What am I doing wrong?! ( blood sugar levels)

[user1471556443]

I did a fasting blood sugar test at home with a glucose meter and obtained a reading of 5.5 which is classified as being pre diabetic!!
I am very slim, 5'5 weighing 8 stones 2 with a bmi of 18.9.
I do have a serious sweet tooth and regularly eat chocolate and cake every day.
I am now going to cut down on my sugar consumption but has anyone any other ideas how I can reduce my sugar levels.
Apart from eating lots of cake, I think my diet isn't too bad but maybe I am wrong?
Breakfast - one cup of coffee, no sugar plus one banana.
Lunch - fruit and vegetables and water
Dinner - large portion of pasta / curry / fish etc.
Cake is eaten after dinner daily.
Will now stop the cake but should I be cutting down on all carbs at dinner even though I am eating v little during the day?

Sorry, i’ll shut up after this!

The final point is that fasting blood sugar is only one small piece of the puzzle. But it is often the last thing to go.

So you could have raised blood sugar after eating but be back to a normal fasting level for years before it rises enough to become an issue. Testing after eating to see what effect different foods have upon you is the only way to monitor it. This is what the glucose tolerance test does, just on a more extreme level designed to stress your system to see how it copes under pressure.

Mmmm. Why did you do the test? Have you ever had an eating disorder? Why are you so concerned?

Your diet seems lacking in nutrients like fats and proteins and you say yourself you are very slim. I would focus on increasing the nutritional value of what you eat, and eating more, not cutting things out of an already very restricted diet.

Zero response from op after all this fantastic advice.

I'm a T2 diabetic and 5.5 sounds normal to me.
That being said I'm no specialist.
The advice I got from a dietician was to swap 'White' carbs for wholemeal, bread, pasta etc. Swap out normal white potatoes for new potatoes or sweet potatoes, as daft as that sounds and to make sure you get plenty of protein and veg and to be careful with fruit.
It's easier said than done though. Like you said you've got a sweet tooth, crisps and car by snacks are my worst enemy

But why did you do the test? 5.5 is within range so why are you classed as Pre diabetic? Are you trying to lose weight, because you don’t need to with your BMI.

I doubt you are prediabetic. However your regime seems very unbalanced and might be better with protein/calcium throughout the day rather than in one hit. Do you feel well? Hope you are drinking more fluids than this suggests too.

@user1471530109 I just have to look at a carb to spike too and then go horribly hypo and eat the entire kitchen and of course everything else in the world that messes with blood sugar that's not even food related.

You're not diabetic OP.

Erm... I'd be thinking the home test was inaccurate!
Go to the doctor if you are really worried.

If you are at all concerned buy the Michael Moseley Blood Sugar Diet book.

It really explains how carbs sugar etc affects us all.

There are food suggestions recipes etc BUT if you don’t need to lose weight just follow the recipes with much larger portions.

Hi everyone thanks for your advice.
Yes,I have ordered the mosely book, hopefully it will help to get a better understanding.
To all these posters saying 5.5 fasting blood glucose is fine, it is NOT!
According to the NHS website and every other classification I have found, fasting blood sugar of between 5.5 and 6.9 are classified as being pre diabetic.
Hence my concern.
Can anyone give me any suggestions of how to add more protein to my day?

Also I think another problem is that I drink v little water. I am now really trying to increase my water intake as I feel this may also be contributing to the high sugar levels

Also thanks prioryghost for that link.
It shows quite clearly that having a normal fasting glucose in the upper limits of the normal range will raise your chances of developing diabetes in the future.
Hence my concern to try and reduce my sugar levels to well below the normal upper limit.
My poor old dad had diabetes and he died of diabetes related ill health so I am v aware of this illness and this is why I tested myself at home

My GP told me I ws 'pre diabetic' when my fasting result was 5.5.

After cutting down on sugar and carbs it has risen even when I was ill and not eating the result at the surgery came in 6.3! Seeing GP again next week as am puzzled as to how this can be corrected.

You've started two threads about this.

YOU ARE NOT PREDIABETIC.

OP I sympathise and you are right to be concerned I think. If you can lower your sugar levels that can only be a good thing. Not sure what to do about mine other than cutting out carbs altogether (will make me miserable and I'm 70 - at an age where I don't want to be more miserable than necessary IYSWIM!

Beer no need to shout! I'm in same situation as OP having been told by GP that I was pre diabetic at 5.5

Beefaseer, how many times do I have to tell you that a fasting blood sugar level.of 5.5 IS classified as being pre diabetic according to NHS guidelines.
Even if it wasn't and you think this is normal it would still be at the very top end of the range, making it v likely that I would be developing diabetes at some point in the near future.
This is what I am asking help with.
If anyone can make any suggestions about my diet?
I don't need more and more ppl posting telling me this is normal and fine because it isn't!!

I'm shouting because the OP has received excellent advice on two threads now, but is clearly not paying attention.

Pre-diabetes can only be effectively diagnosed from a HBA1C blood test, which shows the level of glucose in the blood over a few months.

A single reading tells you literally nothing, other than a reflection of that moment in time.

This is screaming health anxiety to me because the OP is ignoring all the sensible advice they've received.

It's akin to me getting a headache and claiming I'm a migraine sufferer now.

Also I am only 40 years old so quite young to be pre diabetic I thought?

Also I think another problem is that I drink v little water

I bought a ridiculously expensive water bottle, thinking if I spent £35 on a bottle, I would bloody well use it.

It worked.

This is screaming health anxiety to me because the OP is ignoring all the sensible advice they've received.

Yeah, that’s what I thought. OP is determined to work herself into a right old lather regardless of what anyone (probably including her GP) says.

OP you’re not listening to anyone.

Why would you test yourself at home? If you’re concerned see your GP. Stop self diagnosing.

I don’t know why people think 5.5 isn’t a cause for mild concern - I agree with the OP, especially as she has a family history of diabetes. In other countries, the cut-off for prediabetes is 5.0. Ideally as a non-diabetic you want fasting to be about 4.5. Why wouldn’t you take action to try and lower it a bit now, rather than waiting until it is a problem?

OP - fasting is often the hardest to lower. Look up the “dawn phenomenon”; this affects lots of people.

I also think the general advice, eg replace white pasta with wholemeal pasta, is a bit outdated. Your body doesn’t know whether it’s a gram or chocolate or a gram of pasta. It doesn’t mean you can switch to whole grain and eat the same amount.

Personally (and it is purely personal; I am not a dr, just someone with similar issues!), I would recommend cutting your carbs to moderate levels, eg keep them to 50g of carbs per meal (breakfast can be hard so maybe 30g for breakfast) and 15g of carbs per snack, and really limit the sugars and refined carbs. For some people a protein rich snack just before bed (so a small square of cheese, for example) can help with morning blood sugar.

You can also find good exercise routines to build muscles to improve insulin sensitivity online.

Oh for goodness sake. You cannot diagnose yourself as pre-diabetic from a home test. You sound fine but if you're really concerned to your GP!

I also think “prediabetic” is a bit misleading too. It’s like being a little bit pregnant. You either have a normal response to sugars or you don’t. What readings at the top end of normal can be (and here I reiterate that they should be done by a dr, not a home testing kit and certainly not just one reading!!) is a warning signal.