Good food tracker for a diabetic?

Wicked_witch

I was unexpectedly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes last week :eek: In an attempt to get a clear idea of what I'm eating each day and the carbs and sugars in particular, I'm looking for a site where I can put in the food I have and get a correct breakdown for it.

I have been trying myfitnesspal, but there are problems with it- firstly, depending on which identical item you click, you get different values (because they've been user input, I guess) and more importantly it doesn't differentiate between sugars from carbs and added sugar.

Any suggestions of websites and apps I can use appreciated.

Bonus moan: why is it sooo hard to find low sugar and sugar free ready-made foods in supermarkets? Even wieghtwatchers, Morrison's NuMe etc are packed with added sugar!

Fire_Fox

Myfitnesspal, just check the entries against the packaging of the product you are using the first time OR against the entries on supermarket websites. If you choose primarily wholefoods which have just one or two ingredients, added sugars will no longer be a concern. Some carbs behave exactly like sugar in the body anyway, in fact some can spike blood glucose more than table sugar! :eek:

Most ready meals and processed foods are nutrient devoid junk anyway, many are based on cheap tasteless ingredients that need added fat, salt and/ or sugar for flavour. Many such products would count towards the recommended maximum 10% of daily calories as sugar added/ fat added stuff. Not sure if you are aware but there are researched links between a number of micronutrient deficiencies and type 2 diabetes so you may want to discuss eating far more nutrient dense foods with the specialist nurse or dietician.

You might consider getting a slow cooker and making your own ready meals, I can throw a pan of something healthy and tasty together in under five minutes, just a bit of chopping I never bother frying anything off. If time is more of an issue than money I can recommend this Tefal one which also does porridge, rice and steaming (jumbo oats and brown basmati rice are lower glycaemic index). We have two of the old model and one of the new in our family!!

Wicked_witch

Thanks.

I'm not thinking of ready meals etc, but things like a turkey sandwich or a banana- depending on what you pick from the list, you can end up with anything from 0 sugar to 9g- hence why I want to be able to differentiate between sugar from carbs and added sugar (and also set my own goal amounts, can't work out how, or if, I can do that with mfp).

The 10% thing is very helpful info btw. I'm navigating this alone right now, having been called into my surgery urgently on Thursday morning after a general blood test and being given a big bag of pills and a 3 year old leaflet.

Fire_Fox

Wicked_witch wrote: »

Thanks.

I'm not thinking of ready meals etc, but things like a turkey sandwich or a banana- depending on what you pick from the list, you can end up with anything from 0 sugar to 9g- hence why I want to be able to differentiate between sugar from carbs and added sugar (and also set my own goal amounts, can't work out how, or if, I can do that with mfp).

The 10% thing is very helpful info btw. I'm navigating this alone right now, having been called into my surgery urgently on Thursday morning after a general blood test and being given a big bag of pills and a 3 year old leaflet.

Eeep big bag of pills, I'm guessing you got stuff for cholesterol and blood pressure at the same time as the drugs to help lower your blood glucose?

Bananas are horrific for sugar unfortunately. The lower sugar fruits are any berries, red/ white/ blackcurrants, rhubarb (Farmfoods sell frozen) and pumpkin. The amount will vary depending on the size of the banana, as you have found sometimes people don't complete all the fields. I just checked entries the first time then used the same entries from then on. The only way you can be completely accurate is to weigh and measure every iten or ingredient yourself which is time consuming.

Yes you can alter the goals with MFP, there is a 'goals' tab near the top. You can also edit any entries that are completely wrong (eg. sugar missing).

There really is loads you can do with nutrition, exercise and weight management, someone who is really determined can get off the meds for the first few years after diagnosis and certainly massively slow progression of their condition. Accessing the most up to date evidence based advice is the challenge, if you are not physically active now your doctor may refer you to your local 'Exercise for Health' scheme and hopefully they will also refer you to the dietician at the local hospital. The charity Diabetes UK is a good source of information too, just noticed they have an app.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diet/nhs-diet-advice.html
http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-diabetes/Food_and_recipes/Eating-well-with-Type-2-diabetes/
http://www.diabetes.org.uk/About_us/Our_Views/Position_statements/Fish_and_fish_oils/
http://www.diabetes.org.uk/About_us/Our_Views/Position_statements/Low-carbohydrate-diets-for-people-with-Type-2-diabetes/

Do push for what you want, doctors are used to diabetics who don't want to help themselves so often fail to explain (or don't know themselves!) how much can be done with lifestyle modification. Some are still pushing the 'low sugar low fat' message and research has moved on since then.

Perfect10_2

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/diabetes-iphone-and-android-apps.html

I know a couple of diabetics that use DAFNE to monitor their food intake but both are type 1 diabetics so have a read through to see if it would help you. Good luck adjusting to this change in your life x

Wicked_witch

Thanks to both of you. Luckily I am a bit overweight, but not obese (hey, I'm 38, prob never going to be a size 10 again, lol) and fairly active- I have a dog to walk and no car so do plenty of walking in general. Thanks for the MFP tips, I will go and have another play with it now! I do have to keep my fat low as I have gallstones as well, which limits my options a bit especially when it comes to dropping carbs as well, which I know a lot of people advocate.

