New to Diabetes

[Jimboy]

I have just been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, at the age of 85, apparantly I am just over the figure that confirms this.
Would appreciate advice regarding diet, unfortunately I do like my cake/biscuit etc, so I think it will be hard.
For start what breakfast cereal would you suggest that is off the shelf in supermarkets. Also is cheese OK.

Thank for any replies

Although I am nearly 30 years younger than you, I got mine under control by severely cutting down on the sweets / cakes / biscuits. Not cut out altogether though. That will just lead to cravings.

It took about 6 - 7 weeks to kill my sweet tooth and I didn't find it too difficult. Nowadays, when I eat those things, I limit myself to a portion that contains 10g of sugar. Thats like 6 rich tea biscuits or 2 chocolate digestives. I have gone from 2 heaped spoonfuls of sugar in my tea to none at all. Just used a quarter of a teaspoon less each week until your tastebuds get used to it.

Everything else that I used to eat I still do. Pasta, rice, meat and dairy.

My breakfast cereal is from Aldi. Something a bit like Alpen but with chocolate chunks in it. I allow 15g of sugar for that so that amounts to about 50g of cereal. For your favourite cereal, just work out the portion size that equates to about 15g of sugar.

Cheese I eat without worrying about it as it has minimal amounts of sugar in it.

Diabetes UK is brilliant for everything Diabetes related but particularly for food stuff.
Also ask if your GP practice has a dietitian ours does, that can really help.
To answer your questions, cheese is low sugar/carb but very high us saturated fat, which can make insulin resistance worse.
First cereal proper porridge is good or something high fibre, low sugar like shredded wheat or a nutty, seedy muscle (not too much dried fruit). Adding protein at breakfast helps, greek yoghurt or eggs are good.

My dh and dad both are type 2 diagnosed in their 40s. One thing that's helped is staying away from processed food. Our foods theses days are full of e numbers, colourings and preservatives which our bodies don't need. Its might be case a reading a few label's. Example, tesco soft cheese contains much less ingredients than philadelphia. Both dh and dad stay clear of cereal. Might have porridge though. Breakfast for dh is eggs, baked beans or mushrooms. Try and make things homemade if you can. A homemade cake contains much less ingredients than shop bought.

I’d suggest putting the breakfast cereal back on the shelf and leaving it there. It’s carbs that raise blood sugar and all breakfast cereals are carbs. What about eggs or Greek yoghurt with berries?

This is crazy advice… 6 rich tea biscuits is 30-40 carbs, that’s as many carbs as a whole meal

You need between 225g and 325g of carbs a day. I lost 2 stone without trying just by cutting out sugary rubbish. My primary goal was to minimise the sugar. I'm not even pre-diabetic any more.

The OP asked for advice. I stated what I did. Their mileage may vary.

I don’t want to assume anything, but given your age, you may need to check you are getting enough protein. I think it is your weight multiplied by 1.2 to 1.5. So if you were 60 kg that would be a target amount of 72 to 90 g of protein per day. It doesn’t necessarily mean the end of sweet things, but if you do need to increase your protein then you’ll find that that fills you up more. But it is a bit more complex than I’m describing and it all depends on the circumstances that pushed you into two diabetes in the first place. In my case, I actually lost weight on intentionally, probably because I wasn’t getting enough protein. But that isn’t true for everyone.

So it would be well worth you getting in touch with Diabetes UK. Hopefully your GP had a proper discussion with you about your condition, and not just a general pep talk about having less sugar. If they can refer you to a dietician that would be brilliant, but I suspect there will be a waiting list.

advice for t2 diabetes is to keep under 130g carbs a day, because it’s all carbs that raise blood sugar not just sugar

I wouldn’t eat any breakfast cereal at all as it’s all processed food and high in carbs. Instead have a protein based breakfast like an omelette.

@PotatoFan blimey I’m not diabetic but was pre diabetic at one point a few years ago - I rarely go over 80g a day and some days not even 60 - mind you I’ve never been tested pre diabetic again - then again I eat not much bread, no cereal, very few cakes or biscuits or pies - my carbs tend to be porridge, rice, pasta and Waitrose potato rosti !

@Jimboy i hope you've received some help since you started this thread.

now depending on how you are with various phone's and app's or if you have someone in the family who is adept i suggest getting a skin sensor and monitoring your sugar's on the phone app. you quickly learn which foods spike your sugars too much and which foods are fine.

dh is newly diagnosed and we've NOT found a breakfast cereal low enough in carbs. his breakfasts are protein rich with healthy fats example 2 lean breakfast sausages with a boiled egg some cherry tomatoes and cucumber on the side.
some breads are low carb and so toast with butter and avocado/cheese/peanut butter are also okay a few and i mean a few berries (all veggies are fine and that could mean some steamed spinach or beet greens).

there are some good apps that help you keep track of carbs.

Is Brown bread and marmite OK for breakfast.

Thank you all for your answers.

@Jimboy the bread packaging and marmite should have nutrition information on them. There will be a carbohydrate value to add up.

My breakfasts are either:

Greek yoghurt with berries and toasted almonds
Spinach and cheese omelette
Overnight oats made with rolled oats or steel cut pinhead oats (the latter need 2-3 overnights though) and chia seeds. Topped with berries and almonds.

I sweeten the yoghurt or oats with vanilla flavoured stevia drops.

Brown bread is heavily processed and high carb so it’s not ideal for breakfast and tbh I avoid bread 95% of the time. If you must eat bread then home made sourdough is less bad for you, or one of those special keto breads. High protein breakfast is teally the one to go for, egg based breakfasts are great or meat, fish and cheese or cottage cheese are also good. Berries with Greek yoghurt and nuts is also a great choice.
Trying out a continuous glucose monitor will
show you exactly how your own body reacts which is incredibly powerful information, especially as every individual reacts
differently to the same foods.

Be careful of oats, for me they really spike my glucose. If you do eat them then use the steel cut ones and it the just add hot water to a pouch of oats convenience ones.
if you are overweight you will probably find that once you get back to a normal BMI your body can handle cakes a lot more easily as your body will start to regain the ability to deal with glucose properly. Walking for ten mins after each meal if you can is hugely helpful too. Even if you can’t do this after every meal. And do some weight training twice a week for 20-30 mins. Dumbbells at home is fine, you don’t need to go to a gym but you do need to build your muscle mass to improve your metabolic function.

*that was supposed to say avoid the convenience oats/poridge

I just had an M&S chicken green goddess egg wrap for dinner tonight with a couple of Waitrose rosti - they are very low carb, gluten free too and really nice - filling too and strangely would be nice for breakfast /brunch - from the sandwich section

Exercise is out for me, i am 86 and living with bad back pain, gp etc tell me I will have to live with it.

Suggestions for breakfast that is available from local shops, please, I am struggling with what I should and should not eat. Plus my wife has just been diagnosed with vascular dementia and my time is taken up with her.

Thanks.

I’m prediabetic and am attending an NHS programme . Most but not all the people in the class need to lose weight as well as to reduce blood sugar. We’ve learnt to have a balanced diet.. carbs give you energy but don’t overdo them. I m eating sensibly but do find I prefer a cereal to start the day. Porridge was recommended ( which I hate !). The next least bad is Branflakes apparently

These charts may help when choosing what to eat,

One chart ' healthy breakfast ' isn't healthy as 16 spoons of sugar, but the dr is making a point as this was once the advice from nhs diabetic clinic, so by following this you've already spiked your insulin,

Hope it helps