Reversing Prediabetes? (No Keto or Low carb)

[DuranDance]

My younger sister (40) was diagnoised as type 2 diabetic last year and is now on tablets to try and control it. I am a couple of years older and while I know my basic diet is better then hers I also knew that I had similar bad habits too much snacking on sweet stuff, too many full sugar fizzy drinks (I can't take artifical sweetners and stevia tastes bitter to me). Anyway I got a blood glucose tester and saw that it was a bit high so did make some changes like switching to xylitol for my tea and cutting out fizzy drinks and snacks which lastes a while until earlier this year an elderly relative became ill and needed a lot of help which I did most of and I was back to drinking cola and snacking to get energy to keep going.

Sadly my relative died about a month ago and we buried him about 2 weeks ago. I feel like I am just about coming up for air and need to think a bit about myself and so checked my fasting blood glucose again and for the past few mornings it has been around 6.1 - 6.3 which I know is in the prediabetic range.

I would like to try and tackle this myself if I can I am going to cut out cola, snacking on sweet stuff or crisps, start exercising, drinking more water. I am a vegetarian and I don't want to do keto or low carb as I find it too restrictive to completely cut out carbs like bread and pasta and I can't stick to it. I could do low GI though. I am also open to intermittent fasting, I am perimenopausal (on HRT) and I suffer from quite frequent migraines (had migraines since childhood) so changes in diet and high intensity exercise can be difficult for me. I'm also a few stone overweight and suspect that if I did just lose weight and get down to health weight things would be a lot better.

I have previously spoken to my GP about all this but they can't really do anything until I become diabetic.

Any advice would be great.

Perhaps have a read about the fast 800 diet? Loads of info on the website / books. Basically the 5:2 where you eat 800 calories on your fast days, but there are higher and lower intensity options, which might be useful for you, if your body struggles with diet changes.

I think you will have to reduce your carbon intake though, I don't think that is negotiable if you want to get out of the prediabetic range.

Have you looked at Michael Moseley's 8 week sugar diet?

Your GP should have directed you to the National Diabetes Prevention Programme OP. I'm not an expert but if you Google it I think it might be an online course. There is also Xpert Diabetes if your HbA1c goes above 48. Good luck xx

Reduce calories and take exercise after your main meal, even a 15 min walk or exercise helps reduce the glucose peak, as you are vegetarian take a vitamin supplement and what protein you can.
Be careful of sauces and salad dressings they are usually very high calorie, I’m not a veggie but I could live very well without meat because I love curry’s and stirfry’s to my own recipe.

@SunnyKlara Thank you I will look at the diet you mention, I do know I will have to reduce my carb in take and I think I can do that by cutting out things like cola, sweets and snacks and making changes to my meals but I just didn't want to do Keto or low carb as I am vegetarian and find typical low carb too restrictive. I would be able to do low GI.

@RubyandPearl Thanks for that info I will take a look at it now!

The book The Glucose Revolution may help. It’s www.amazon.co.uk/Glucose-Revolution-life-changing-power-balancing-ebook/dp/B09MFGK6K2/ref=sr_1_1?crid=DW9S6WZKU302&keywords=the+glucose+revolution&qid=1660122256&sprefix=The+Glucose+%2Caps%2C4455&sr=8-1 this one.

Check out the Glucose Goddess and her book, as a previous poster mentioned. She has a lot of info on instagram.

You should request a hbac1 blood test op, just to have a clear idea of where you are. There is something called the dawn phenomenon that can affect your morning fasting readings so your overall levels may not be as high as you think.

Unfortunately even small amounts of brown rice/pasta and other healthier carbs can cause blood sugar issues for some people, you will need to experiment to find out your own tolerance to these, for example I can't tolerate rice at all, but a very small portion of brown pasta is OK, and I can eat warburtons no added sugar wholemeal bread but only at lunch time, I have no tolerance even for one slice at breakfast. So maybe not low carb, but perhaps lower than before unfortunately.

