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

VAT query

T

Textiletwit

Newbie
Messages
2
Hi, I was diagnosed with Prediabetes last month (44mmol/mol). I was considering buying a meter to check my levels were improving and whether my diagnosis entitled to Vat free purchases? Any advice for this would be most welcome.
 
Textiletwit said:
Hi, I was diagnosed with Prediabetes last month (44mmol/mol). I was considering buying a meter to check my levels were improving and whether my diagnosis entitled to Vat free purchases? Any advice for this would be most welcome.
Click to expand...

Hello, welcome!
Apparently not, those who are diagnosed with diabetes are vat exempt.
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/vat-exemption.html

However if you type in the search bar for affordable meter, there are a few posts on recommendations with affordable test strips.
 
Thank you for your suggestions everyone the link to spirit life looks hopeful. I've been on a low carb diet, substituting homemade wholemeal bread,brown rice and pasta. After feeling bewildered in the start I have found this website very useful for eating advice, and reading through the forums. I also found out at the same time I have high Bad cholesterol and high good cholesterol again which has to be considered too. My bmi is at its upper level for my height. However since the change in diet I have lost about 12lbs in weight in two months. I have also read somewhere on here that having a large baby can be an indicator to eventual diabetes. My youngest of four childreen , who is now 23 was 10lbs12oz!!
 
Textiletwit said:
Hi, I was diagnosed with Prediabetes last month (44mmol/mol). I was considering buying a meter to check my levels were improving and whether my diagnosis entitled to Vat free purchases? Any advice for this would be most welcome.
Click to expand...
@Textiletwit unfortunately I think that you have to be diagnosed with diabetes, rather than pre-diabetes, to be VAT exempt.
 
Textiletwit said:
I've been on a low carb diet, substituting homemade wholemeal bread,brown rice and pasta.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately wholemeal bread, brown rice and pasta are no lower carb than their white equivalents. They are lower GI which might smooth out glucose spikes a bit but low GI is not an effective alternative to low carb.
 
Mr_Pot said:
Unfortunately wholemeal bread, brown rice and pasta are no lower carb than their white equivalents. They are lower GI which might smooth out glucose spikes a bit but low GI is not an effective alternative to low carb.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

@Textiletwit your new meter will soon show you the consequences of eating ‘low GI’ foods.

In my case, they were just as bad as the white versions, so I just replaced them with low carb foods and more vegetables, which made a huge difference and improved my blood glucose significantly. :D
 
I agree with Brunneria, Low GI just takes a little longer and spikes you BG a little less, but averaged out (klike with an Hba1c test) there will be no noticeable difference for the majority of us.

However we are all different in out carb tolerances and some T2's can eat root veg - where I can't even eat a single raw carrot.
So get a meter that has cheap test strips (because you will use a lot of them), and then test your BG reaction to different carbs yourself . And remember there are some carbs in almost all veg unless they are just leaf or just fibre (like Celery).
 
Back
Top