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Low-carb diets

Share advice and experiences of following a low-carb diet.Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. You may wish to speak to a medical professional before starting any diet.

Please help me with where to start to manage my insulin resistance/pre-diabetes...

17 replies

Saz444 · 02/06/2022 21:35

Hi, I need help. I have insulin resistant PCOS. I have now been told I'm pre diabetic so I need to make changes to my diet but I have no idea where to start. I need to eat low sugar low carb but I don't know what this means. Some places I've read I need to eat high fat dairy, some places say no dairy at all. Gluten free or no bread at all? I have two young children and a husband. I work, life is busy, I don't have a huge grocery budget and I can't make different food for everybody. I also find eating this way is expensive so I end up eating wrong food because its quicker and cheaper. I just need some advice and don't know where to start. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

OP posts:
MatchaTea · 03/06/2022 04:41

Your GP should give you a referral to a dietician to help you with correct information and meal plans. Relying on the internet can be confusing because of the conflicting advice.
On Mumsnet, there is a diabetes section www.mumsnet.com/talk/diabetes and they should be able to point you to resources.

Right now, you don't metabolise carbohydrates properly, glucose remains in blood stream causing high blood sugar.
For most people, type 2 diabetes is due to excessive weight. You have excess fat, including in your liver and pancreas, and as a result your pancreas doesn't work properly and doesn't release enough insulin and when you eat carbohydrates , there isn't enough insulin to push the glucose from your blood into your cells.

You need to lose weight to fix your pancreas, but because you can't process carbohydrates , you need to limit them. That is all breads, rice, pasta, pizza, biscuits, cakes, crips, potatoes, ... but also fruits.

You need to go on a low carb - low calories diet and start moving. Exercise, even walking , will help. Certain herbal teas will also help . Mornings has antihyperglycemic effects when consumed whole www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6950081/ The easiest and most pleasant way to consume moringa leaves is to blend the recommended amount (7gr) with a 3/4 cup of frozen raspberries and it becomes a sorbet.

Go on the diabetes board I listed above but do also ask for help from your GP/nurse. This is too important to rely sorely on social media.

You can reverse pre-diabetes and chances are, you will also ease your PCOS at the same time

LovelaceBiggWither · 03/06/2022 04:59

You do not need to go on a low calorie low carb diet, but you do need to go on a low carb diet. A low carb diet will have you losing weight without the need to be low calorie.

A dietician is a good idea but try and find one who supports low carb diets, not all of them do. If you use reddit, the reddit diabetes subs are excellent for information on low carb diets. Good luck with it all!

Footle · 03/06/2022 06:42

You can eat fruit as long as it's berries.

purplesequins · 03/06/2022 06:47

have a look at 'fast 800'
that was developed exactly for people in your situation.

hashbrownsandwich · 03/06/2022 06:56

I work with diabetic patients and while the fast 800 in theory seems great, it's longevity is questionable.

We refer people to a service called DESMOND but obviously unsure if they are available in your area.

Being pre-diabetic, you will be entitled to an annual HbA1C blood test. You also unfortunately have 50% chance each year of becoming type 2 diabetic.

I would reccomend the diabetes UK website, they have clear information and a great support network.

RedBonnet · 03/06/2022 06:57

I was also told I was pre type 2. I stopped eating anything with sugar listed in the ingredients. Harder than you think because they even put sugar in houmous! But it made sorting food easier long term.

Milk, fruit and honey all contain a form of sugar, but I looked at it as a sugar that occurs naturally in that food. So it was OK to eat.

I now make my own food like granola and chocolate balls because I like chocolate and granola but getting them sugar free from the shop is impossible.

I avoid carbs like bread, pastry, potatoes and although I was only about 1 stone overweight I am now within my height range. Losing weight happened in weeks.

This is what worked for me. I am, after a year, out of the borderline zone.

FavouriteMug · 03/06/2022 07:00

Don't be tempted to cut back on fat. When I was diagnosed with diabetes I switched to pretty much full fat everything (with dietitian's approval).

Coffee with cream
Full fat Greek yoghurt with berries etc

Join the Diabeties UK forum as lots of dietary advice there and ask for dietitian referral.

Mount2Climb · 03/06/2022 07:07

Fast 800 is very hard but does work.
Low calorie low carb is very hard, also work.

I'm not a medical professional but I lost weight low carbing.

I need to eat low sugar low carb but I don't know what this means.
It's meat, seafood, nuts, seeds, eggs, green vegs and full fat dairy like hard cheese, butter and cream.
No potatoes, carrots, beets, milk, beans or lentils (unless vegetarian or vegan), pasta, rice, couscous, sugar, fruit (berries are low in sugar but it's best to be avoided initially and then only a small handful if you must).
Good website:
www.dietdoctor.com

Some places I've read I need to eat high fat dairy, some places say no dairy at all.
This is down to your body and if you feel fine eating cheese and cream or not. Sometimes people's weight stall if they eat too much dairy because let's face it cheese is delicious. Some people eat dairy and have no issues. You can start with eating dairy and see how you get on.

Gluten free or no bread at all?

Gluten free is a different story. You can be low or high carb and gluten free. This is something for a digestive issue or autoimmune. For PCOS you need to go further than excluding gluten. There is low carb bread and bread substitutes that are low carb. But the regular bread? Nope.

