Type 2 Diabetes, support group.

JamesandJon33

growstuff I would never throw any book in a bin, whether I agreed with its premise or not.

It was metaphorical. I wouldn't buy it in the first place. No food should ever be considered "forbidden". Foods aren't unhealthy - it's the combination of foods which are unhealthy.

PS. I try not to let my post-meal level rise above 9 because I know my insulin response isn't good and it will take longer than two hours to get back to 7.

Another tip is never to slump after eating. Always try to stay active, even if it's only doing the washing up. I have weights by my kettle and a step in the kitchen. I do 50 step ups and 20 weight lifts while waiting for the kettle to boil. Better still, if you go for a walk after eating, but I must admit I don't find that very practical, especially in winter. Exercise forces the metabolism of glucose.

growstuff I would never throw any book in a bin, whether I agreed with its premise or not.

How long does it take to come back to something near normal?

Everybody's blood glucose will increase sharply after eating, especially carbs, but a non-diabetic person would expect it to return to pre-prandial (before eating) within two hours. If it doesn't ,you've eaten too many carbs and will need to reduce portion sizes or eat something different.

If your level increases to 11 after eating and then returns to 7(ish) within two hours, you'll almost certainly find that your HbA1c will be quite good.

Quite a lot on Zoe, on breakfast tv. Not all good, I concluded. But I had never heard of it before. Might be good to research.

I am just going to try baking a cake with coconut flour. Chocolate..
I am using a libre 2 sensor for 2 weeks and it's very revealing how my blood sugar goes up so easily to 12, 14.
It's linked to my phone so can check it anytime. Not cheap but worth it for 2 weeks to learn.
My aim today is for one day to keep under 8. Managed it so far.
But there's still the evening meal to get through!

Anyone used Zoe?

I was driving along a few days and a top nutritionist was on the radio. She was asked what annoys her most about dietary claims. She said anything that said “diet” or “low fat’ like yoghurts meant they were full of sugar and not healthy.

Just noticed I wrote Growmore instead of growstuff - so sorry!! I've been gardening today and my brain was obviously still in the garden 😄

Thankyou to all who have replied to me I will follow this group and read more .

It's worth checking out the keto diet - lots of diabetics use keto recipes to reduce their sugar intake.

It's also worth considering Intermittent fasting. The benefit being the longer fasting period gives the pancreas a rest from producing insulin.

I make mousse like Growmore with dark chocolate and double cream (and sometimes cream cheese) - the fat helps to lower the insulin response to the sugar in the chocolate. In the Summer I sometimes use a few strawberrys or blueberries instead of the chocolate.

I throw books which talk about "forbidden" foods in the bin.

Toeroe

Bad carbs are white bread, cake, pastry, white pasta, potatoes. Some root vegetables and of course sugar, jam, syrup etc.
I eat limited amounts of wholemeal bread, and pasta. But usually courgetti spaghetti.
Berries and full fat Greek yogurt.
All green leaf vegetables, salad , tomatoes and cucumber etc.
I have two squares of over70% dark chocolate of an evening , one cake a week and about 3 glasses of wine.
There are numerous books on the market which will list forbidden foods, sometime foods and eat always foods. It does get easier, so good luck.

Toetoe

I'm interested in following this discussion . D2 for 2 years . Would someone please list all the good foods and tell me what are bad carbs. Thankyou

You need to keep an eye on all carbs. They will all increase your blood sugar. Some take longer to digest and are supposed to keep you feeling full for longer. Others come with valuable nutrients from other food groups. Some just taste so damned good, life would be miserable without them.

I eat chocolate! That might seem surprising because chocolate is probably one of the unhealthiest foods going. I never forget it's a food, so I don't ever chocolate "as a treat" - I factor it into my food budget and every so often make chocolate mousse with dark chocolate and double cream. Yum yum yum! I have no hang ups about having a "guilty treat" because it's not - it's food and eat it with something especially low carb and fat.

My philosophy is that no food is unhealthy - it's the balance of dozens of different foodstuffs which might be unhealthy.

