Been diagnosed as type 2 for about a year after feeling fairly unwell for over 6 months, but avoiding the visit to the docs just in-case it was bad news!!!! Anyway, I was 44 yrs old, 19st smoker and putting more and more weight after being fairly fit when younger. Had all the usual symptoms plus bad cholesterol was too high as was my BP. Also my Kidneys were worrying them. Was told a bit about diet and packed in the fags and was put on Metformin x 3. I also tested a lot, cut my portions down/cut out much of the **** ie: take aways , crisps etc and avoid carbs as much as I can although I still love chips. Have managed to lose 3st, got my BP down and gradually reduced the metformin to one a day. The doc has recently stated that I have very good BG results and can stop the Metformin as long as I continue to eat carefully and well but the cholesterol is creeping up and he has given me a statin. Sorry for the long post but could anyone advise me if the doctor will take me off the statin if I manage to bring my cholesterol down by myself or is this long-term? Deary me...forgot to ask the question I was hoping for answers to, I think the change in diet has caused my cholesterol to rise even though I thought I was being good. Any suggestions of foods apart from spreads that would help me get it down.
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What can I eat?
- Thread starter Tower01
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Grazer
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Couple of things.
Metformin - don't be in a rush to come off them. They are a very good, safe, preventative drug against cardio vascular disease. Lots on here would like to be on them but can't because the doctor won't prescribe because their BGs are too good. They help BG just a little, diet does the most, but great for pevention.
Cholesterol - most find that cholesterol levels come down with a reduced carb diet, so not sure why your's went up. ARE you on low carb though? Perhaps you can give us an idea of what you eat. Otherwise, stick with the statins unless you're getting side effects. They now say statins protect against bowel cancer too!
Metformin - don't be in a rush to come off them. They are a very good, safe, preventative drug against cardio vascular disease. Lots on here would like to be on them but can't because the doctor won't prescribe because their BGs are too good. They help BG just a little, diet does the most, but great for pevention.
Cholesterol - most find that cholesterol levels come down with a reduced carb diet, so not sure why your's went up. ARE you on low carb though? Perhaps you can give us an idea of what you eat. Otherwise, stick with the statins unless you're getting side effects. They now say statins protect against bowel cancer too!
hanadr
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Tower
My choleserol has never been above 4, but my doctor wants me to take a low dose Statin to help with the health of my arteries. I'm humouring him and taking it with no apparent ill effects. I also take Metformin 2 x 500 per day as a protective
against CVD. I have had a stroke, despite being a lifelong non-smoker.
As to what to eat; I eat Well. Loads of greens, also cauliflower, celeriac and sometimes a little of the roots. No baked goods of the normal sort, but I do have about 1 slice of Burgen soy and linseed bread per day. I eat meat, fish eggs and cheese. Some fruit, but not much and cream in my coffee. I basically follow a modified Atkins and pretty Close to Dr. Bernstein's 30g carb per day diet. Today I had a fry-up at Debenhams for breakfast, having been to a "Think Glucose" meeting at the hospital first thing.
I never drank alcohol, so I don't miss it, but I do have my 1 piece of dark Hazelnut chocolate every evening. I've lost 3 stones and trying to loe 2 more. My blood pressure medication has been reduced and my HbA1c is still in the 5s. this is almost 10years after diagnosis, by which time the majority of T2s are on insulin [so my GP told me]
Hana
My choleserol has never been above 4, but my doctor wants me to take a low dose Statin to help with the health of my arteries. I'm humouring him and taking it with no apparent ill effects. I also take Metformin 2 x 500 per day as a protective
against CVD. I have had a stroke, despite being a lifelong non-smoker.
As to what to eat; I eat Well. Loads of greens, also cauliflower, celeriac and sometimes a little of the roots. No baked goods of the normal sort, but I do have about 1 slice of Burgen soy and linseed bread per day. I eat meat, fish eggs and cheese. Some fruit, but not much and cream in my coffee. I basically follow a modified Atkins and pretty Close to Dr. Bernstein's 30g carb per day diet. Today I had a fry-up at Debenhams for breakfast, having been to a "Think Glucose" meeting at the hospital first thing.
I never drank alcohol, so I don't miss it, but I do have my 1 piece of dark Hazelnut chocolate every evening. I've lost 3 stones and trying to loe 2 more. My blood pressure medication has been reduced and my HbA1c is still in the 5s. this is almost 10years after diagnosis, by which time the majority of T2s are on insulin [so my GP told me]
Hana
Thanks for getting back to me and sorry for not replying yesterday but busy at work and then some mates popped over.. My diet is OK I think. I eat no added sugar Alpen most days for breakfast with semi-skimmed or if in a hurry a chicken sarnie from the local deli (no mayo) on brown bread. For lunch some fruit (apple etc) and a low fat sarnie from Tesco. For Dinner I do have a biggish meal usually one that contains carbs but no white bread or white rice/pasta. I love my spuds (mashed with butter or chips so that is difficult but I am trying to cut them down and I like my cheese. I don't really eat biscuits or crisps any more and if I'm peckish I go for no sugar sweets from M&S or pickled onions. I do occasionally go for the odd take away and have a few beers two or three times a week. I am also trying to add more greens to my diet. When first diagnosed I obviously had very high BG but my Cholestrol was fine but now it's creeping up.
