Help - Newly diagnosed diabetic

NixNoo

Can anyone give advise on what to look for on food labelling for diabetics. We know to look for carbohydrates of which sugars but what’s the max dose per 100 grams (ish) is it below 10? Obviously the lower the better but just looking for a cut off point to look for when shopping. My friends hubby has just found out he’s diabetic (merry xmas!!) He’s been put straight onto tablets and has been told to change his diet but not really been given a lot more info as yet – any help appreciated. Thanks. :xmassign: :xmastree:

Boohbah

You'll find all the help and advice you need here.

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/home.htm

NixNoo

Thanks Boobah
xx

Counting_Pennies_2

Your friend should be put in touch with a diabetic nurse and they should be able to give him some diet plans.

It was way over 15 years ago that my dad was diagnosed and even then there was a book very similar the the weightwatchers points book informing readers of all the products in the shops and colour coding them from good to bad. Do get him to ask the diabetic nurse if such a thing still exists.

The best thing to do is ensure he eats the right foods for maintaining his sugar. When my dad eventually went on to injections he took it as a sign to use the jabs to control over eating on all the sugary and naughty foods, that is just asking for trouble. The main point to this is to get into a healthy eating way of life the best way to help maintain the condition.

hth

NixNoo

The book sounds good - I'll tell them. So far the diabetic nurse just keeps telling them to 'eat healthy' and is not giving them much of an idea, they are going back tomorrow for more info but are in a bit of panic mode at the mo so all feedback is really appreciated - thanks.

researcher

There's a book called 'The Southbeach Diet', which might be worth a read - I'd look in the local library. I'm not suggesting he follows the diet, but there is a lot of information in it that might be helpful to a diabetic.

GI diets are all about keeping blood sugars stable and a lot of advice they give is very useful and relevant - like avoiding foods with a high GI index. An example is baked potato - which is very high and should be avoided as opposed to new boiled potatos which are medium. Sweet potatos, although sweet, have a much lower GI!

billy_the_kid_2

The GI diet is also thought to be very good for insulin dependent diabetics. Not sure about diet controlled though. However from talking to diet/tablet controlled diabetics, some foods even low in carbs can send them high. I strongly recommend a food diary linked with regular blood testing to see what works for your friend.

elaine373

billy_the_kid wrote:

The GI diet is also thought to be very good for insulin dependent diabetics. Not sure about diet controlled though. However from talking to diet/tablet controlled diabetics, some foods even low in carbs can send them high. I strongly recommend a food diary linked with regular blood testing to see what works for your friend.

I totally agree with this. My husband is type 2 and is just realising the complex carbo problem.He has realised that not eating sweets and cakes isnt all that is required. He eats too much bread and this sends his sugar levels too high.

moomintroll_3

Different foods affect different people differently! Personally I think the most sensible advice I've seen for newly dx'd diabetics is Jennifer's advice which boils down to TEST TEST TEST.

My dietician followed the 'food pyramid' idea and attempted to get me to eat lots of starchy carbs at each meal. Uh... No! In the end I ignored her and followed the Jennifer advice which suits me much better. I still eat carbs but where missing them out doesn't affect the meal I miss them out.

An example would be a veggie stir-fry (I'm not veggie, I just don't mind veggie food every now and then) where I miss out the noodles. Net effect on me for that meal is ZERO - my blood glucose doesn't rise more than 1mmol or so and in 2 hrs I'm back to pre-meal readings. However, your friend may find that this spikes him massively - this is why its important to test and find out what works for you!

Diabetes is a life-long disease which YOU manage. The only advice I follow now is my meter's... This approach is shown to work FOR ME by my HbA1c results - easily in the 5% mark which is essentially normal.

By all means, have your friend talk to their GP / DSN / diabetologist / dietician and take their advice on board but they MUST take an active role in managing the condition.

Another good resource is Maggie's open letter to the newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic [PDF].

G

anguk

elaine373 wrote:

I totally agree with this. My husband is type 2 and is just realising the complex carbo problem.He has realised that not eating sweets and cakes isnt all that is required. He eats too much bread and this sends his sugar levels too high.

When my hubby was first diagnosed over 20 years he was given a set of scales by the diabetic nurse and had to weigh everything he ate and everything had points! It was also more difficult to buy sugar free food & drink, you could only buy special diabetic juice from Boots. Thankfully it's easier now as everyone is more health concious so you can get pretty much everything in a low fat or sugar free version.

Now diabetics don't really have to follow a special diet, dieticians just recommend eating a healthy diet. My hubby's diabetic nurse recently gave him a GI index booklet and it has made it so much easier to control his blood sugar as everthing is listed as high, medium or low, he now just makes sure he eats plenty of lows, less mediums and just a few low GI foods.

Ted_Hutchinson

A couple of links to papers below showing the importance of keeping your VitaminD levels as high as possible throughout the Winter.

The effect of vitamin D3 on insulin secretion and peripheral insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetic patients.
[size=+1]Relationship between fasting serum glucose, age, body mass index and serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D in postmenopausal women. [/size]Healthy Direct via Quidco are probably the cheapest if you aren't able to use a sunlamp for 20 mins or so 2 or 3 times a week to keep your vitamin D levels as high as possible. 20 mins full body exposure should produce about 12000iu sufficient to keep you going for 3 days at 4000iu a day.

The Worlds Healthiest Foods has good advice for feeding those with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus