type 2 diabetes

[seth]

hiya all
the week before christmas i was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
the doctor started me on medication and I'm now part of the testing monitoring system.
I've already cut out the excess sugar and changed my diet a fair bit hopefully reversing it completely in time.
so the purpose of this thread
is not to ask for sympathy but to ask in advice.
on good things to EAT and DRINK while controlling my blood sugar levels .
any advice is welcome from fellow diabetics.

cheers
seth

[froudy]

Over to Mrs F (Nurse Claire)

Eating..
Green salads, broccoli, cauliflower, squash, asparagus, sprouts, peppers, onions. Pulses(beans).
Fruits..All berries, nectarines, apples, apricots, cherries. NO grapes or bananas (too high in sugar)
Swap bleached and refined carbohydrates such as white bread and pasta to wholewheat pasta and brown or wild rice.
Low fat or skimmed milk, low fat or fat free greek or plain yoghurt, cottage cheese(LOW FAT)
Fish/Poultry...Chicken breast or strips(skinless) Tuna, salmon, white fish fillets, eggs.
Olive oil, vinegar, mustard. No ketchup or mayo!!
Snacks...Nuts, popcorn(not sweetened)

Drinks..
100% fruit juice, Iced or hot tea, coffee(unsweetened) sparkling water. DEF NO coke, pepsi, lemonade, energy drinks etc even if it says sugar free.

AVOID..
Foods high in simple carbohydrates. Food high in saturated fats. Sugary foods. Red meats.

I guess you are taking Metformin?

[Andre]

My advice:

DRINK:
Avoid beer, regardless if with or without alcohol!
Nothing with alcohol
Nothing with sugar added
Nothing with artificial sweeteners
Nothing with natural sugars (fruit juices are way loaded with sugars)!!!!!!!!! Sorry Nurse Claire

Enough no and nothing: Water, Water, Water. Some tea/coffee

EAT:

Avoid any factory or restaurant processed foods
Avoid extra sugar as natural foods have plenty of them
Fruit is ok in small amounts
Loads and loads of vegetables
Go easy on carbohydrates (rice, pasta, potatoes, bread)

OTHERS:

Have several long discussions with a registered dietician

Move your body (if you haven't  been doing it a lot allready) !!!!!

Don't jump right into strenuous exercise. Start taking public transport instead car/14 to work. Take walks, first short and slow, then extending time/distance/speed ONE at a time. Extend distance no more than 10%. Can't give you % of increase in time/speed but I think you get the picture. One variable at the time and sensible increases is the bottom line. Listen to your body regarding rest and sleep.

[froudy]

Cranberry juice is good...
Blood sugar: Low in sugar and high in fiber, cranberries reduce blood sugar and help regulate glucose levels throughout the day. Cranberries are recommended for type 2 diabetics. ... Cholesterol: Cranberry polyphenols raise HDL (good) cholesterol and lower LDL (bad) cholesterol.

[Notty]

Cranberry juice is good...
Blood sugar: Low in sugar and high in fiber, cranberries reduce blood sugar and help regulate glucose levels throughout the day. Cranberries are recommended for type 2 diabetics. ... Cholesterol: Cranberry polyphenols raise HDL (good) cholesterol and lower LDL (bad) cholesterol.

and sex twice a day ! thats what I told mrs Notty - strange she didn't believe me !!

[Andre]

I am ok with cranberries but not with cranberry juice. Health attributes (still debatable) can be had by eating the berries.

The problem with juices is that they are concentrated fruits which equals concentrated fructose (a form of sugar believed to cause fatty liver). If you drink a glass of juice you will get a blood sugar spike. If you are not diabetic you should drink juice using a small glass (< 100cc). As a diabetic I would not.

[T 24]

Boring salad diet.  No one can stand it for a long time.

It is very simple: What you eat - what you burn=  + or - ,and thats it.

10 years ago I got type 2 diapetes diagnosis. I tried to lose weight by eating salad and vegetables:
Boring and tastes like shit. I got only angry.
Then I realised that I can eat or drink what ever. Only quantity matters. It´s that +/- list.

Now I´m over 40 kilos lighter than on my "glory days". During last year I have lost 20 kilos. It´s not easy, but it´s worth of it.
Now when i´m under 100 kilos, I can halve mu diabetes and blood pressure medicines, and mrs T 24 likes me a lot more in bedroom!
I can also use my drving gear from 80´s.

And one more thing how you can cheat yorself: Calculate what it is in your case; Power/weigt ratio.
In my case when I lose 10 kg:s it´s like there is 5 to 6 hp more in my 14.
With std 14 and 100 kg driver it´s about 3 hp/10 kg.

