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Type 2 Eating Guidelines v LCHF Diet

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billbruen

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Recently diagnosed Type 2: now on (2) 500mg Metformin per day, plus (1) 40mg Simvastatin per day.

Just before the diagnosis, I had started a LCHF diet, to try to shed some weight.

Prior to that, I had been, (intermittently), trying the 'fast diet', with a view of trying to improve general health, cholesterol etc.

Getting a bit confused now as to what I should or shouldn't eat......eg: can I eat porridge (which I was eating).....Kallo rice cakes (I only eat two at a time)......

I guess what I'm asking is, whether following a LCHF diet, will also keep me in line with diabetic eating guidelines?
 
Low Carb High Fat (or at least moderate fat) is the ideal diet for a diabetic. It can bring your blood sugars down to normal non-diabetic levels and allow you to abandon diabetic medications. It is not within NHS diabetic guidelines, they prefer the "eat whatever you want" approach and "we'll give you the drugs and treatments you need to cope with the consequences".
That's it, in a (low carb, diabetic friendly) nutshell.
Sally
 
Low Carb High Fat (or at least moderate fat) is the ideal diet for a diabetic. It can bring your blood sugars down to normal non-diabetic levels and allow you to abandon diabetic medications. It is not within NHS diabetic guidelines, they prefer the "eat whatever you want" approach and "we'll give you the drugs and treatments you need to cope with the consequences".
That's it, in a (low carb, diabetic friendly) nutshell.
Sally
 
Thanks so much Sally.......makes things a lot easier, knowing I can just carry on with LCHF......lose weight and maybe 'fix' my diabetes......
 
billbruen said:
Recently diagnosed Type 2: now on (2) 500mg Metformin per day, plus (1) 40mg Simvastatin per day.

Just before the diagnosis, I had started a LCHF diet, to try to shed some weight.

Prior to that, I had been, (intermittently), trying the 'fast diet', with a view of trying to improve general health, cholesterol etc.

Getting a bit confused now as to what I should or shouldn't eat......eg: can I eat porridge (which I was eating).....Kallo rice cakes (I only eat two at a time)......

I guess what I'm asking is, whether following a LCHF diet, will also keep me in line with diabetic eating guidelines?
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In order to learn which carbs you can or can't manage in your diet you need to get a blood glucose meter. You can then test yourself before you eat and 2 hours afterwards. Look at the difference between the 2 readings. You may have a shock with porridge and rice cakes, or you may be lucky and be able to cope with them. We can't tell you this because we all react differently. Both porridge and rice cakes are not always wise choices for diabetics.
 
Even if you want to cut back especially on the high carbs, you will lose weight more gradually. Also have smaller plate sizes and cut out the snacks, which are usually high carb!
Breakfasts, the cereals and toasts, even porridge is a no for me.
Try and eat more salads and egg dishes. Try and experiment with foods as we are all different, I can't touch spuds or flour, but there are people on here that can have them.
If you haven't got a meter get one, it's better to know what sugars and carbs are doing to you, than go on what you feel like.
Let us know how you get on.
 
billbruen said:
Thanks so much Sally.......makes things a lot easier, knowing I can just carry on with LCHF......lose weight and maybe 'fix' my diabetes......
Click to expand...
Billbruen, welcome to the club, I also have been recently diagnosed T2, and also on 2 x Metformin per day , by following a basic LCHF diet over the last 4 months I have shed over 2.5 stone and my home test BS readings are in the "normal non diabetic ranges" regrettably I don't think there is a fix. Currently we can only manage ourselves.

But you have come to the right place for advice and support.

Keep posting and ask questions, I have and it's helped me immensely.

Good luck and keep well.
 
billbruen said:
Thanks Bluetit, I do have a meter, but have only used it once so far......will give your suggestion a try
Click to expand...

Start tonight if you haven't eaten already. Test immediately before you eat then again at 1hr and 2 hours after your first bite. Record what you ate including the portion sizes and record the readings alongside. This is the best way to learn. If you wish, you can post the results on here, especially if you are struggling to understand.
 
nosher8355 said:
Even if you want to cut back especially on the high carbs, you will lose weight more gradually. Also have smaller plate sizes and cut out the snacks, which are usually high carb!
Breakfasts, the cereals and toasts, even porridge is a no for me.
Try and eat more salads and egg dishes. Try and experiment with foods as we are all different, I can't touch spuds or flour, but there are people on here that can have them.
If you haven't got a meter get one, it's better to know what sugars and carbs are doing to you, than go on what you feel like.
Let us know how you get on.
Click to expand...
Thanks Nosher.......
 
