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Type 2 and low carb- help!

tinydemon

Member
Messages
11
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi! I was diagnosed type 2 in July 2016. My hba1c was 47 . It's going up, 71 now, and whilst I'm not eating any better, I'm not eating any worse. I also have underactive thyroid and PCOS. I've just joined the low carb programme but I feel so lost. I have dieted from being 13 years old and I'm not sure I even know what a healthy lifestyle is any more. I'm starting Monday but dreading no potatoes and bread! Any advice, tips, encouragement would be more appreciated than you could ever guess! Thank you so much in advance.
 
Welcome to the forum, you're in the right place to get lots of useful advice. To start - Up the meat and veg and you don't really miss potatoes, cauliflower rice instead of normal rice. Egg and bacon or berries and full fat Greek yoghurt instead of cereal, nuts or pork scratching instead of crisps. Read around this forum for loads of info and you'll soon get those bs levels down. Good luck.
 
Hello and welcome,

Have you got your own blood glucose meter? If so, we can help you use it to your best advantage to guide you with your food choices and portion sizes. You may find you don't have to give up potatoes completely, and there are several low carb breads in the supermarkets. A meter will tell you if they are OK for you, and in which portion sizes. If you haven't got a meter I strongly urge you to buy one or you are working blind.

Can you tell us which diabetes medications you are taking? We need to know this before we can give sensible dietary advice. Meanwhile, I will tag @daisy1 so she can post her very useful information for newcomers.
 
Thank you! I'm just used to having a plan in front if me e.g. slimming world etc. Mind you, until I got used to that, I found it overwhelming. I'm sure this will soon become my norm, x
 

Hope this helps -
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb
 
Hi! Thank you for replying. Yes, I have a bg monitor but I use it very infrequently. I need to build a routine with it once I know what to do. I currently take 1 x 500mg metformin and 1 x empagliflozin (jardiance) in the morning and 2 x 500mg metformin in the evening for diabetes, plus numerous meds for other things. I have an app with diabetic nurse in 2 weeks and I suspect my meds will be raised due to the recent hba1c jumping higher. Advice with bg monitor would be great. I know what my numbers should be but not when to test or how to see what may or may not raise my bg. Thank you once again.
 
tinydemon said:
Advice with bg monitor would be great. I know what my numbers should be but not when to test or how to see what may or may not raise my bg. Thank you once again.
Click to expand...

Firstly, you need plenty of strips!

This is the best way to help you find your personal danger foods, and also foods that are safe for you. We all have different tolerances. For example, I can manage small portions of potatoes but come unstuck with bread.

Try this with all your meals (and snacks, but snacks are not advisable) for a few weeks:

Test immediately before you eat
Test again 2 hours after first bite
Look at the difference between the before and after levels.
If it is more than 2mmol/l there are too many carbs in that meal.
Keep a detailed food diary including portion sizes and record your levels alongside.
Patterns will emerge, and it won't be long before your danger foods become obvious. You can then try again with smaller portions or decide to eliminate some of the carbs. You are likely to have some surprises and some shocks.
 
If you start Low Carb tomorrow, then you could be very surprised in 2 weeks what an impact that can have It can take effect quite quickly.

I take a log of readings and what I eat daily. I test just before a main meal, and then retest 2 hours after to see how much it changed as a result of the meal. This will identify any obvious bad boy meals, and then its a question of repeat the meal again but drop out or substiturte one ingredient to see if you can get a lower bounce, I found that after a while of doing this that my premeal readings closely followed my fasting (morning) readings so I was able to stop the morning reading.

For example I eat curry and rice. It spiked me, so I repeated with using a low carb bread Roll instead of the rice, and bgl was considerably lower. and actually dropped below the premeal. It showed me that the curry itself was good for me, and that the rice was the main ingredient to avoid. I am going to attach a spread sheet I developed while I started, and it gives some simple rules I followed. It is not a diet sheet as such, but you can use it and adapt it as you learn how your own body reacts to the diet you choose. It worked for me.

But you need to keep to a repeating schedule of meals and snacking for that to be effective. I dropped lunch in my routine, and this helped steady my bgl results. I found on the LCHF diet I was using, that I did not miss the lunch, and I also stopped snacking too. The higher fat intake helps reduce the hunger pangs, I found. There is an LCHF diet section elsewhere on the forum that is free to access but there are other diets that may suit you better in the long term,
 

Attachments

Thank you! That actually makes a lot of sense. I'm kind of looking forward to it (and yet not at the same time! Haha!) I've got lots of strips luckily! My brother is type 1 so I get a lot of his cast offs. I've not asked his advice much because I think personally that the 2 types can be quite different. X
 
Thank you so much for that! Spreadsheet is a very good idea. I'm frightened of dropping meals, getting hungry, starting to hypo and binging almost. I can't get my head around eating 'fat' after all the years if being told not to. I've joined the lchf programme and have been reading a lot about it recently but still seems so alien. Would I be right in assuming that the things that spike bg would be the things that are stopping me from losing weight or is that daft? I have a huge notepad and I'm going to detail everything! Thank you!
 
