Fresh Fruits

rschm271

I am new here and I have a question. How does a diabetic eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and stay under my daily allotment of sugar? I thought they were supposed to be good for you! I am managing to stay under my calories but my sugars, fats and sodium have been all over the place.

JaydedMiss

how do you feel physically?

cmriverside

Talk to your doctor about your carbs.

Fruit is high in sugar. One or two pieces a day might work for you. How much is "a lot"?

lemurcat12

Are your goals from your doctor/dietitian or the MFP ones?

If you are at low cals and mainly getting sugar from fruit and veg, it may not be something to worry about. I think carbs in general are the issue for diabetes, not sugar specifically, and I know for some fruit isn't hard on blood sugar compared to some other sources of carbs. Combining carbs with protein and fat also may be the issue, so you might want to have fruit with nuts or greek yogurt or cottage cheese or some such, or with a meal.

rschm271

Thank you so much for your replies. I feel great. I am trying to eat 4-6 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. I tried the plant based diet and thou it worked well for losing weight I missed chicken, fish and peanut butter! I couldn't see it as a forever life style change. So now I am trying 80% plants and 20% meats and proteins. My goals were set by MFP, I don't see my nutritionist for another month. She recommended this as a learning experience, but I have soooo many questions. lol I did read that fruits contain simple sugars that don't effect your blood sugars adversely and I haven't had any major spikes, actually I have more issues with my sugars getting too low which is why I am at the nutritionist. My doctor wants to increase the dosage on my medicine but can't until my sugars are stabilized. I also need to lose about 30 pounds.

NJCJF

rschm271 wrote: »

Thank you so much for your replies. I feel great. I am trying to eat 4-6 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. I tried the plant based diet and thou it worked well for losing weight I missed chicken, fish and peanut butter! I couldn't see it as a forever life style change. So now I am trying 80% plants and 20% meats and proteins. My goals were set by MFP, I don't see my nutritionist for another month. She recommended this as a learning experience, but I have soooo many questions. lol I did read that fruits contain simple sugars that don't effect your blood sugars adversely and I haven't had any major spikes, actually I have more issues with my sugars getting too low which is why I am at the nutritionist. My doctor wants to increase the dosage on my medicine but can't until my sugars are stabilized. I also need to lose about 30 pounds.

You missed chicken, fish and peanut butter on your plant based diet? Why couldn't you have peanut butter?

rschm271

The diet we were following was no processed foods. The only way we could have peanut butter is if we made it ourselves. These days tho you could probably buy organic peanut butter locally.

MichelleSilverleaf

A dietician would be better to see than a nutritionist.

rschm271

Two questions: How do I respond to a single post as NJCJF did above? What is the difference between a nutritionist and a dietician? Aren't they both helping patients to eat within their dietary needs by changing what you eat? I have celiac disease and diabetes and she is teaching the proper foods to eat to keep me feeling healthy.

MichelleSilverleaf

if you hit Quote under someone's reply, you can respond to their comment directly

As for dieticians vs nutritionists, the latter don't always have the same education level. Dieticians in order to be registered as a dietician have to do a significant amount of schooling, a nutritionist depending on where they get their education don't and it's generally easier to become a nutritionist because of how much easier completing a course is to do.

Bluetail6

Here is an article I googled. I was curious about the difference after reading your post.
https://www.verywell.com/dietitian-nutritionist-difference-2506622

rschm271

MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »

if you hit Quote under someone's reply, you can respond to their comment directly

As for dieticians vs nutritionists, the latter don't always have the same education level. Dieticians in order to be registered as a dietician have to do a significant amount of schooling, a nutritionist depending on where they get their education don't and it's generally easier to become a nutritionist because of how much easier completing a course is to do.

Thank you very much. You have given me some questions I will bring up with my Doctor. I deserve someone who is registered and has information pertaining to all diets and I could certainly benefit from her expertise.

jgnatca

I was pre-diabetic/diabetic for a very long time. In remission now from weight loss.

1. Proteins and fats are metabolized slower so are very helpful to stabilize blood sugars both highs and lows.
2. Are you logging all your meals? This will be very helpful to self educate and as a starting point when you finally meet with your dietitian.
3. Are you tracking your blood sugar first thing in the morning and two hours after meals? This is also critical to your self education.

After years of tracking and experience I prefer vegetables over fruits. I try and get a little protein in every meal and snack.

The middle word for the diabetic is balance. Fruits are good but cannot be relied on alone.

rschm271

jgnatca wrote: »

I was pre-diabetic/diabetic for a very long time. In remission now from weight loss.

1. Proteins and fats are metabolized slower so are very helpful to stabilize blood sugars both highs and lows.
2. Are you logging all your meals? This will be very helpful to self educate and as a starting point when you finally meet with your dietitian.
3. Are you tracking your blood sugar first thing in the morning and two hours after meals? This is also critical to your self education.

After years of tracking and experience I prefer vegetables over fruits. I try and get a little protein in every meal and snack.

The middle word for the diabetic is balance. Fruits are good but cannot be relied on alone.

I was pre-diabetic for several years before my doctor said "Let's try low dosage meds." Now that I am on meds I feel like I have to eat all the time to keep from getting too low and she wants to increase it a little more! My A1C didn't drop as much as she hoped. I think you make a great point that balance is the key. Thank you.

rschm271

Bluetail6 wrote: »

Here is an article I googled. I was curious about the difference after reading your post.
https://www.verywell.com/dietitian-nutritionist-difference-2506622

Thank you - it helped a lot! I can cover both bases if I see a L.D.N. = licensed dietitian nutritionist.

azulvioleta6

Focus on your carbs first when planning your day.

I find that I have to limit myself to about three ounces of fruit per day, then the rest of my 8+ freggies are lower carb vegetables.

Nothing is healthy in excess, and for diabetics, too much fruit is excess.

rschm271

azulvioleta6 wrote: »

Focus on your carbs first when planning your day.

I find that I have to limit myself to about three ounces of fruit per day, then the rest of my 8+ freggies are lower carb vegetables.

Nothing is healthy in excess, and for diabetics, too much fruit is excess.

Good point. Balance is they key. I will focus on carbs and protein and hopefully the rest will fall in place. I feel like I am trying to retrain my brain! Hopefully every week will be better than the week before.