Definitely no porridge or oats for me either. Protein at every meal, breakfast can be scrambled poached eggs, protein whey smoothie etc. No bread unless it's made from amaranth seeds or teff flour. Generally any type of flour is high carb, it makes it hard to change one's way of eating but one gets used to it and by being strict ( most of the time) insulin or drugs can be avoided, plus the weight will drop off slowly.
 
@billbruen If you had already started a low carb diet then I would stick to it and ignore the NHS advice until your levels have normalised and then you can make a decision on your future direction and livestyle. You didn't say what your diagnostic levels were so it is difficult suggest other courses of action. You could look at the newcastle diet (many threads or you can read my 3 month story from the link in my signature). It will likely get your levels normalised within a couple of weeks. It has worked wonders for me as well as many others on the forum. It is 8 weeks and then you can return to a low carb diet to remain in the normal zone. The key to any success story though is to test/test/test so that you understand your bodies reaction. By the way it will change over time as you lose weight, insulin resistance, reactive capabilities to carbs,... Only stop testing once you become stable in your lifestyle and body
 
Beware protein A) it turns to glucose eventually not a lot but some B) You should have 1g protein/kg body weight if you are having more you can set yourself up for health problems. Thats why this is called a LCHF and not LCHFHP (low carb high fat high protein) diet
 
Andrew Colvin said:
@billbruen If you had already started a low carb diet then I would stick to it and ignore the NHS advice until your levels have normalised and then you can make a decision on your future direction and livestyle. You didn't say what your diagnostic levels were so it is difficult suggest other courses of action. You could look at the newcastle diet (many threads or you i
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How does one check HbA1c? Can you do it yourself?
 
Well you can get home kits for HbA1c but I don't suggest you do that as they are expensive. What you need is a blood glucose monitor and to test before and after meals to check how you are reacting to your food. If you do not have a monitor then have a look at the SD code free from home health uk site as it has the cheapest strips
 
Your surgery will give you an HbA1c test at each review, which should be every 3 months initially, reducing to 6 months once your levels have stabilised. This will eventually become 12 months.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
Your surgery will give you an HbA1c test at each review, which should be every 3 months initially, reducing to 6 months once your levels have stabilised. This will eventually become 12 months.
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is that standard practice as in meets some NICE guidelines? I only ask as I had a diagnostic HbA1c and one at two months as I was in surgery for BP check up and as it came back at 6.5, I was told turn up in New Year which is 6 months. I wonder if this is just my surgery or whether there's a drive to reduce costs so reduction in tests. I remember when NHS dentist went from 6 months to 9- it's now annually at our practice.
 
Hi. As the HBa1C was quite good at 6.5% I think the 6 month gap would be normal for most surgeries. 3 months is reserved for high levels or for those recently on insulin etc where large changes are expected
 
cold ethyl said:
is that standard practice as in meets some NICE guidelines? I only ask as I had a diagnostic HbA1c and one at two months as I was in surgery for BP check up and as it came back at 6.5, I was told turn up in New Year which is 6 months. I wonder if this is just my surgery or whether there's a drive to reduce costs so reduction in tests. I remember when NHS dentist went from 6 months to 9- it's now annually at our practice.
Click to expand...

This is from NICE guidelines:

measure the individual's HbA1c levels at:
  • 2-6-monthly intervals (tailored to individual needs) until the blood glucose level is stable on unchanging therapy; use a measurement made at an interval of less than 3 months as a indicator of direction of change, rather than as a new steady state
  • 6-monthly intervals once the blood glucose level and blood glucose-lowering therapy are stable

http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/simplepage.cfm?ID=x20080601224005225450
 
Thanks. I suppose that as it had come down considerably in the two months and weight was going down that they figured I was ok to ignore a bit longer. We don't yet have a replacement DN,two senior partners left in June and apparently another is off to NZ so I reckon by New Year I'll be doing my own review.
 
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