I got metformin and a statin- I have always had low blood pressure, so nothing for that. I will also have to see if they will give me a blood glucose monitor (and push for it if not).

I have planned to live in good health until at least 85, so I will be very proactive in dealing with this!

Fire_Fox

Wicked_witch wrote: »

Thanks to both of you. Luckily I am a bit overweight, but not obese (hey, I'm 38, prob never going to be a size 10 again, lol) and fairly active- I have a dog to walk and no car so do plenty of walking in general. Thanks for the MFP tips, I will go and have another play with it now! I do have to keep my fat low as I have gallstones as well, which limits my options a bit especially when it comes to dropping carbs as well, which I know a lot of people advocate.

I got metformin and a statin- I have always had low blood pressure, so nothing for that. I will also have to see if they will give me a blood glucose monitor (and push for it if not).

I have planned to live in good health until at least 85, so I will be very proactive in dealing with this!

Lots of walking is a great foundation but don't confuse physical activity for health with exercise for fitness and weight management, the terms are not interchangeable. Your doctor will likely not want you to take up any new exercise regime until you are stabilised, after that more intense formal exercise can be highly beneficial, the research is really interesting.

It is important for a diabetic to be thoroughly assessed and supervised at least in the early stages which is why I suggested the local NHS Exercise for Health scheme - the exercise referral specialists should be qualified to degree level (level 5), so much higher than gym or studio instructors (level 2/ GCSE) and personal trainers (level 3/ A level).

Being 38 is irrelevant unless you are prematurely menopausal, a high proportion of 'age related' weight gain/ reduced metabolism is down to muscle wastage through disuse, few of us do enough of the right type of strength/ weight training to maintain or increase muscle mass and women do have it tougher than men due to testosterone levels. Higher intensity exercise is particularly good at trimming fat around the abdominal region, getting the waist to hip ratio back where it should be.

If you now have two conditions to work around definitely ask for that referral to a state registered dietician. Do look at the type of carbohydrates you are eating not simply the amounts: barley, beans and lentils are much slower to digest and absorb than wheat or rice. For cholesterol it is the type and ratio of dietary fats that is important.

If you don't feel you can eat oily fish you might ask your doctor/ dietician/ specialist nurse about supplementing long chain omega-3s and bioavailable vitamin D and what dose they would recommend. You can purchase triple strength fish oils quite cheaply, which means you are taking a lower 'dose' of fat but still getting a therapeutic dose of DHA and EPA. :T

noelphobic

Wicked_witch wrote: »

Thanks to both of you. Luckily I am a bit overweight, but not obese (hey, I'm 38, prob never going to be a size 10 again, lol) and fairly active- I have a dog to walk and no car so do plenty of walking in general.
!

Given your age and the fact that you're only 'a bit overweight' I would make sure they have got the diagnosis right and it is definitely type one and not type two. Not everyone who gets type 2 is overweight and over 40 but it is more common in those groups. Do you know what your blood glucose levels were when they tested you and did they test for ketones?

In all probability you were correctly diagnosed but if there is any chance it is type one then the treatment would be completely different - ie insulin would need to be started immediately.

daska

noelphobic wrote: »

Given your age and the fact that you're only 'a bit overweight' I would make sure they have got the diagnosis right and it is definitely type one and not type two. Not everyone who gets type 2 is overweight and over 40 but it is more common in those groups. Do you know what your blood glucose levels were when they tested you and did they test for ketones?

In all probability you were correctly diagnosed but if there is any chance it is type one then the treatment would be completely different - ie insulin would need to be started immediately.

Where did the OP say she was type 1?

OP, an increasing number of diabetics and pre-diabetics eat low carb to help manage their condition and there is a lot of helpful information around. You could do worse than to find one of Dr Richard K Bernstein's books and start there - he has, quite literally, a lifetime of experience.

Wine_of_the_World

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Bananas are horrific for sugar unfortunately. The lower sugar fruits are any berries, red/ white/ blackcurrants, rhubarb (Farmfoods sell frozen) and pumpkin. The amount will vary depending on the size of the banana, as you have found sometimes people don't complete all the fields. I just checked entries the first time then used the same entries from then on.
.

Thanks for that - very helpful. I had assumed berries and blackcurrents were higher in sugar than bananas, apples etc - I'd put them in the same categories as grapes !.

Wicked_witch

I am type 2, but I think noelphobic just got the numbers mixed up and meant that I should get confirmation that it isn't type 1 after all. I'll call the dr tomorrow and find out what's going on. I've had a second, non fasting blood test, so they should have the results for that as well now.

I am worried about going low carb, bearing in mind that I only have about 30g of fat per day to keep the gallstones under control. Doesn't seem as though that would leave me with a lot of options. I will see about getting a dietician referral!