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.

Could someone give me an example of what they eat in a day?

You must get proper medical advice on diet. Carbs on a diebetic diet is not a simple issue.

-Do not eat carbs alone - always with protein and/or fat
-Protein/ fat heavy breakfast eg eggs and Greek yoghurt with nuts rather than pastry or toast
-When having a meal eat the component parts in this order - vegetables first, protein/ fat then carbs
-Swap simple carbs for complex carbs eg wholegrains
Increase the amount of veg in your diet
-Spoonful of vinegar in water half hour before eating

*by carbs above I mean refined carbs

Spuds, rice, cereals, fruit, noodles, pasta, cakes, biscuits, pastries - all have to go.

Sorry.

@Cupofteaplease21

Breakfast - Greek yoghurt with frozen cherries and nuts/ chia seeds or 2 boiled eggs and chicken sausages

Lunch - home made veg soup or leafy chicken salad

Snacks - nuts and seeds or peanut putter on apple slices

Dinner - fish/ chicken/ steak with roasted veg - if having rice or potatoes a tiny amount or whole grain rice or skin-on potatoes. /Meatballs and courgetti / halloumi and lentil salad

I recommend listening to the Zoe podcast on blood glucose

Also swapped sugary chocolate desserts for 2 squares of 80% dark choc on an evening

Exercise helps massively too. When you exercise, glucose receptors are pushed to the surface of your cells so they take up more glucose from the blood.
Swap carbs for complex carbs. Sweet potato instead of white potatoes. Wholewheat bread, brown rice etc.
Small portions of complex carbs is ok, not everyone can tolerate cutting them out completely and I don't like suggesting the Keto diet as it can be quite harsh on the kidneys long term. Diabetic patients need to be wary of metabolic ketoacidosis which is also why strictly keto should only be undertaken under the advice of a health professional.

This is a good place to get started !

learningzone.diabetes.org.uk/

Sweet potato would have my blood sugars in double figures!! As would brown rice!

celeriac makes a great potato substitute. I mash it with cauli and top cottage pie with it. I make chips and roasties with it.

DietDoctor is great for recipes. His microwave mug bread is lovely. I make cheese scones using ground almonds instead of flour.

diabetes.co.uk is a great resource. Low Carb in the UK is a good FB group.

I'm a practice nurse - specialist in diabetes.
Your GP is right, 42-47 is pre diabetes. You are considered diabetic if it goes higher that's 47.

With increased exercise, reduced carbs, sugar and I'm afraid wine you'll be able to lower that figure. Try to walk 10000 steps a day. The Mediterranean diet is meant to be good. Diabetes Uk also have meal plans and your GP should be able to refer you for diabetes education program and which helps with diet and lifestyle x

I had gestational diabetes which I managed through diet. Changing white to brown bread etc made no difference but Keto did.

my blood sugars stayed within the limits for three months until I gave birth.

my favourite meals were:
Cauliflower Fried Rice with Duck
steak with creamed leeks
fish and salad
rotisserie chicken

breakfast was boiled eggs, cheese, omelettes, berries

dessert was berries and cream or zero jelly

snacks were peanuts

honestly, we have never eaten so well.

Dp reversed his diabetes by ditching all carbs (under consultant monitoring) he makes scones and 'bread' using cheese - sounds weird but there are loads of recipes on the net. Snacks are pork scratchings (check your make sure no carbs/sugar) or small amount of nuts or veg - air fried sprouts and bacon are a favourite

He can't tolerate toms or milk either and also ditched artificial sweeteners as they can make your body think you're still having sugar.

Sweet potatoes are still really carby - he has cauli or celeriac mash or extra veg (those grown above ground)

Mine is at 52. But I'm having a hell of a time with it. I think there's something else going on alongside mine.

I shifted from prediabetic earlier this year and only found out in september. I'm still learning and getting my head round things, I joined the Diabetes UK forum and the best book so far is Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes Cook Book by Vickie De Beer and Kath Megaw - despite it being family orientated and their centering their child with type one, it describes everything at the start in ways I can better understand. It's not that I'm thick but I've really struggled to understand different aspects of my condition.

