I'm diabetic, help!

[Cupofteaplease21]

Had to have some blood tests and my hbac1 (think that's what it's called?) is 48 which Dr has said means I'm diabetic and to manage it through diet and exercise initially. What should and shouldn't I be eating? They said cut out sugar but that was it really. I have a very sweet tooth which probably explains why I've ended up where I am. I hardly drink alcohol and only drink water, tea of coffee, very rare I have fizzy drinks, juice, etc.
Thank you.

All carbohydrates raise your blood sugar not just sugar so it’s total carbs you need to reduce

It’s not just sugar, you now have an intolerance to carbohydrate showing up as insulin resistance

it’s low carb, ideally keto to get it under control

www.dietdoctor.com/diabetes/diet

I got a book out of the library called "Busting the diabetes myth" by Dr David Cavan. Easy to read, clear, simple advice and I reduced my HBA1C from 49 to 41 in three months. Good luck.

Oh right! Thank you, Dr didn't say anything about carbs!

Thank you I will look for that.

Also, if you're overweight, then losing weight will help

Carbs break down to glucose, so you're just chugging away on sugar when you eat them! E.g. 1/2 a cup of rice = 20g carbs = apx. 4 tsp sugar.

Lower your carbs, aim for food that is low GI (breaks down from carbs to glucose more slowly).

Kick-start with Michel Mosley Keto Fast 800 😁

Fast800, as in 800 calories???

I'm not particularly overweight.

Your reading of 48 is pre diabetic as far as I know, unless they have changed the bandings?

Still a big wake up call even so

Yes - the keto bit combined with the calories will get your HbA1c down. It's very low carb. M Mosley was diagnosed with T2 diabetes years ago & is a strong advocate for lifestyle getting your diabetes under control. The keto fast 800 thing can kick-start things. In 3 months you should be able to lower your HbA1c.

Dr said it was diabetic. I have no idea.

My level was 105 and I reduced it to 44 in three months. I didn’t find much of the advice from the NHS very helpful. Nor the diabetes support sites. It was all a bit wishy washy. Lots of ‘eat anything in moderation’ stuff.

so instead I did the obvious. Substituted foods which weren’t great for me. Sugar free fizzy drinks for instance. White bread for brown. So on. And then I set myself a daily limit. No more than 30grams of sugar a day. And no more than 100grams of carbs.

Now I’m experimenting. As I find too little sugar in my diet makes me sick. Too much the same. I guess it depends on the individual.

Whether it's diabetic or pre diabetic, it's not massively over the cut off so you can manage it with diet particularly. Exercise to a smaller extent. Definitely cut carbs, they turn to sugar. And cut any shitty sources of sugar like biscuits. Your organs work better when they are not essentially polluted with processed shite. Vegetables are better than fruit.

It’s essentially saying goodbye to all junk - pastries, pasta, warburtons toastie, garlic bread….and replacing it with good protein (meat) and veg. Cheese is still on the menu, as is butter eggs and cream!

And exercise! And spaced eating at the very least (4 hours between meals no snacks) and at best, some decent fasting (start at 16 hours)

Mine is 32 btw so I do know this works

Thank you, rubbish time of year to be giving up sugar! I have to get tested again next week. What exercise should I be doing?

Any exercise! Walking at pace to get your heart rate up is as good as anything

You sometimes do get a sort of ‘withdrawal’ when you cut the sugar & carbs

It passes after a few days and your cravings reduce a LOT! But be prepared for a few days cold turkey

Exercise is really important as well as diet. Exercise has a massive impact on improving insulin sensitivity. If you don't already do much then look to increase your activity levels together with improving your diet.

Ok thank you, I do walk the dog everyday but not particularly fast.

What sort of meals should I be having? It's all feeling quite overwhelming!

I'm type 2 diabetic after gestational diabetes twice. Obviously sugar is a big no but I follow a low GI diet. You look at the carbohydrates sugars on packaging. You don't need to cut out bread, there is a bread make called Burgen or stick to wholemeal. Milk is also another trigger for me so I switched to soya milk which brought my blood sugars down loads. The Dr's and nurses don't provide the best advice sometimes. There is a diabetes forum app. Even a little bit of excerise like walking goes a long way and even a little bit if weight loss helps a great deal. Hope this helps x

I'm also sure 48 is pre diabetic too. Mine went up to 81 I've got it down to 57 but I do have to take medication also.

Thank you.
Dr said pre diabetic was 41 to 47. Just found the notes I made!

48 is definitely Diabetic range, you’re just in there. I’ve been diabetic for about 4 years and my HBA1C is currently 48, tested last week. Low carb, no veg grown underground except celeriac, low carb bread, avoid fruit except berries. Get yourself a blood glucose monitor to see what affects you - I discovered that having a hot drink with lunch would increase my blood sugars but was ok with a cold drink. And that chocolate is ok for me. Weird.