When to eat - type 2

cott97

Well-Known Member
Messages
329
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Hi

The practice nurse has advised me to eat as a minimum every 4 hours - I have a significant amount of weight to lose and tend to find that the 4 hours don't fit with meal times so I have a snack. OK when I'm at home but on holiday at the moment and the best I can find are carb heavy so the weight seems to be going in the wrong direction. I'm not always hungry when I eat but my blood sugar has significantly increased whilst on holiday.

So is my blood sugar going to go higher if I don't eat every 4 hours - daytime version of dawn phenonomen?????? Or does every other type 2 ignore the 4 hour advice and eat normally when they are hungry?

Thanks in advance and apols for any spelling mistakes

Cath
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C

catherinecherub

Guest
Hi,

It is essential that you do not skip meals but I don't think the timing matters as long as you don't leave long gaps between meals.
We all get up at different times so the 4hr. rule would not be practical.
 

stuffedolive

Well-Known Member
Messages
542
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Daily Mail, you know the sort
I find I need to eat every 2-3 hours so snacking is a given for me.
However as I low-carb I have had to make sure that I have low-carb snacking food to hand. I keep a pack of mixed nuts with me and find that just a small handful is enough to tide me over. alternatively I keep mushrooms or cauliflower in the fridge and have a some raw with a little dollop of humus (yummy).

I start the day with a few nuts and then have some porridge and bran (my main carbs of the day) a couple of hours later. This apparently gives me the 2nd meal effect and improves my BG response after the porridge and its slow release to fuel me through the active part of the day. I'll have a snack about midday and then a low-carb meal a couple of hours later (basically a bucket of salad with tuna/cottagecheese/coleslaw/humus) then another snack late afternoon before another meal around 7.30pm (fish/omelatte/meat with veggies and salad) then just before bed I'll have half a seeded ryvita with cheese.

I try to do a little exercise (10 mins x-trainer) about an hour after my evening meal as this is reputed to help bring down BG. Otherwise I run for an hour 3x a week and do at least 1x 40minute strength building session each week as lean muscle mass is important for maximising the benefit of whatever insulin i'm producing - and muscle burns calories.

I'm never hungry and actually have to periodically add fats (cream, etc) into my diet to stop myself from losing too much weight. I do find that I have to consciously add a little salt (in the porridge) to prevent cramps. I also add a multivit tablet and daily marmite, garlic, and cinnamon.
 

stuffedolive

Well-Known Member
Messages
542
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Daily Mail, you know the sort
As this thread is called 'when' to eat not 'what' to eat I won't comment on that banana and those grapes :shock:
 

julifriend

Well-Known Member
Messages
373
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
stuffedolive said:
As this thread is called 'when' to eat not 'what' to eat I won't comment on that banana and those grapes :shock:

Or the wholemeal bread!