Do your own research OP and try different things to see what works for you (the NHS diet advice is different to what Diabetes UK advises for example). Have you been given a finger prick blood monitor? If not I would advise you to buy one. That way you can see what foods affect you the most and work out how to keep your sugar levels down from there. Has your GP given you a figure to work to? My Dad is diabetic and he is advised to keep his levels between 6 and 8 on his blood monitor, for example. Perhaps ask to be referred to a dietician for extra advice if you are really struggling.

I have PCOS and a few years ago my h1Abc was 41 (my GP at that time said 42 was pre-diabetic) so that was a massive wake up call to lose the huge amount of weight I’d put on. I haven’t given up any foods in order to lose the weight (I love carbs! 🫣) but I lost 45kgs by fasting instead. It’s supposed to be good for stabilising blood sugar and despite my diet being atrocious recently due to comfort eating (got a lot going on at the moment 😣😩) my latest h1Abc is 34 and that’s with me eating crap, not exercising and still being around 25kgs overweight! So I’m pleased with that (I will work on the rest!). Obviously I’m not suggesting you try fasting (not without medical advice anyway), but it’s an example of how I used it to avoid giving up food groups that I love but also still reduced my blood sugar levels. Perhaps look into supplements that might help, like chromium but obviously check with your GP that it is safe to take them. I take inositol and chromium for my PCOS (amongst others), as this helps with insulin resistance.

Good luck ☺️

It would be good you could get the strips and machine for testing your blood sugar levels. That way you can see how different foods and activities affect your blood sugar. Otherwise you are getting very good advice here. They say the diet eaten by people with diabetes is the best diet for everyone.

I ended up in hospital on a drip because I was getting bad symptoms, turns out my blood sugar was off the charts crazy , there was sugar in my urine!
I've been ignoring the signs for years, worsening eyesight, skin infections, numb hands and feet, extreme fatigue fun fun fun
It runs in my family too
I'm on metformin now

What helps me now is portion size, I used to have big helpings..
But now I bought myself a small bowl to have my meals in, instead of a plate

I replaced sugar with stevia in my tea,
zero sugar/ diet soda when I'm craving fizz
But mostly drinking water
Fruit juices are a no for me..

White bread to brown..

Lots of switching things like feta instead of cheddar cheese
Plain yoghurt instead of flavored
Unsweetened alt milk instead of cows milk

No eating past 7pm , i only drink water after that time
I don't eat straight away in the morning either, I go for a walk first , with a hot tea or water bottle

Eggs are good for breakfast very filling

Turmeric pills and supplements, are good for diabetes

Becareful of sauces like salad dressing and mayo/ketchup
Honey is worse than actual sugar
Stay away from fruit for a while, or go for low sugar ones like some berries
For Exercise I do walking and swimming

Good luck and that you can hopefully reverse yours, your in a good position now

Thank you :)

I'm similar to you but 2 months down the line.. But my levels were higher. Doctors and nurses were not a lot of help with info so your thread has been helpful. Do you want to team up and be 'diabetic buddies' so we can struggle and learn together?

Yes please!

Can you pm me..I don't know how on my phone 🙂

Stop the fresh juice. It does the same as full sugar pop.

Please do look at diet doctor website. Keto will control your sugar cravings, hard first week or two but then you will surprise yourself.
Almond flour is an amazing substitute for so many things.
Please look into keto. It really works.

Strongly recommend the book Life After Diabetes to explain how your body works and what you need to do to get this under control. I do a lot of 16:8 intermittent fasting and no carb to keep it under control. It is hard but long term implications are a big motivation!

Being tested again next week (if it's HBA1C again) isn't going to show any change. That test measures the glucose levels in your blood over a longer period (I want to say c12 weeks, but could be wrong), so testing again in a week is going to test 11 of the same 12 weeks.

A testing kit would be useful for you to understand how different foods affect your glucose levels. You may be able to get one on prescription.

If you can afford it, a Libre CGM would be an even better way to monitor things. Even if you just do it for a month - you'd learn a lot very quickly, and would be able to make changes based on the most data. They may have introductory offers perhaps - a BOGOF or something like that... or a free trial one. They're not cheap, but as a very short term measure, it would be worth a look.