Prediabetes Advice

[Teenagermum1979]

So I have regular blood checks for other conditions (under active thyroid, Vit B12 & D). My GP has recently been checking my HbA1c as I am overweight (BMI 50ish) and family history etc. Last time my HbA1c was 41 and now it's 48 so I am borderline diagnosis for Type 2.

Obviously I'm panicking. I struggle to loose weight and have previously struggled with binge eating so food has a major psychological significant for me (although this is getting better). Tried Slimming World (loose some weight but this fuels my binge eating) and Weight Watchers (never lost any weight). Have done LCHF in past whilst working with a trainer and lost inches but not a lot of weight.

I am trying to work out what is best way forward but there is so much information out there it's hard to know where to start really. Just wondered if anyone has been in this situation and can give some pointers?

I do desperately want to change. I'm overweight but I've had a lot of trauma in my life and sometimes food has been my only comfort. So please be kind

TIA

Low carb or VLCD can reverse type 2 diabetes

Sorry, that wasn’t very helpful. What has your GP suggested?

They half mentioned the Newcastle Protocol which is very low calorie diet of 800 kcals per day which I have read about and the theory sounds right but I'm not sure I can sustain that with work and being a single parent (and the rest!). I will do it if it's absolutely necessary though.

I like the idea of fasting in general. Not so much the 5:2 but 16:8 is more manageable I think.

Just wondered what had worked for others practically x

A BBC documentary series found that a least half an hour brisk walk a day outside helped the participants in their programme. The diabetes nurse actually said it was as effective as some of the medication available. Wasn't a big study but easily worth a try if you've a sedentary occupation and don't usually walk many places.

Oh and cutting added sugar out would be a good idea. Again if you don't already do this.

I am quite sedentary so I need to do something about that. And trying to cut the sugar down but it's hidden sugars that are hard.

I’m not sure why they have mentioned the Newcastle diet as this was part of a trial and we have heard of a few GP surgeries in the country adopting this process but hasn’t been recommended by the NHS and is not something that dietitians recommend who work with diabetes as it isn’t suited for everyone.
There is a pre diabetes education being rolled out throughout the U.K. but isn’t available in every area as yet.
As your latest hba1c is above 48, your GP should check you again in a month. If that figure is also 48 or more then that is a concrete diagnosis of diabetes.
If you have psychological reasons as to why you eat, it may be worth asking the GP to refer you the psychological service as they may be able to work with your feelings and health needs.
Have a look at diabetes U.K. for meal or recipe ideas. Look at making allowances. You can have a treat on occasion. Everything in moderation. Avoid diabetes foods.
The key is exercise and even if you can do some brisk walking every night enough to get your heart going, this would help and will also improve your mood.
Good luck 😊

It’s carbohydrates that you need to look at. For example, a slice of bread is the equivalent of a banana and will increase the glucose levels the same way or similar a nice biscuit or digestive biscuit would.
Look at carbs and Cals book

It's all about carbs, OP. You need to learn to read labels and make good substitutions. For an obvious example, I never order pudding anymore - I just order cheese! Forget about advice like "eat wholegrain rice instead". Your body doesn't care if its whole grain rice or chocolate; a carb is a carb is a carb. In fact, I can tolerate chocolate much better than rice

My advice if you're at 48 is to buy a meter and test, test, test. Test before breakfast (i.e. After fasting for 8-10 hours) and test an hour after eating. The following week, do the same but test two hours after eating. You want to see fasting below 5.5 (ideally below 5.0) and post meal below 7.8 at one hour or below 6.5 (ideally 5.5 or below) at 2 hours. This will show you how your body is responding to certain foods and will help you make the right adjustments. I recommend the bayer contour next, on Amazon or at some pharmacies, as it's so easy to use.

The thing with your 48 is that it's an average. So it doesn't tell you if you're spiking or running high generally. Backing it up with a meter will put you in control. I've dropped mine from 40 to 33 like this - aiming for 30 next time!

If you look at the diabetes.co.uk website and also the diabetes sub on Reddit (just google Reddit diabetes), there's loads of helpful posts on there. This board is a bit quiet!

I agree that it is your carb intake that you need to monitor. Others have suggested forums and Diabetes.org.uk have a supportive and informative forum and a great food and low carb recipe board. Low carb and not low calorie is the way to go.