I have two young children and a husband. I work, life is busy, I don't have a huge grocery budget and I can't make different food for everybody.
You're going to have to prioritize your health and make adaptations. You are worth the cost. If you're ill you wouldn't be able to cook much and your grocery will be even higher on convenience food. In time, you won't be so hungry and you might find you eat 2 or even 1 meal a day so don't be discouraged. Low carb if done right really suppresses hunger.
I would do things like, eggs for me and my husband but he would also have toast. My children might just have toast.
If we're having English breakfast I'd skip the toast and hashbrowns.
If I make a chicken curry, I give them rice and I either eat cauliflower rice or just the curry on its own.
If I make bolognese, they eat it with spaghetti and I eat it with courgetti or some shredded cabbage.
Sunday roast, they have the potatoes and yorkshire pudding and I have meat and veg.
Family having wraps? I wrap my filling in lettuce or eat it as it is maybe with extra green veg. There are low carb wraps.
There are many ways of making your favourite food low carb and loads of recipes online.

I also find eating this way is expensive so I end up eating wrong food because its quicker and cheaper.
I find initially like the first 10 days or so I eat a lot but once I'm in ketosis I don't eat as much and my grocery bill is cheaper because I'm not buying chocolate, cakes, crisps, takeaways and wine!
Use your instapot or slowcooker if you have them. Menu plan and get the ingredients. Prepare food like tuna mayo in a tub, boiled eggs in a tupperware that kind of thing. Get some convenience products like frozen broccoli, prewashed salad leaves, low carb salad dressings, and pork puffs (not scratchings, these fuckers will break your teeth!), almond butter (it has no sugar but somehow tastes sweet!)

Any change is hard initially remember, nothing changes if nothing changes. Your health is worth than extra time and initial cost because trust me, it's not cheap when you're ill!

I wouldn't get bogged down with calories initially and would focus one eating what is on the allowed list until I'm in ketosis and then I'd look at my calories if my weight loss has stalled. Even though I believe calories matter, it's just too much all at once.

AnnaMagnani · 03/06/2022 07:18

I eat low carbish and find it a very easy diet to do with my DH who isn't.

Normal meat+2 veg meal - I just don't have the potatoes.
Anything that goes with pasta/rice - swap to wholemeal/brown/spelt and have a much smaller portion of the carbs yourself or no carbs.
Things on toast - everyone else has the toast, you don't have the toast. Ditto things with crusty bread.

TBH I don't do pasta v often anymore except as a side dish and risotto has been replaced by speltotto.

The recipes on Diabetes UK are generally v good and I soon got the gist of what they wanted you to do.

Badger1970 · 03/06/2022 07:30

I control my Type 2 diabetes well by maintaining a lower carb diet. I don't eat potatoes, pasta, rice and avoid bread unless seeded. I found very low carb/low calorie really hard to stick to (like Fast 800) and my diabetic nurse said it's too restrictive - it has to be a permanent lifestyle change. I think you just need to find a balance - the odd piece of fruit as a treat or few squares of dark chocolate won't hurt.

Foghead · 03/06/2022 07:47

My dh reversed his newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes by going low carb and losing 2 stone. He now eats normally but also takes care to make sure he doesn't put weight on.
He ate 3 meals a day and snacked on nuts, blueberries and full fat yoghurt if he needed to.
He also fasted daily so ate breakfast, lunch and dinner between 12pm and 7.30pm
He ate eggs, any meat and lots of veg but not potatoes.
He had things like Currys and bolognese but without the rice or pasta and just had cauliflower, courgette, celeriac, broccoli etc.
We looked up Keto and low carb recipes and experimented a bit too.
Good luck!

AnnaMagnani · 03/06/2022 07:48

My DM managed to reverse her Type 2 by doing lowish carb - she lost weight, cut out all added sugar such as cake, biscuits etc, swapped potatoes to sweet potatoes, made everything wholemeal.

However she did not go to the extremes of giving up carrots, lentils, fruit - she basically just did healthy eating minus the obvious carbs as a permanent lifestyle change.

She did insist on keeping grapes as a treat even though they are the worst fruit (poss mango is worse) and her blood sugar pinged up afterwards as she said they were too nice to give up.

picklemewalnuts · 03/06/2022 07:57

There are some great websites! I'll try and link.

Firstly, don't panic. Every day is a chance to eat fewer carbs than usual- that's all you are aiming for. You don't have to be perfect! Over time you'll get better at it, and may well totally reverse it. Making a mistake isn't failing, or 'ruining all your hard work'! So get your head positive and don't panic!

The food you are avoiding in approx order of importance-

sugar -that also means biscuits, sweets, cake and chocolate.

Cereal, pasta, rice, bread of all kinds.

Sugary fruit- grapes, mangos, pineapples, kiwis.

Potatoes.

Carrots, parsnips, peas, sweetcorn.

You may well have reversed things long before you get to the bottom of that list!

I find it easier to focus on what I can have- loads of leafy veg, meat, cheese, cream.

picklemewalnuts · 03/06/2022 08:02

www.diabetes.co.uk/diet/low-carb-high-fat-diet.html

Saz444 · 05/06/2022 10:09

Thanks so much everyone for your replies
Some really helpful advice here

OP posts:
Cornishbelle · 17/12/2022 18:47

@Saz444 just wondering how you're getting on? I could have written your op and after seeing an extremely unflattering photo today realised I have to make a change ,have around 4 Stone to lose

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