I went into the pre-diabetic range and am now out of it again. I do Intermittent fasting, like you I can't sustain proper low carb, but I have fewer meals based around carbs and do all the tricks to reduce glucose spikes (reheating pasta/potatoes etc). Plus, boringly, 10k steps a day every bloody day rain or shine.

I’d recommend the Fast 800 cook books - lots of easy recipes in there.

I recommend intermittent fasting. I follow OMAD (one meal a day) and it's been a revelation. I wasn't pre diabetic but I had a terrible addiction to sugar and this way of eating has curbed that enormously.

I know one meal a day sounds horrific, but its really not! Look up Dr Jason Fung. I also recommend a book by Gin Stephens called Delay, Don't Deny. She's not a doctor but the book describes in practical detail how to follow OMAD and what the benefits are.

Losing weight alone will reverse type 2 diabetes. I'd concentrate on this rather than worry about sweeteners.

@Peridot1 & @BarryKentPoet Well thats 2 for the Glucose Goddess, I've followed her on Insta and already downloaded her book from amazon!

@Burgerqueenbee I did the Diabetes UK test and that says I am at moderate
risk but i did just do a postprandial blood glucose test and that was in the normal range after a breakfast of cereal, bananna and milk so perhaps you could be right about the dawn phenomenon. I did have a Hbac1 a couple of years ago which was normal but then so did my sister a year before she was diagnosed as diabetic. I've seen with my sister that thing with carbs that she can eat rice and pasta without issue but can't really have a potato at all! I am prepared to eat lower carb than I do now but would find "Low Carb" very hard I've done it before and it was utter misery.

@MsRinky Well that does sound promising regarding the intermittent fasting I will look into that. I could do the 10K steps as well.

@Dreikanter Thanks for the recommendation!

@countrypunk You're right it does sound horrific 😂I will look into your suggestion but I also deal with chronic migraine and skipping meals can be a big trigger for me. I am not denying that its not good for you to eat this way I am sure it has lots of benefits but it seems a bit extreme for me and I don't think I would stick to it but I will look into it. Jason Fung has already come up on my google searches.

@hewouldwouldnthe I do agree, I was just saying that I do at times consume a lot of sugar in drinks which doesn't help. I need to cut out the cola really and the snacking that goes with it. I am always low in iron and definetly use sugar to power through the day so I need to correct my anemia as well.

Another yes for GlucoseGoddess!

Also I got a 2 week free trial of a blood sugar monitor from Abbot. The same one that type one diabetics use. And then bought another so I have been tracking my blood sugar for a month.
It’s really helped to see what things affect it and what don’t.

Eat a savoury breakfast.
Drink apple cider vinegar in sparkling water.

And generally pile on the vegetables and you won’t want so many refined carbs, and won’t miss them (in my experience).

Raw veg especially carrots lowered my blood glucose levels. No idea if that's just me or a normal reaction!

No that's not true at all. Losing weight can help some diabetics go into remission but not all of us will. I lost way more than the 15% of body weight that is recommended and I am not in remission.

Sugar and carbs play a huge role in diabetes and need to be restricted alongside exercise and weightloss.

OP can you get a blood glucose monitor and use it to see what your blood sugars are doing over a week?

If you can get a glucose monitor (not through the doctors just go to the website), you can see the difference between eating carbs/sugar whilst just sitting, versus eating the same thing but exercising after - just moving around, not full on exercise even

As a fellow migraineur, I would suggest getting those under control, maybe with preventative medication. If you aren't regularly experiencing all the effects of migraine, it will be a lot easier to avoid coke and sugary snacks.

@LovelaceBiggWither The majority of type 2 diabetes is weight related and if losing this doesn't reverse the condition, then look more closely at diet. Obviously a crap diet needs changing But changing the diet without losing weight is just a sticking plaster solution

The interesting thing about OMAD is that I don't feel anywhere near as hungry on this diet as I did when I really restricted calories, and that's because you're not spiking and then crashing your insulin throughout the day with snacks and drinks. You may even find it helps your migraines... you can also eat whatever you want in your eating window so you can eat till you're full. Which is very important to me because I'm a greedy bastard.

