What to eat

Hi and welcome!

Well, there are various different options for diets and ways of eating available to type 2 diabetics. The NHS tends to recommend a high carbohydrate diet, but that doesn't work for me. I find it nearly impossible to lose weight and feel pretty awful on it.

So I would be very wary of eating the amount of carbohydrate there is in bananas and jacket potatoes, unless I was using a blood glucose meter and could check the effect of the carbs on my blood glucose.

If you want to buy your own meter and test your blood then you can (it need not be expensive) and it allows you to tailor your own diet to suit your blood glucose levels and get control of them.

If you just want to eat in a way that keeps blood glucose down, then minimising carb intake is really useful, although we all need to make our own decision about how low carb we go.

This link is a very useful introduction to cutting back on carbs and maintaining a very healthy way of eating
http://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/60-seconds

@daisy1 usually pops along and posts a quick guide too.

Hi @alimc and welcome to the forum. Carbohydrates like potatoes, bananas, pasta, rice and bread turn to sugars in our bodies, so they are not good for diabetics. A lot of us on here have adopted a Low Carbohydrate High Fat approach to eating which has lowered our blood sugar levels and weight.
Have a look round the forum and ask any questions you want to. There is a thread on Low Carb recipes, and a thread on 'Type 2s What have you eaten today?' which is useful for getting ideas for meals.

The NHS standard NICE guidelines for a diet suitable for diabetics lag very far behind modern thinking.
Most people on this forum follow a Lower Carb Higher Fat eating plan, the carrbohydrate in the diet is cut right back and the energy from the mising carbohydrate replaced by slightly increased protien and increaed fats ... where possible "good" fats and oils. Many extend the low carb diet to also reduce calorie intake, there are other variations but the key is you have to avoid all carbohydrates not just sugars..

You will spend the rest of you life reading the nutritional labels on foods but the only way to be 100 percent sure what foods raise your blood glucose level is to test before and 2 hours after eating.

Tuna -- very good especially if in olive or sunflower oil
Salad -- very good especially if dressed with oilive or walnut oil and dressed with vinegar.
Both Bannana and Potaoes are poision to diabetics ---

Carbohydrate includes Potatoes and many other root vegetables Bread, Pasta, Cous-cous, rice, all breakfast cereals sauces and soups thickened with flour.
Fruit especially tropical fruit contains the sugar fructose which is really bad form of sugar for T2 diabetics -- forget about the "natural sugars" myth it is advertising hype. Many T2 diabetics find that once they have a handle on what they can and can't eat find smallish portions of fruit from colder climates Apples, Pears & Plums. All berries are OK especially with double cream but don't go crazy on them they do contain sugar.

You can eat as much eggs, fish (even better if it is oily fish Tuna, Salmon, Herring, Sardines...), and all meat you want within reason.
Take care with coatings on Fish and chicken as they often contain hidden sugars.

Avoid all "low fat" yoghurts they are loaded with sugar --full fat is ok.
Milk varies in effect in adults it is OK for some diabetics but not others.

alimc said:

Newly diagnosed type 2 and take 500mg of Metformin twice a day don't have to check blood my problem is I don't know what to eat been having banana for breakfast tuna salad for lunch and chicken and jacket potatoe for tea as this is what the dn said to have as am very over weight any help on meals would be a great help thank you

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Hi @alimc and welcome to the forum.
You will need to test your blood sugars or you will have no idea of which foods are raising your blood sugars.
Most Type2s are refused blood glucose monitors and test strips and they have to buy their own. There is a cheap one that Type2s can recommend.
I will tag @daisy1 to give you some basic information that will help.
We are individuals and respond differently to different foods so it really is trial and error to decide the right menus for us. Some posters can eat more carbohydrates than others, there is no blueprint that we can all follow.
Have a good read around the forum and then ask any questions that you may have.

Hi there. The advice given by Sirmione is good advice to follow. My partner became diabetic after a kidney transplant 2 years ago. The hospital (who actually gave him a meal of mashed potato, boiled potato and lasagne, with tiramisu to follow at the time!!!!) just gave him a sheet of paper that more or less said "Base all your meals around carbohydrates and limit fat". Thank goodness I discovered this web site because it's been a life saver. With help from other members we are now doing a low carb high fat diet. We started off combining it with the 5:2 diet and both lost weight easily but he finds it difficult not to snack (some of the medication he's on gives him an appetite and he had a pretty good one already!). Since stopping that we haven't lost much more weight so if you can manage that I would suggest giving it a go. You can buy the book, but the bottom line is that you eat normally (but low carb) for 5 days a week and just have 600 calories for 2 days a week. It's easier than it sounds cos you can have massive salads and piles of green veg. Anyway we HAVE managed to stick to the low carbohydrate diet. You just have to be a bit inventive. I do a big turkey curry with cauliflower rice, I do seafood in home made tomato sauce on courgette spaghetti I make moussaka, cauliflower cheese, stuffed aubergines, pork cooked in a parcel with peppers, mushrooms onions and tomato. And you can have meat or fish with salad or any green leafy veg. Watch out for things like carrots, that you wouldn't expect to have carbs. Also, people seem to be divided about fruit. Some say to avoid it as it's got sugar in, others say one piece a day is fine. Bananas are out though and grapes and sweet tropical fruit. Snacks can be unsalted nuts, olives, avocados, hummus small tins of fish like pilchards, pork scratchings, bits of celery with cream cheese in it, etc. We usually have some form of eggs for breakfast ........scrambled, boiled, omlettes..... or fry up, or porridge made with water and sweetener. We also make lentil soup as the carbs are slow releasing like the porridge and a recent programme on TV said it was the best thing for getting rid of fat around the liver (though we have always had lentil soup just because we like it and it's a quick and easy thing to make). Anyway, I was wondering if we were doing the right thing, especially about eating all the fat and eggs, but other half saw the diabetic specialist this week and he was thrilled. Long term blood test was down 10 points to 65 (well over 100 when first diagnosed). His kidney function is good and his cholesterol was "a perfect 3.4". So I would recommend trying low carbs and, if you can manage it, the 5:2 diet too. Someone on the forum sent me a link to a series of lectures by a Dr Jason Fung. I think they are called the obesity lectures. They are on YouTube. If I can put a link on I will, but not sure I can do it on my tablet. Anyway, there are 6 lectures, each about 1 hour long, but I have watched 5 so far. They are very informative and he has all the research data that backs up what he is saying. It shows how wrong the NHS is in the advice it gives out, especially with low fat diets. They are the worst kind. I really would recommend watching these lectures. I watched some other stuff by a Dr Eric Berg too which more or less said the same thing. Start off with Dr Fung though. Hope this all helps.Videos are on https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/category/lectures/the-aetiology-of-obesity-lecture-series/