There is a potato called charisma which is supposed to be ok for diabetics. It is sold in one of our major supermarkets. Soft drinks, including fruit juice, are not good and neither is red water melon. Too much sugar. A few years back I went to a 6 week course about what to eat and what not to eat for diabetics, it was interesting. Exercise is very important . They told us wine is very bad but if you do drink stick to one glass ! They also told us to avoid jasmine rice but basmati rice is ok. No idea why, can’t be bothered to check but I have stuck by it.

You really need to search on line for food lists.
For me, avoid bread, potatoes, pasta, cake, biscuits, rice.
But sourdough bread and wholemeal with seeds is better. And cakes made with other flours.
I am quietly trying to find things I like which are better.
I do enjoy strawberries as a snack.
And pease pudding! I buy it in a tin and use it instead of potato.

.

I hope nobody is saying that I’m suggesting I'm ignorant in saying it’s easy to reverse this condition. When I said I was pre diabetic and did so. I work hard at keeping it at bay, and have to endure regular blood tests including HbA1c naturally. It is doable and I am prone so very aware. I got really cross when a friend said to me they couldn’t be bothered they wouldn’t deprive themselves of real coke and chocolate while there was medicine available to counter act and keep them going…..that was what I called ignorance. I had to walk away.

I'm interested in following this discussion . D2 for 2 years . Would someone please list all the good foods and tell me what are bad carbs. Thankyou

PaperMonster

I’ve been T2D for about five years and when diagnosed I immediately went low carb, which helped for a while. But now I have one Metformin daily as well. I also have the glucoraphanin soup once a week, which has helped bring my HBA1C down.

I have recently been diagnosed as pre diabetic and I am trying to reduce my carbs. I do include loads of vegetables and some fruit in my diet and think I eat healthy apart from a couple of glasses of wine a week.
I have been reading about glucoraphanin soup and interested you think it helps. I am doing a bit more research before trying it but may give it a go.

You have to be careful with the types of fruit and veg you eat though too. And work out which foods spike you by using a glucometer as we’re all individual with different responses - as my experience with Metformin demonstrates!

Pizzas are no good for me. I went from being diabetic down to pre diabetic which is fairly unusual apparently. Diabetes is in our family and none of us are very overweight though I lost a few kilos because I should . They said to eat heaps of veggies and quite a lot of fruit and avoid too many carbs. I still eat choc because I am addicted to it but,hey, you gotta live ! You absolutely can reverse it but it is hard work!

loopyloo

Agree, think Dr Mosleys books , 8 weeks blood sugar diet etc are better.
And my CGM says porridge sends reading up. So scrambled eggs are better with mushrooms or other veg.

Nope! Sorry1 I don't think much of his books for diabetics either - but they make him loads of money!

It's quite simple really. Recognise which foods contain carbs and in which quantities. Restrict the carbs and eat them evenly across a number of meals, so blood sugar spikes are minimised.

PaperMonster

Also, with the Metformin I never had any trouble with it until the pharmacy gave me a different brand and I became very constipated, so i didn’t renew my prescription for about three months until I had my review. Then I was prescribed the slow release and I’ve had the runs ever since!!

I've taken a high dose of slow release Metformin for over 30 years without any problem.

Something which is rarely mentioned is that long-term use of high dosage metformin can interfere with the absorption of Vitamin B12. The deficiency won't necessarily show up in a plasma blood test, so medics (and especially the patient) should be aware of the symptoms of VitB12 deficiency.

I'm with you Floradora. I was diagnosed in my mid 30s. Since then I have controlled my diabetes well. I was told it would be progressive and that I would probably have to take insulin by now. My HbA1c hardly changes, but I now perfectly well that I'll never reverse diabetes or go into remission.

And then ignorant people claim it's easy to reverse!! Pah!

It makes me mad when I read about people saying it is easy to reverse type 2 . I developed this 24 years ago and and it was down to my genes not anything else. I have really stuck to a very restricted diet for many years but I am now told I can relax this now a bit . I think at my age it is safe to do so but it would be easy to relax too much. I have never had a test result that has been anything but good and really you just get used to cutting out most of the carbs in your diet. I do not feel it is a big thing in my life . I have suffered from worse.