Well, its got me.

[Mothman]

Hi all,
i was diagnosed type 2 in July of this year. Ime 55, not overweight but its in my family. My mum has it and so did her dad, my grandfather.

My bloods regularly showed 13.6 most of the time but in August i went on a gluten free diet and now when i test myself i am between 7.6 and 7.1 after 4 hours. The diet is quite hard to stick to, some of the foods [bread] just aint good but i have been very strict. However i do get terrible cravings to eat loads, often soon after my main meal. Is this normal with diabetes?

I have only recently joined the forum but havnt spoken to anyone except my Doctor and am currently on no medication as ime trying to reduce by blood sugar count by diet alone. Did try metformin for a while but it didnt agree with me.

If i cant get my bloods to the correct level will consider medication in the new year when the diet had had more of a chance to work.

Andy

 

[daisy1]

Hi Andy and welcome to the forum I have found that eating carbohydrates makes me feel hungrier - perhaps that is the case with you too. Here is some basic information which we give to new members and I think you will find it helpful. I see you are on a gluten-free diet - if this is for medical reasons (coeliac disease) then you may need advice on how to adapt this to suit your diabetes needs as well. Some other members have this problem and hopefully will be able to give you advice from their own experience. Maybe you could start a topic on the subject if you are needing information. Ask as many questions as you like as someone will usually be able to answer.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

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 30,000 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

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes ... rains.html

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

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.

 

[Ann19]

Hi Andy, your gluten free diet seems to have made a big difference to your numbers. Like Daisy, I too find carbs make me hungry. If I eat any carbs that aren't low GI then I feel absolutely ravenous 1 hour later. A chuck of cheese puts an end to this though! I should imagine if you are trying to keep gluten free this will make things even more difficult. You'll find people on here very friendly and helpful so if you have any questions ask away.

Ann

 

[Mothman]

Thanks Daisy and Ann,

i have been feeling ill after eating bread and other wheat products for some while now and it seemed the right thing to do to try a gluten free diet, especially all the information i gleaned from the internet on how good the diet was for diabetics. Time will tell. Am partial to crisps etc but have knocked them on the head, now if i feel the need its rice or corn cakes with marmite but the hunger is a real nuisance. I can see how easy it would be to put on a lot of weight. I am pretty active with my job as a gardener, on the go all day so i would say i get pretty good excercise. Just have to try and eat less carbs but not so easy on the gluten free diet as a lot of products are higher in them to make them taste better.

Andy

 

[Grazer]

Hi Andy, as the post earlier said, if you need gluten-free because you're coeliac, then fine. If not, you should know that a gluten-free diet isn't particularly special for diabetics. Most of us trying to control things by diet only use a reduced carb diet - like Daisy described earlier. For example, the rice you mentioned isn't that great - loads of carbohydrates. So, do you NEED gluten free for sure? Because if not, a change will do you better.

 

[Mothman]

I hear what you are saying Grazer but eating bread etc has been making me feel ill for quite some time now, well before i was diagnosed type 2. Tried some the other night and had stomach ache most of the evening. Anyway, its reduced my bloods by 5/6 points so it has helped. If its really not going to work i will try something different in the new year. Have to give things time.

Andy

 

[))Denise((]

I can't eat wheat. I'm allergic to the prices of gluten free food :lol: so I just don't eat it. Instead of sandwiches I just eat the filling for lunch.