Grazer
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Hi Tower! (Sounds like police academy!)
Well done on the changes to your diet, and I'm glad you're gettiong improvements to your BGs, but to be honest it still sounds quite carby. A lot of sarnies there, and it doesn't matter if they're wholemeal or white, they're still flour. (Wholegrain is better than white, but not much) And the spuds - mashed potatos are a bit of a no-no if you still have them. Mashing releases the starches and you get whopping spikes. You talk a lot about "low fat" foods, which is probably the advice you got from the surgery, but to be honest it's the carbs that get you, not the fat. You'll find a couple of current threads on here at the moment regarding fats not raising cholesterol as much as carbs. here's a lonk to one:-
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=29405
My fat intake rose as I reduced my carbs and my cholesterol went down from 5.5 to 3.8; so much for fats! So you may like to concentrate on the carbs and you'll find that both BGs AND cholesterol coming down.
Don't worry about the beer too much either, although wine or a drop of spirits is even better. (alcohol lowers BGs) Although if you need to lose weight, too much beer won't help.
Well done on the changes to your diet, and I'm glad you're gettiong improvements to your BGs, but to be honest it still sounds quite carby. A lot of sarnies there, and it doesn't matter if they're wholemeal or white, they're still flour. (Wholegrain is better than white, but not much) And the spuds - mashed potatos are a bit of a no-no if you still have them. Mashing releases the starches and you get whopping spikes. You talk a lot about "low fat" foods, which is probably the advice you got from the surgery, but to be honest it's the carbs that get you, not the fat. You'll find a couple of current threads on here at the moment regarding fats not raising cholesterol as much as carbs. here's a lonk to one:-
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=29405
My fat intake rose as I reduced my carbs and my cholesterol went down from 5.5 to 3.8; so much for fats! So you may like to concentrate on the carbs and you'll find that both BGs AND cholesterol coming down.
Don't worry about the beer too much either, although wine or a drop of spirits is even better. (alcohol lowers BGs) Although if you need to lose weight, too much beer won't help.
A
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Hello Tower,
Your original post says that you are testing a lot but, as Grazer says, you're eating a lot of things that would make many of us get terrible numbers. So what are your pre-meal, +1 and +2 hr readings. It does sound like you may be discarding the Metformin a little early. Just because the doc is pleased with your diet, it doesn't mean it's changed enough. All these things are relative.
Let us know some numbers perhaps ?
S
Your original post says that you are testing a lot but, as Grazer says, you're eating a lot of things that would make many of us get terrible numbers. So what are your pre-meal, +1 and +2 hr readings. It does sound like you may be discarding the Metformin a little early. Just because the doc is pleased with your diet, it doesn't mean it's changed enough. All these things are relative.
Let us know some numbers perhaps ?
S
Hi again, thanks again for the replies. Pleased about Glazer's advise about drinking 
I must admit I have cut down and often avoid lager and beer, going for wine or spirits with a diet/no sugar mixer. I think I will try to cut down on the spuds/bread (thought using brown bread would be better but hey maybe not) but they have been a part of my evening meals for so long that I find it difficult to cut them out (I also noticed recently that I feel very hungry after eating them - suppose that's the carbs/starch) Any suggestions for something I could use instead to make me feel full would be great. As regards numbers I always forget to ask for a print-out but will ask for one next time I visit the GP as well as back dated results from over the last year. My clicker broke last month so I was going on what the doc said last week via my blood tests, which he said were very good. New clicker arrives next week so will start testing regularly again as soon as it arrives.
I must admit I have cut down and often avoid lager and beer, going for wine or spirits with a diet/no sugar mixer. I think I will try to cut down on the spuds/bread (thought using brown bread would be better but hey maybe not) but they have been a part of my evening meals for so long that I find it difficult to cut them out (I also noticed recently that I feel very hungry after eating them - suppose that's the carbs/starch) Any suggestions for something I could use instead to make me feel full would be great. As regards numbers I always forget to ask for a print-out but will ask for one next time I visit the GP as well as back dated results from over the last year. My clicker broke last month so I was going on what the doc said last week via my blood tests, which he said were very good. New clicker arrives next week so will start testing regularly again as soon as it arrives.hanadr
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Tower
don't get sucked in by the "low Fat" myth. No-one really needs a low fat diet and diabetics least of all. Trouble is it's pushed so hard, people have come to accept it as fact. As long ago as the 1970s, Dr. John Yudkin was writing about the harmful effects of sugars and starches. In fact starch raises blood sugar more than table sugar does. Thus it's starch that you really need to watch out for. look at Viv's modified Atkins diet. It's a ood guideline
Hana
don't get sucked in by the "low Fat" myth. No-one really needs a low fat diet and diabetics least of all. Trouble is it's pushed so hard, people have come to accept it as fact. As long ago as the 1970s, Dr. John Yudkin was writing about the harmful effects of sugars and starches. In fact starch raises blood sugar more than table sugar does. Thus it's starch that you really need to watch out for. look at Viv's modified Atkins diet. It's a ood guideline
Hana