@alimc

Hello and welcome to the forum Here is the information we give to new members and I hope it will be useful to you both. In particular the link to the Low-Carb Program should help you with your diet. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will be able to help.


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 over 150,000 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-and-whole-grains.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

LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program


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 bloodglucose 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.

Have just found this. Don't know if it will help.

alimc said:

Thank you for all your replys there really helpful got some reading to do

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It's a lot to take in to begin with and a lot of trial and error, but once you get your head around it and know what to buy, cook and eat you'll do it without thinking. Good luck, I'm sure you'll be fine. Keep in touch with the forum. There's always interesting stuff on here and all the members are very supportive.

Hi and welcome. You've had a lot of good suggestions so far and do keep the bananas down; the DN should know better.

Magisham said:

Hi there. The advice given by Sirmione is good advice to follow. My partner became diabetic after a kidney transplant 2 years ago. The hospital (who actually gave him a meal of mashed potato, boiled potato and lasagne, with tiramisu to follow at the time!!!!) just gave him a sheet of paper that more or less said "Base all your meals around carbohydrates and limit fat". Thank goodness I discovered this web site because it's been a life saver. With help from other members we are now doing a low carb high fat diet. We started off combining it with the 5:2 diet and both lost weight easily but he finds it difficult not to snack (some of the medication he's on gives him an appetite and he had a pretty good one already!). Since stopping that we haven't lost much more weight so if you can manage that I would suggest giving it a go. You can buy the book, but the bottom line is that you eat normally (but low carb) for 5 days a week and just have 600 calories for 2 days a week. It's easier than it sounds cos you can have massive salads and piles of green veg. Anyway we HAVE managed to stick to the low carbohydrate diet. You just have to be a bit inventive. I do a big turkey curry with cauliflower rice, I do seafood in home made tomato sauce on courgette spaghetti I make moussaka, cauliflower cheese, stuffed aubergines, pork cooked in a parcel with peppers, mushrooms onions and tomato. And you can have meat or fish with salad or any green leafy veg. Watch out for things like carrots, that you wouldn't expect to have carbs. Also, people seem to be divided about fruit. Some say to avoid it as it's got sugar in, others say one piece a day is fine. Bananas are out though and grapes and sweet tropical fruit. Snacks can be unsalted nuts, olives, avocados, hummus small tins of fish like pilchards, pork scratchings, bits of celery with cream cheese in it, etc. We usually have some form of eggs for breakfast ........scrambled, boiled, omlettes..... or fry up, or porridge made with water and sweetener. We also make lentil soup as the carbs are slow releasing like the porridge and a recent programme on TV said it was the best thing for getting rid of fat around the liver (though we have always had lentil soup just because we like it and it's a quick and easy thing to make). Anyway, I was wondering if we were doing the right thing, especially about eating all the fat and eggs, but other half saw the diabetic specialist this week and he was thrilled. Long term blood test was down 10 points to 65 (well over 100 when first diagnosed). His kidney function is good and his cholesterol was "a perfect 3.4". So I would recommend trying low carbs and, if you can manage it, the 5:2 diet too. Someone on the forum sent me a link to a series of lectures by a Dr Jason Fung. I think they are called the obesity lectures. They are on YouTube. If I can put a link on I will, but not sure I can do it on my tablet. Anyway, there are 6 lectures, each about 1 hour long, but I have watched 5 so far. They are very informative and he has all the research data that backs up what he is saying. It shows how wrong the NHS is in the advice it gives out, especially with low fat diets. They are the worst kind. I really would recommend watching these lectures. I watched some other stuff by a Dr Eric Berg too which more or less said the same thing. Start off with Dr Fung though. Hope this all helps.Videos are on https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/category/lectures/the-aetiology-of-obesity-lecture-series/

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Thanks for the information I will certainly look at the lectures
He finally made the decision to go to the hospital today so hopefully we can get some better answers