Your'e welcome. Yes LC diets are a Volte Face to the way we used to use diet, and it is alien at first. I spent a lot of time researching the theory behind metabolism and the endocrine system in my body, so I went gently at it at first until I understood how it all fitted together. The High Fat part of LCHF is only really needed when the bgls get low such that it becomes keto. It is possible to run just above that threshold, and still benefit, but real weight loss and removal of the midriff fat takes keto to shift it. I did that for a while, then I experimented further and developed my own variant that suits me (and my carbophile family) which is more relaxed than keto, and I have recovered some of my insulin control so I am able to eat a higher carb level than many who LCHF.

You may find the PIOPPI diet of interest. It is basically low carb but not keto and is healthy fat not high fat. My HbA1c last week was 42 so it is certainly maintaining me in the correct ballpark.

So I advise - cut out ready made meals and processed food if you can. Reduce starches such as rice, potatoes, cereals, bread monosodium glutamate (MSG) for a starter. then research and possibly consider Low Glycaenic Index foods since these slow down the sugars (example, sweet potatoes are often more benign than white pots same carb content similar calories, but much better for sugar control)

You mention hypo's. Yes these can happen as the sugars get lower, but the meds you are on are not noted for any hypo associations, so you need to be aware of the possibility, but as a T2D the effect of oral meds is self limiting in that they are only active for a short while then get excreted so the body normally recovers by itself. It is only really important if you drive or operate machinery. The Jardiance is, I believe self limiting anyway so it shuts itself off when bgl gets too low,

The main DCUK runs a hypo awareness online course on the main site which I did. On the day I finished it I had my first hypo, so I knew exactly what to do. Very useful. The DCUK LC training course is also a good introduction (no longer free sadly) but I found myself running ahead of it and losing interest.

Yes T1D and T2D tread different paths but there is much we can learn from each other and there are common topics that we share. My mum was a T1 since WWII when bgl meters were not around but glucose testing sticks were. She lived a very good life, but sadly had kidney failure. I remeber her steralising her kit, and munching dextrose tablets, but she never hypo'ed on my presence so her control was generally good seeing how much sugar we ate. I struggle keeping control with all the mod cons and access to info I have that she did not,

One last thing. The weight issue. IMHO that should be a secondary driver for the diet. If you get your bgl down and follow a sensible diet, the weight reduction should follow, but unfortunately the spare tyre and wattles will be the last to go. I was lucky in that I am TOFI so my midriff fat did go In 3 years I have lost 8 stone, and my non diabetic carb guzzler wife has lost 6 stone and we are not really pushing the limits of LC diet or keto. Good Luck
 
I to have PCOS and the only things that helped me get my weight and BS under control was a combination of Metformin and very low carb.
The great thing about low carb and moderate fat is it does keep blood sugar from spiking and then it decreases the awful carb cravings that come with it.
If you wish to loose weight, first you must get your blood glucose undercontrol and then the weight will fall off.
Insulin resistance is one of the symptoms of PCOS and the reason many gain weight.
Im my opinion low carb is the best tool to help with PCOS. It has changed my quality of life for the better.
 
@tinydemon

Hello tinydemon and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you like and someone will 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 well over 235,000 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

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.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

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 blood glucose 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.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

  • Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why

  • Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
 
Wow! Thank you so much for that information, I will read it all properly later when I have more time. I feel I've learned things already since posting my question yesterday evening! I feel I'm going to be ok with this
 
Thank you for replying. That is a good idea, bloods stable first. I think I take too much on, get overwhelmed and then cave in and go back to my 'normal' way if things which clearly is not working. Desperate to lose those carb cravings. I can't even imagine not having those cravings. X
 
Bring your BG down and you will loose wieght.
The key is to up your fat intake when you cut carbs. It helps with the cravings.
Full fat yogurt, cheese, butter on your vegetables. . It doesn’t have to be vast amounts.
Eggs in any form are a great go too.
I find exercise makes me feel strong, but I lost 60 pounds with out increasing my actvity.
 
 
I understand completely how you are feeling, you obviously love your spuds and bread. I suggest 'weaning' yourself off. Do it gradually but also have a 'treat day'. Mine is Sunday for the toasties!! Good luck
 
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