Which is the best diet to follow

Since you're asking, my opinion is the best diet is "zero carb", which is animal derived food only (meat, fish, eggs, dairy) and no fruit or veg or plants, except spices - i.e. the exact opposite of vegan. I've been doing it for almost three years now and my health is excellent.

royfiler said:

I was diagnosed with type 2 late last year and i started off following the NHS guidelines about what my diet should be. Well i found that i was getting quite high spikes when eating certain foods which i was told were slow releasing. Porridge, the most basic type. I tried skimmed milk and almond milk and my blood spikes. Any wholemeal foods raise my bloods. If i follow the keto diet i can control my blood results with good results but my concern is this really a healthy way of eating? There is a lot of conflicting info out there and im not sure which to follow, I have been watching a series called ithrive and its about reversing type 2 with whole foods and eating plenty of fruit but its a vegan diet. M aim is to lose weight and hopefully reverse the type 2.
Any advice would be appreciated

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Well, you will not be short of advice on keto diets from from forum members here @royfiler .

Let's see if @daisy1 can give you the information we usually give to new joiners, - welcome!

Well I’ve been on low carb diet since my diagnosis since last May. On it I maintain my HbA1c at non diabetic levels, I’ve lost over 5 stone in weight, my cholesterol numbers have improved, my BP is now normal allowing me to drop some meds, I have more energy, my arthritis has improved from weight loss and the anti inflammatory effects of the diet. You can see where my vote goes!
PS Almond milk alone won’t spike you it has next to no carbs so long as it’s the unsweetened one, it’ll be the porridge.

I'm a very low carber/keto and find that has helped with my blood sugar control.
I have no health problems and take no medication.
Keto all the way for me.

im low carb but not keto. even with limited carbs you need a balanced diet, greens etal are fine start off at say 100=150 and drop down as you desire. unless you eat some plant products your going to be deficient in some vits. this is in reference to no carbs diet mentioned above. here is a quite balanced guide. https://www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com/facts-about-vitamins.html

royfiler said:

I have been watching a series called ithrive and its about reversing type 2 with whole foods and eating plenty of fruit but its a vegan diet. M aim is to lose weight and hopefully reverse the type 2.

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The whole food plant based movement has been putting out a lot of propaganda recently. A lot of it appears to be based on rather dodgy science and has been quite roundly debunked. Also when you find WFPB "guru's" selling supplements because "a vegan diet does not contain these things" then you have to wonder if it is really good for anyone.
However there will be may opinions about it. I would suggest you take a look at the success stories threads on this forum to see who has had the best results and their way of eating.

I follow a LCHF (Low Carbohydrate High Fats) way of life. I have had good results so far. There are a few different diets to choose from, I suggest that you read up before deciding which one to follow as there are a lot of people cashing in on the Diabetes epidemic. One thing that most of the diets that we of T2 choose from have in common is a reduction in carbohydrate intake. Good Luck.

The best diet is the one you can keep to for the long haul and which produces good glucose control. To asess that you need to be using your meter in a scientific way to test different foods / meals and find out what suits your body
Reducing carbohydrates is a way that many find essential in gaining improved control but there are many different opinions here and elsewhere about how low carb people should go.
Low carb is counted as coveriing a range of daily carb intake from 120g a day downward - people differ in what they need and can also change over the course of diabetes - the trick is finding the level your blood sugars respond well to and to keep on periodocally revisiting that to check things are stable. When I was first diagnosed & put on meds my sugars were good on 30-40g per meal, 21 years on I have had to cut that level down in order to stave off increased meds
Losing weight has also been shown to help diabetes control etc in overweight T2’s - that can be tackled with a number of different approaches including v low carb and v low calorie or a combination of approaches

Another vote for keto. I’ve had a lot of success - weight loss and significantly lowered blood sugars - with this method. Just as importantly, it’s a way of eating that I enjoy and therefore it’s sustainable. That is key, you need to find something that works for diabetes control, but that is also pleasurable or it won’t last.

