us to eat a high carb diet, when this raises blood sugar.
 

I do feel it's a bit like guerrilla warfare sometimes!
 
I'm in my second week since being diagnosed with type 2, and like a lot of people on this forum I've soaked up an enormous amount of information from here, from the NHS and other sites where the dietary recommendations are somewhat different. Here is what I think is going on:

The LCHF methodology espoused here along with frequent self testing is clearly, to me, more optimal. My body's production of, or ability to use, insulin is deficient, and I need to reduce my carb intake to match my body's ability to deal with it. I will do this by careful analysis of what carbs are in which food, by frequent testing pre-and post meals, by learning what my body copes with well, and what it doesn't. I will lose weight, and I will exercise effectively, and I will understand the way my condition adapts to these changes over time.

The motivation, the discipline, the knowledge and, let's be frank, the ability to do all these things is not universal within the population.

Let's imagine that there is a population of a million type 2 diabetes patients and the NHS changed its tack and put them all through the education and support needed to follow the course we espouse here. A significant proportion of this million people, maybe 50%, maybe more, maybe less, simply couldn't do this. They's mess up the carb counting. They'd screw up the testing. They'd cross-contaminate with other family members. Many of them will have other health complications, heart trouble for example, and would make them worse through eating the wrong fats etc. The self-discipline needed to follow this path would falter quickly. Understanding test readings and responding and learning appropriately would be lacking. In short, and not to be patronising, to a significant proportion of our million patients, we'd be doing them a great disservice.

So, the NHS tells our million patients to stop eating junk, to eat balanced meals consisting of "good" carbs, fibre, proteins and low fat. To take more exercise. To take their meds as prescribed. To visit the health care team when advised and to let the professionals take the test and to interpret the results for them. This isn't bad advice per se. The overwhelming majority of our million patients will be in better health and have better blood glucose control if they followed this advice than they would have had if they had continued in their old ways. The NHS is promoting a typical "healthy" lifestyle rather than one especially focused for type 2 patients, in the belief that this will, in general, be to their advantage. The advice is simple, consistent and practicable.

So, the advice perpetuated through the NHS is a compromise designed to provide some benefit to the majority. Those of us here, who probably DO have the discipline, the motivation, the knowledge and the ability to take control of our own illness the way we espouse herein, this advice is far from optimal, and we therefore discard it in an informed and confident manner. Good for us.

But, to be fair to the health care professions, dealing with a million of us, the majority of whom are NOT like us here, they are dealing with a population of type 2 patients who are in general, different from us. A truly great practitioner will recognise patients like us, and deal with us differently, but they would be exceptional, I fear.
 
Excellent post @Monday12

The problem lies in your last sentence. They fail to recognise the few of us that do benefit from testing and low carbs, despite seeing our good control and low levels. I am still being told to eat jacket potatoes with baked beans.
 
A better compromise for me though would be to start with the low-carbing advice that many of us follow on here, accepting that many people will not get the message. That has to be better than starting with the compromised advice, which may be OK for non-diabetics but isn't for us. Medical professionals need to learn more about what really happens with T2s in practice and NICE need to change their guidance accordingly. It won't happen overnight though.
 
"The NHS is promoting a 'typical' healthy lifestyle rather than . . " All this is fine for the "typical" person, it is NOT FINE for a diabetic - THAT is the disease that they should be confronting, and specifically!
 

I have heart problems and since I low carb high fat my blood reading have all become normal .. I was offered "palutive" care so had nothing to loose with the high fat part of the LCHF diet ... But what a change .. Have lost lots of weight .. Feel great ..
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I can understand that after years of being told low fat, high carb is the best diet that it maybe hard to change tack.. But they are professionals and should be constantly updating their knowledge. I wouldn't be happy if my mechanic kept hitting my car with a big hammer instead of getting try smart black box thing he uses now so why should I be happy being told I have a lifetime of meds it look forward to and keep eating the carbs. I lived on jacket spuds and beans and it got me here. That said, I don't think it is one size fits all even on the dropping carbs spectrum. If you've lots of weight to lose you won't shift it on a high fat intake either.. I found upping fats to a moderate level and cutting carbs alongside portion sizes is what helped me most. A fairly simple message but one that I guess many don't want to hear. I know that those attending my DESMOND course just wanted life to go on as before so were happy to hear eat brown bread instead of white, or have a handful of grapes instead of sweets. Little wonder that the medical profession see it as a progressive disease and "us" as not helping ourselves. Have been reading some of Prof Taylor's stuff and he more or less says that most type 2s won't lose enough weight and that control/reversal is only for those who become " health motivated " on diagnosis. So that's us on here, but in rest of NHS caseload . I doubt it.
 
I have a friend the same age as me, without the heart problems .. He got his T2 years before me .. He and his family are very happy for him to follow the Dr's advice .. He's not testing and eating lots of whole grains and carbs .. Lot of low fat products. I don't live near him but every time I see him he is looking unwell, peeing for England (his words) drinking fluids by the gallon .. I offered to test his sugar level .. He declined .. The Dr TOLD him NOT to test ..
My point is ... If the Dr had told him to LCHF and Test regular I know he would .. But he trusts the medical Advice ..
Why o why do people trust complete strangers with a badge that says I know more than you (Doctor) .. They don't care what happens to you or your body .. (To quote my own Dr)... It's just a job !..
In a way I am very lucky my medics are horried .. It made me stand on my own and sort out this T2 thing
 
My father in law is exactly the same, even though he has seen what low carbs have done for me. Mind you he blames everything but the alcohol for his trials and tribulations and all his illnesses and problems. He insists the doc is right!
 
My father in law is exactly the same, even though he has seen what low carbs have done for me. Mind you he blames everything but the alcohol for his trials and tribulations and all his illnesses and problems. He insists the doc is right!

There's a strong history of alcoholism on one side of my family.
And I am absolutely convinced that 3 generations of functional alcoholism was a way of self medicating mild reactive hypoglycaemia. Drip feeding sherry or red wine kept them feeling much better than proper food (including carbs) followed by a hypo.

I was the first to get RH bad enough to mainline chocolate, not booze.

Obviously, this is just a theory, but I have a unique perspective from inside my family, so you'll have to take it on trust.
 
T2 is prevalent on the wife's family, that is how she got it, the FiL has alcohol problems (bad) so has her uncles who also has diabetes. There must be a correalation as her siblings have dependency problems as well.
I do worry about the kids, one has a tendency to binge at weekends now and again but the others are ok so far.
This is interesting stuff!
Have we derailed the thread?
 

Oops!

Sorry
 
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…