Thank you, that's all very helpful. The thought of low calorie makes me want to cry so I have started low carb. I will get a monitor though as I never thought about the HbA1c being a snap shot. I will start testing myself more regularly x

Try not to look at what you can't have so much as what you can have. Lots of filling, healthy, tasty food - it's really the crap that you'll be cutting down and then out!

The meter will help a lot, as everyone's body responds differently. E.g. I can manage a bit of pasta but no rice or white bread. So I have a tiny bit of pasta and bulk it right out with yummy veggies, pesto, cheese etc.

Get hold of it now and you'll be so glad - you'll be healthier, slimmer and less at risk of developing it!

Blood sugar diet is what you need, OP. I follow it - am not diabetic - and even though I spend quite a lot of time working away, and am veggie I have no issues sticking to the 800 cals per day. It’s a mindset. And the food is yummy!

LCHF is good for regulating blood sugar which is more important than weight loss for diabetes. Carbs are all broken down into sugar eventually so are bad for diabetes. DH was diagnosed with diabetes just before Christmas and is keeping his blood sugars in normal range with medication and LCHF. He ate a sandwich when on a course the other week and his blood sugars were sky high for hours after so it is definitely making a big difference.

DH finds the meter very useful he started out with readings in the 20s and is now down to between 5 and 7 even after eating. To start with he would test before every meal and then 2 hours after eating (1 hour after is too soon it will definitely be high) whilst we worked out what foods were ok. You dont want it to go up by more than 3 2hours after eating. Getting real time feedback is a good motivator too. I have friends who just go off 6 monthly HbA1C and find it much harder to motivate themselves to stick to healthy eating.

You can low carb and fill up on protein and fat.

Pinkdonkey - well done to your husband!!

However he may want to throw in the odd one hour test. That will show him how high he is truly spiking, and i think that's important because there are increasing studies that show any time spent above about 7.8 can cause damage to nerves, eyes etc. It also helps him track how quickly he's dropping from 1 hour to 2 hours, i.e. how well things are working.

The weight loss one is a very interesting one. On the one hand, absolutely - you can't think if you just lose weight, you can go back to eating whatever you fancy. Sadly it's not a magic bullet. On the other hand, again quite a few studies are showing that the insulin resistance is caused in part by fat around the organs, esp the liver and pancreas. That's why diabetics tend to be more apple shaped, and it's how the blood sugar diet works: it's aimed at reducing fat in and around these organs. My own view is, it's not a cure. You'll always have it. But you can use the blood sugar diet and weight loss to improve your insulin sensitivity and readings and therefore give yourself a bit more wiggle room on what you can eat.

Totally agree the 6 month average h1bac check is not sufficient. The meter is invaluable for keeping good control - and therefore good health!

I'd read about the effect of weight loss on liver function (his liver function tests were also abnormal) and he's lost over a stone too. He is on medication that causes high blood sugar levels too so it's doubtful he will be able to reverse the diabetes but he's managing it well.

Just thought I'd update to say that 2 weeks in and I have lost 6.6lbs. Really pleased. Thank you for all your advice z

can I ask what kind of meters you are using - my mum has one but I'm sure teh numbers she refers to are 6-9 not 48 etc so does it test something other than blood sugar?

I don't know is niccyB is a diabetic dietician, but she is right, the NHS is not recommending LCHF for diabetics yet. The NHS, and GP's, are very slow to catch up with current thoughts.

Diabetes UK is still monitoring LCHF diets, to see what the long term effects are. It's too early for them to 'back them' yet.

The BSD - recommended by Michael Mosley, 800 calories and Low Carb, or Low carb generally, has a big following on the diabetic forums.

Ages since I visited here, and it's such a relief to be back! I've almost done the diabetes prevention programme and got very confused: fat is 'bad' - a tiny amount a day allowed, but we're encouraged to eat quite a lot of carbohydates (wholemeal, etc.). I piled on kilos and became very despondent. So now I come back here (why didn't I before?) and find that low carbohydrate diet seems more popular in general. I'd been doing low CH and was losing weight slowly but steadily - don't know if that was good enough.

Messages I did find useful from the programme were: More fibre, I though I ate plenty with a diet high in fresh salad/veg but I was kidding myself. Also exercise more - I was shutting my eyes to how much more I need to do.

Oops sorry, just realised this thread is a bit old