Best advice would be to eat to your meter. If you find a food spikes your BG reduce or eliminate it, there's no one size fits all. The porridge you eat would spike my BG regardless of what type of milk I had it with, but wouldn't cause a spike in others.
Personally I've not been tempted by any of the more 'extreme' diets, though they may have worked very well for others and I wouldn't discount them. As far as macro nutrients go I reckon that if one eats a good range of veg as well as a range of fish, meat and fowl you get all your body needs.
I may be wrong, but it's worked for me. But as I've said we are all different.

Guzzler said:

I follow a LCHF (Low Carbohydrate High Fats) way of life. I have had good results so far.

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Same here, I am pleased that you have used "way of life" instead of diet.

I began eating low carb to control my weight in my early 20s and I am 66 now, and always felt well, had a reasonable weight, lots of energy - but was told that it was something to avoid entirely by many people, doctors and nurses amongst them.
Plenty of fruit means plenty of sugar - whole foods, high starch - a type two diabetic with 'only' diet control has no chance of being healthy and in control eating that way.
Having abandoned the 'cholesterol lowering' diet I was on for almost two years I feel so much better.

I've been eating a low carb/keto diet for over four years. Carbs - particularly those higher in starches or sugars - raise my glucose levels , so I do the obvious and avoid these. For me it's definitely a lifestyle change rather than a "fix it diet", and it's actually done a fair bit to improve my general health (particularly life long chronic migraines) as well a my diabetes.

Basically I eat a whole range of food: e.g. meat, fish, poultry, most dairy, vegetables (mainly above ground), salads, some low carb fruit, nuts & seeds, with enough full fat foods to replace the fuel I'm not getting from carbs. Unless you are eating a very restricted ketogenic diet (e.g. for medical reasons), it's really just the same as very low carb, and both are perfectly healthy as long as you eat sensibly. But you don't necessarily have to go that low - you can often control both your weight and glucose levels and eat a few more of the "safer" carbs, and to a certain extent this will depend on what your body can tolerate. Using a meter to test pre and post meal levels will tell you what your body is happy with.

And don't worry about fat, you don't have to eat lumps of lard! With LCHF it is just higher fat in proportion to the reduced carbs in the diet, and all you have to do is eat full fat food rather than reduced fat, lite, etc versions as these tend to be higher in carbs to render them more acceptable. I remember once eating a very early version of a low fat yoghurt, and it was just like a pot of watery chalk!

Robbity

Robbity said:

I've been eating a low carb/keto diet it's actually done a fair bit to improve my general health (particularly life long chronic migraines)

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Same here. My chronic migraines have gone.

Check out dr Bernstein’s approach, as the vegan diet you mentioned is a no brainer really for diabetics. The aim of the game for a diabetic is to find foods that reduce blood sugar spikes after eating otherwise we have to take large amounts of medication. The suggestion of plenty of fruit is crazy for a diabetic and It’s also almost impossible to satisfy your bodies needs for protein and hunger on a vegan diet when trying to achieve a low carb lifestyle to help with diabetes as the protein (most important part of the meal for us) comes from plants and unless you want to eat tubs and tubs of unsweetened alpro yogurt which is horrid without sweeteners in. Meat substitutes come loaded with extra carbs, which then eat into my vegetables allowance of my meal. I’ve looked at loads of packets as my fiancé is a veggie. You then end up missing out on all the nutrition and vitamins from the lovely vegetables we can eat plenty of.

As a type one diabetic we are slightly different as we make no insulin whatsoever so injections are our way of life. Type 2’s with diet and exercise can reverse their diagnosis or may just need some oral meds to help once carb intake is greatly reduced. I saw someone post earlier about bariatric surgery to help out as the doctor thinks it’s the only way. Get acquainted with dr Bernstein’s approach first. His videos on YouTube changed my life.

I’ve helped friends out with a few eating tips I picked up from Bernstein’s approach and they’ve never felt better and lost loads of weight. That was just from being carb smart and watching what they ate. This person isn’t even diabetic and he noticed the difference almost immediately.

Here’s a link to his first session in diabetes university on YouTube. Changed my life and I struggled for 18 years chasing high blood sugars after eating all the right (wrong) stuff I was told by my diabetes specialists and dieticians.


Good luck with everything

@royfiler

Hello royfiler and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you need to and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

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 235,000 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

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.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

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.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

• Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
  
  
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