I don't work for the OMAD overlords, I just love this way of eating and think everyone should try it

You can be on keto, OMAD, IF, have lost the weight and still not have diabetes in remission. It's simply not that simple a condition to manage. I wish you were right. Have a look at the reddit diabetes 2 subreddits. There's lots of us on there who have lost the weight, done keto and/or low carb but still need meds to manage.

I'm in the pre-diabetic range and am low carb. I still need metformin to manage my diabetes and when ozempic stops being in low supply we are doing a trial of that to see if it will get me into the non-diabetic range. Even if it does, I know I won't have reversed it.

Dr Roy Lancaster seems to have people who have genuinely reversed it as they can eat carbs with no issues but this result seems to be heavily dependent on using his methods very early on in diabetes management.

I’d also recommend the podcast A Thorough Examination by the Van Tulliken brothers - a look at ultra processed foods and how they affect your body (fizzy drinks count as ultra processed). It’s on BBC Sounds.

while all carbs turn into sugar not all carbs are equal
my husband reversed Hb1Ac from 57 to 39 by losing three stone and cutting out sugar but not carbs in 4 months
he has mackerel or eggs for breakfast and no sugar cereal with milk
no carb lunch ( apart from incidental in veg) either hearty soup or a salad
relatively normal dinner but smaller carb portion ( equiaalent of 2 egg sized potatoes) fruit for dessert or snack, his diet was bad lots of crisps 4 packets a day 2 bars of choclate and sweets and chips as veg of choice,
he eats plenty as hard physical work he just couldn't do 800 or even 1000 calories a day
two things he found helpful,

1. book by Giancarlo Caldesi the diabetic weight loss cookbook


2. eat like the french basically summed up as no snacking 3 meals a day, small portions, minimal processed food eat and cook whole good quality food, no eating on the go or mindlessly, sit down and eat slowly you fill fuller and realise it if you don't eat fast or while doing something else, drink water tea coffee or even a small glass of wine but not fizzy drinks( even diet versions) smoothies milkshakes etc, everything in moderation,

@LovelaceBiggWither I accept what you are saying, but I know 2 people close to me who have reversed with just losing weight. However they do eat a good diet now. I'm simply saying to the OP that her first step is calorie reduction and weight loss, with accompanying overhaul of her diet. If that doesn't work then by all means look at other methods. Diabetes is often a genetic linked condition so sometimes simple weight loss won't work, but it is the first step.

@applestamper So I have been under the care of a specialist neurologist for my migraines for 15 years, they are very bad but better then they were. I've tried every medication and treatment available and they either don't work or stop working eventually. I currently get botox on the NHS which helps a bit. Some of the medications I've been on definetly contributed to my weight gain and migraines certianly affect how and what I eat and drink but I can't keep waiting for my migraines to get better to tackle my other health issues but you are right its a major complicating factor.

@Egglantine I did buy a blood glucose monitor and some strips so I should be able to keep testing my own blood glucose. I will keep a diary of food, exercise and blood glucose readings for a week to see what effect things have.

I think increasing exercise and losing weight would be a good first step as well as cutting out junk food snacks and sugary fizzy drinks and getting more exercise. My basic diet is good, as I don't eat typically eat any ready meals and good everything from scratch ad do eat a lot of fresh vegetables daily so for meals it might be portion control, making some swaps i.e. smaller portions of wholemeal pasta or noodles, less bread and potatos etc. I think if I did all that and my blood sugar wasn't changing after doing all that for a couple of months I'd need to go back to my GP for another Hb1Ac.

@LovelaceBiggWither I am curious about how you were given Metformin for prediabetes? My sister takes this with good effect but my GP said it was only for diabetics and that in the UK prediabetes wasn't a recognised diagnosis.