Pre-diabetic food help needed

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Replies

  • manderson27
    manderson27 Posts: 3,510 Member
    I'm going to be the devil's advocate, so don't hate me people! 10# on someone who is 6'2 doesn't seem like enough to stress his pancreas.
    Do you both feel like his Doctor is knowledgeable? Does he take time to answer your questions and concerns or does he rush you through due to a high patient load? If the answer to either one of these is no, I would find another Doctor.
    Did your Husband get diagnosed as pre- diabetic after only one A1C or a few FBG readings? If so, they might need repeating. Maybe it was a one-off.
    Has he been having any other symptoms? If so, maybe a second opinion is in order. Fresh eyes on the problem.

    Thanks for your response, nothing wrong with playing devils advocate (I do it a lot myself) Always good to look at things from a different perspective.

    This has certainly crossed my mind as this is a new doctor at the surgery. Also only one test so I think could be a blip. However his father had diabetes so it is in the family. He also has high blood pressure and high cholesterol both of which are controlled by diet and medication. He will get another test done in a few weeks and we will take it from there.
  • manderson27
    manderson27 Posts: 3,510 Member
    jgnatca wrote: »
    I was diabetic for over a decade and prediabetic for longer than that. I have taken many classes to help control the disease.

    I suggest instead of looking for a particular food as the culprit to simply rearrange an already healthy diet to keep the blood sugars steady.

    Your man is already highly disciplined. He will figure this out.

    - Eat on a schedule, at the same time every day and never skip a meal.
    - Other than overnight never go more than two hours between meals.
    - Get a blood tester and test first thing in the morning and two hours after breakfast, lunch and dinner.
    - If he gets a high number he can work it off with exercise.
    - Every meal should have a little protein in it. Even the snacks. This will help the blood sugars be released at a steady rate.

    Examples of protein supplemented snacks:
    -protein bar
    -apple with peanut butter
    -cheese and cucumber
    -hiker's mix
    -egg and crackers

    Thank you for your response, good advice, this is actually the conclusions we have come to that just tweaking his food regime is probably all it will take.
  • manderson27
    manderson27 Posts: 3,510 Member
    I would like to thank all of you that have taken the time to respond, we have garnered some very useful dietry advice and he is feeling a lot better about it after hearing so many of you have pulled the blood figures back with out having to take meds.

    Love to you all <3<3<3
  • mimapr
    mimapr Posts: 27 Member
    I have a similar situation- pre-diabetic (slight) but also high colesterol (very high). I'll be following the responses to this post. My basic guidelInes are similar to your husband's and I'm tying to follow a vegetarian diet that also allows for eggs, fish, and a little bit of dairy (mostly in the form of no sugar Greek yogurt), with less carbs and more good fats.
  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,195 Member
    Your husband probably doesn't need to do an extremely low-carb diet in order to change his numbers. You don't necessarily need to drastically change the way you cook either. Cook what you normally do, but fill out your meals with vegetables instead grains. Have marinara over a bed of spinach instead of noodles--or have half of a serving of pasta (1oz dry) and mix that with zoodles. Serve chicken over a mixed green salad instead of rice. Eat things like pasta or brown rice in VERY controlled and carefully measured portions. Track everything so that you can start to see patterns over time and note what works well or does not.

    I was borderline diabetic at one point, but eating this way keeps my A1C around 5.0. My carbs are in the 75-100G/day range most of the time. A lot of that is coming from milk products, fruits, veggies and legumes.

    It sounds like he has a good start on the exercise. Could he add a little more activity with higher intensity, and perhaps strength training a couple of times a week?
  • socajam
    socajam Posts: 2,530 Member
    Your husband need to exercise every day. Walking really helps. The weather is changing now, have a walk in the morning and in the evening. Try and have your dinner at say 3 pm, that way he can walk at six and if hungry have a light snack. I am a lover of bread, cereal and oats, works havoc on my losing weight. Gave up cereal and now eat bread once a week, the other day I am happy with eating Ryvita, never thought they would fill me up.

    For rice I now eat cauliflower rice - I can eat a whole packet (454 grams @170 calories). I still eat rice, but only on occasions. As we get older, we need to rethink how we use to eat at 20, 30, 40 and even 50.

    West Indian food is very starchy( green bananas, plantain, rice, sweet potatoes, yam etc), but one eat these in moderation - maybe twice a month. It is hard, but that's life.

    I have thyroid problems - no thyroid - extremely hard to lose weight, but I know it can be done, and in order to get it done I have to exercise every, just to get that weight moving. Now that the weather is changing, I have started walking and will walk every day as long as I am able. My goal is to walk off 800 calories daily, it can be done with determination and lots of effort.
  • macchiatto
    macchiatto Posts: 2,890 Member
    I agree with @nvmomketo's advice (including on low carb diets being compatible with higher sodium levels/needs).

    My parents are both diabetic. I found out I had prediabetes and high triglycerides when I was in my mid-30s (about 5 yrs ago) and my BMI was about 23-24 at the time. I shifted to a low carb way of eating, lost about 10% of my body weight and was able to reverse the prediabetes and lower the triglycerides from 217 to 52. More recently I discovered keto/LCHF and it's been good for me. My fasting glucose has stayed well out of the prediabetes range and my blood sugar has been more stable (I tended toward hypoglycemia before).
  • kbmnurse
    kbmnurse Posts: 2,484 Member
    Does your health insurance offer an Registered Dietician?
  • ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken
    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken Posts: 1,530 Member
    edited March 2017
    First does he check his blood sugar now that he has this diagnosis? I recommend getting a meter and he should make a point to check his blood sugar. I would go lower on the carbs. Here is where the blood sugar check will be handy. He can check after he eats to get a good idea of how certain foods spike blood sugar.

    Now onto what is good to eat. Low carb breads are gaining in the grocery store these days. There are a variety to choose from. Does he like nuts? They are great for blood sugar control. A 30 gram serving each day of walnuts, pistachios, pecans, almonds, etc... are about all that is needed. avocados also. Healthy fats, and lower carbs. I don't know what his diet was before the diagnosis but he should take an HONEST look at his dietary habits.

    Next, has he been on any medication at all up until now for any reason?
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    edited March 2017
    Dear Posters,

    Thank you for all the enthusiastic discussion in this debate. Please continue answering the OP's questions in this discussion.

    If you wish to continue the debate about Dr. Sebi's work it has been moved to a discussion in the debate section as to not distract form the original point of this discussion. The debate can be found here:
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10530567/debate-on-dr-sebis-work/p1?new=1
    Thank you for your cooperation.

    4legs
    MFP moderator.
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