Pre diabetes

[Bearfam]

Hello hoping someone with experience can help! I was told I was in the pre diabetic range from my glucose tolerance test in early March. Hba1c was 40 so wasn't in pre diabetic range. I can't remember what my glucose tolerance test result was. I was about 5.5 before the sugar drink (fasting) it wasn't massively high though. I'd gone to the GP because I was experiencing constant hunger like nothing I'd experienced before and feeling really tired.

I've now been taken metformin on a low dose of 500mg one tablet with breakfast for around 3months. I've also lost just over a stone and started exercising. I'm vegetarian and have been basing my diet on slimming world and keeping an eye on calories.

On last blood test hba1c was 37.However I still feel constant hunger it keeps me awake and I've had a few big crying sessions out of frustration! I don't know what to do losing weight is really hard when you feel ravenous all of the time. I'm more than prepared to lose weight and exercise to try to reverse this but it feels almost impossible.

Unfortunately my GP has just gone off on long term sick and I've seen two utterly useless GPs in the last few weeks. They don't seem to care how much this is effecting me. I've had depression before and can see it effecting my wellbeing.

I wondered if anyone had any similar experiences or advice? I'm just at a loos right now. Thanks so much for reading x

Have you thought of trying the Blood Sugar diet? Obviously after checking with GP. It's specifically aimed at diabetic and pre-diabetic people.

Have just bought the book myself and the recipes/meal plans do genuinely keep you feeling full (so far!)

Good for vegetarians too, as there are loads of veg, nut, and egg based meals.

Well done! You’ve lost a stone and lowered your hb1ac into the 30s. You are doing great!

Next step would be to solve the hunger issue. Have you looked into lowering your carb intake and increasing your fat intake. It’s fat that increases your satiety.

Do you like avocado? They are a great source of fat, will keep you full and won’t increase your blood sugar levels.

Type 1 diabetic here. The best thing you can do is lose weight, get more active and most crucially of all REDUCE YOUR CARB INTAKE.

You have a chance to avoid this horrible chronic disease. Type 1s don't have that luxury. Do whatever it takes and good luck!

Thanks for the advice it mean a lot . I've read lots about carbs and have tried to be conscious of them. Carbs seem to be the enemy on lots of the diabetic support websites! I am reluctant to cut out a food group as most healthy eating advice goes against doing this. When I eat low carbs high protein meals I'm still ravenous. Not sure if you need to do it long term and be in ketosis which I'm really not sure is healthy. I'm also so unbelievably hungry the though of having a meal with no carbs is just grim as they do give me some satiety.

Also yes love avocado but have been avoiding due to calorie content! Surely it is still a calories in vs calories out situation? So if I ate more fat not sure how that would work? Or would the premise be that I'm more satisfied so eat less?

I mean this in a kind way, but you have a lot of incorrect preconceptions. Low carb and high protein/fat has been proven to reverse type 2 by a team of scientists at Newcastle University who have been working on it for years.

Order yourself a copy of the Blood Sugar Diet by Micheal Moseley (qualified doctor and research scientist) and believe what he and the team who developed it say.

You can do this!

It is and it isn't calories in/vs out (helpful, i know!)
Carbs>protein>fat provoke an insulin response (fat hardly any, carbs a lot). Your insulin response is more pronounced as it's trying to deal with insulin resistance. Insulin also makes you hungry! So 3 days of 1000 calories of carbs = not good blood sugars and you ravenous, 3 days of 1000 calories of mainly fat = good blood sugars and you full. It does take a few days for the lack of appetite to kick in.

Have a read of the low carb bootcamp topic. Blood sugar diet is excellent but can be a bit extreme for some people. Good luck!

Another good source of info for Low Carb High Fat is the DietDoctor website. It really isn't cutting out a whole food group. I eat LCHF and I eat lots of veg and have berries for fruit. It takes a major change in your mindset to add fat to your diet, if you've been used to high carb, low calorie eating all your life. But it really works. I've lost the weight around my belly, as well as weight all over and I'm not hungry. Typical foods are salmon, mackerel, avocado, chicken, green veg, celeriac, eggs, berries, cheese and cream. It really is a delicious way of eating. Lots of water is important and lucikily I love mint tea.

What Mavis said ^.

For most people yes, calories in/calories out works. But your body doesn’t use insulin effectively (or is starting too).

The key is to eat enough fat to make sure you aren’t hungry. You don’t have to go Keto, but you do need to understand the connection between insulin and carbs. And you aren’t cutting out carbs, you can still eat vegetables, nuts, avocado, full fat diary like Greek yoghurt and some fruits (berries etc).

Thanks everyone. I've bought the blood sugar book from amazon. I know there's lots of free advice but it was only 4 pounds and it will be good to have info in one place. I do feel quite conflicted because I feel that adding more fat feels so counter intuitive. I also still have concerns over the effects of fat such as cholesterol. But I'll have a look at it.

Good luck! The book spends aaaages explaining the 'science' behind it's approach, so you should be able to get your head round it.