-Jussi

[seth]

yes on metformin on max dose just now to get things under control and a statin
my blood sugar reading was 106 mmol/mol after 2 weeks dropped to 103 mmol/mol but i didn't know this is a 3 month test so was still mostly from my old ways .
so hoping its dropped a good nit by next lot of tests in a couple of months.
cholesterol was 6.1 mmol/mol they want that down to 4 mmol/mol.
ever other test was good .
the strange thing is i have lost 25% of my body over the last 5 years before i got this currently 92 kg  they want me down to 82kg .
i only went to the doctors due to my feet feeling cold/pins&needles but weren't to the touch.

so allready changes to lactose free milk stopped all sweet snacks , swopped my sugar for a sugar free substitute , brown/wholemeal bread , sugar coated breakfast for weetabix .
all ready meals are green on the health lables for low fat and sugar.
my feet are dtarting to feel better and as they do I'll be doing more exercise too but thats a little bit off yet.

many thanks for the advice i will take in on board .

the main thing is that yhis is all new to me so very daunting on whats ahead .so good to hear you lot are doing ok and managing it ok .

cheers
seth

[Mister Fishfinger]

I can't give you any diabetes advice, but when you are eventually ready to start some exercise I would suggest having a look at the "Couch to 5K" programme. I believe it was originally invented by the NHS.

About 2 years ago I realised I was getting too sedate and my blood pressure was going up, so it was time to do something before things got out of hand. I really hated running at school and I had avoided it ever since, but I was persuaded to try out this scheme.

Basically it's an app that you install on your smartphone. Put the headphones on an a pleasant voice tells you what to do. You start off with mostly walking, and a little bit of jogging in intervals. As the weeks go by, the ratio changes so that the walking sections are shorter and the running sections longer. Eventually, as the name suggests, you can run 5K continuously without walking.

Now I go 3 times a week, without the app, just with my music on. I wouldn't say I love it, I have to make myself get up and go, but I get some nice meditation time with just me and my music. The feeling afterwards is great and I find myself less moody and I sleep a lot better.

Honestly I was very cynical about these things but if you have a will to do it, it's surprising what you can achieve.

[Andre]

@seth Guess how much sugar lactose-free milk contains. You are sitting down? One liter has 50 gramm!!!

Lactose is a sugar. How is the milk freed from it. They use lactase, the enzyme which people with lactose intolerance lack, to break lactose into galactose and glucose. Galactose and glucose are just different sugars just as fructose is in fruit. You are not doing yourself a favor as the glucose (don't know about the galactose) enters your bloodstream quicker than lactose (which first has to be broken down in your body by lactase). As I am typing this I hade myself some lactose-free milk. Love it as it is SWEET and doesn't give me the nasty intestinal problems I would have otherwise when drinking milk.

Lots of truth in what Jussi ( @T 24 ) said. Makes the whole thing more simple. Would it be just about losing and maintaining weight I'd agree 100%. But diabetes is a different animal as you also have to consider keeping your blood sugar levels stable!!! You can be skinny as heck and still have diabetes.

There has been much discussion about sugar substitutes having similar effects on blood sugar regulation as sugar does. Possibly not that good for you but if it helps your sugar withdrawal it's probably ok to take.

I am sorry that this is all so complicated and daunting. But you have already some success with your feet. Doing something right there for sure!

[seth]

cheers andre these ate the things I'm needing to find out as the stuff on the diabetic web sites is often confusing and conflicting information on sugar and sugar replacements .

[seth]

im hoping that cutting out all the excessive sugar i used to eat will make a big difference i had 2-3spoons in my tea/coffer sometimes more fizzy drinks several cans a day a couple of chocolate bars a day and a sugar coated breakfast cereal and biscuits with my cups of tea.
once my levels are low and stable i hopefully can maintain things .

[T 24]

Sugar it self is not your enemy. Your enemy is qantity of energy (sugar, fruit sugar, lactose, carbohydrate, fat, etc.), total energy you get.
Andre is right, also skinny guy can be diabetic, but its mostly type 1.
I was talking about fat boys like me and type 2 diabetes + blood pressure / weight.

[Andre]

Conflicting information abounds all over the place almost regardless of topic. Just collect as much info as you can, then comes the daunting task of sorting it out. Complete bullshit is fairly easy to sort out. The good sounding stuff, and I don't mean the too-good-to-be-true, is the most difficult.

To simplify things for you:

1. Blood sugar control!!! Measure levels and take your medication religiously and keep record to show your health care provider. If you notice a spike ask yourself what you may have done wrong and learn from it.
2. Any pre-processed food/drink (a near endless list) should raise a yellow or red flag.
3. Get your body moving in order to burn what you eat and enjoy all the other benefits.

[Andre]

Sugar it self is not your enemy. Your enemy is qantity of energy (sugar, fruit sugar, lactose, carbohydrate, fat, etc.), total energy you get.
Andre is right, also skinny guy can be diabetic, but its mostly type 1.
I was talking about fat boys like me and type 2 diabetes + blood pressure / weight.

Sugar, fruit sugar, lactose are all carbohydrates. They have the same amount of calories (in the laboratory) but in the body they are different they behave differently and have different effects. You take the same amount of sugar (sucrose), fruit sugar (fructose), and lactose (milk sugar) and measure blood sugar the way it is done when doing a glucose tolerance test. The results will be different!

Seth has peripheral neuropathy as indicated by the pins/needles feeling in his feet. Blood sugar control is paramount in this case. Caloric control is not the way this can be treated!!!!

You are correct with skinny it being mostly seen with type 1 and not type 2. But mostly does not equal always. That's the catch.