Low-carb diets support thread

daska

Even if you're diagnosed with Type 2 you're unlikely to be given a meter, a friend of mine who has just been diagnosed has been refused one and told to follow the typical starchy diet. My understanding is that this is because a lot of diabetics merely observe their blood sugars rather than adjusting their diet as a result and therefore a 3/6 monthly HbA1c is cheaper and does as good a job. Having proved to my GP that I do use them to check how I react and have already modified my diet to improve them I'm hopefull that she may be generous. I have a decent meter from when I had GD and I have plenty of lancets left but Boots charge nearly £30 for the strips :eek:

Edwardia

Morning all !

I was feeling sick wondering what Doc would say about my Hb1Ac blood test and I got good news :j

My Hb1AC which was 13% two years ago is now 6.5% ie normal !!! My cholesterol excellent, iron now normal (improvement ie no anaemia now),vitamin B12 normal, liver function slightly off but GP says that should improve over time. I'd done a urine test too and kidney function came back normal (improvement).

Have to make appointment for eye clinic will do that Tuesday. GP says best to make sure.

Sorry to be so excited but at one point GP was telling me I was headed for insulin and he was very worried. Now I'm off the sulfonylurea and won't get hypos

bossymoo and sheila54 looks like we'll be comparing garden produce !
Congrats on the weightloss bossymoo and sheila54 you're next we will all figure this out xxx

mazzers crikey mine are Accu-Chek strips in plastic containers of 50 and I just checked the Boots website and they do boxes of 10, 17 and 50 and yes the 50s are over £29 ! I was looking at smaller boxes. The single use safety lancets I use are Unistick 3 Normal (yellow ones) manufactured by Owen Mumford. Just going to test now if I feel weird, that way I've got enough strips and lancets for months.

daska - if your friend buys a meter she'll get VAT back via the pharma company. I did say if lucky you can get one - depends if pharma companies have been dishing out samples at surgery. You're correct that people have a tendency to test but not learn from the results and that's why GPs are so reluctant to proscribe strips. Re: starchy carbs, GPs can't go against NHS policy and tell patients to low carb even if they believe in it, they could get fired. Doctors like Dr John Briffa and Dr Charles Clark are in private practice. My GP doesn't tell me to low carb and I'm the only patient with diabetes at his practice doing it. But he's really pleased that my determination to low carb is paying off for me and he's open minded.

Diabetes UK could advocate low carb but won't because the charity is in bed with processed food companies.

daska

Well done Edwardia!

Thankfully my friend was already aware of low-carbing because of me, but I guess she's proved their point, she's diligently taking her metformin but is still eating carbs because she needs to eat up what's in the cupboards/ finds it difficult to work out what to have for lunch/ doesn't like to have to cook two meals for her and her daughter etc... So the lax spoil it for the ones who would genuinely make use of them.

On a brighter note, I took at look at the DCUK forum and they suggested ebay, where I see you can pick up the strips for my meter (Contour) for as little as £7 if you get the right auction. No doubt these are ex-prescription ones from people who can't be bothered to test.

Edwardia

Thanks daska

Have to say that low carbing is very much seen as heresy by large parts of the medical and diabetes communities and most people don't do it, let alone the people with diabetes who should.

We've all been so brainwashed by low fat that we've forgotten that people with diabetes used to eat low carb up to the 70s. Seems like the majority of people would rather stuff meds and cakes and there is literature out there that says 'you can eat a normal diet'. In fact Southern-food chef Paula Deen from the Food Network was recently diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and she's now doing videos for a drug company because she says she wants to eat normally. :eek: Southern food is all breaded everything and molasses.

I hope your friend wises up before she gets complications

I have heard of people doing that and it's awful that they rip off the NHS and if they have been proscribed them they should be using them <sigh>

murphydog999

:T Edwardia, that is excellent news, well done you, you must be well chuffed :T

Sheila, avocados, as you well know, are stuffed with goodness, don't go and cut them out completely. I hope you aren't getting hung up on things again, have you been doing your extra exercise? (not that we are checking up on you or anything )

Edwardia

I'm absolutely chuffed and celebrating with two squares of Lindt 90% cocoa chocolate Thanks murphydog999 !!

murphydog999

Strangely enough, so I am, with some macadamia nuts. Yum!

SHEILA54

murphydog999 - not hung up, just trying to be sensible. I love avocados and they help with fibre so I would only cut down if I have to. Walked for 30 mins today at a fast pace for exercise as feeling a bit run down and couldn't face the bike.

Saw my GP who is doing lots of blood tests as I mentioned that I wanted to make this a life choice. She wants me to up the carbs a bit but is testing for kidney, liver, thyroid, cholesterol, bone etc to make sure that I am ok. She is not happy with the coconut oil and wants me to stop it.

Think I will just carry on as I am for the present.

How is everyone today?

Minihauk

Edwardia - great news.
Sheils - please don't get too hung up. Just stick with it all, you know it works and you will get through this.
Thank you to whoever (Murphydog?) who recommended the coconut oil with dark choc and nuts - made some last night and it is absolutely lovely!:j

Hope everyone is well and looking forward to the long weekend.

murphydog999

Yes, it was me, mine's all gone, husband loved it as well, very more-ish, but very good for you, very easy to make, must make some more for the weekend :j