Prediabetic

Lola38mfp wrote: »

My husband found out today he is prediabetic. I'm going to try to prepare all his meals for him. Any ideas for good meals on the go. I'm new to all this. He is 40 and bigger than he has ever been. Probably gained 60 pounds in a year. Thanks in advance for your help.

The most important thing is for him to lose weight and increase physical activity. There are no special recipes: limit overall calories (so limit calorie dense foods, or he will end up starving with no more calories to eat), limit highly processed foods (because they are usually very high in calories and usually in sugar too), limit the obviously sugary stuff (sweets, candy, added sugar in coffee, sodas etc). Make the basis of meals protein and vegetables, with a smaller serving of bread/rice/pasta/potatoes to complement the meal, not to be the basic meal.

Best time for him to get on it and not wait until he's actually diagnosed as diabetic. So, though it's not the best news it's a lot better than being too late! I'm Type 2... losing 30 pounds has caused my blood sugars to stay in the normal range... I also walk. Don't make a ton of drastic changes all at once... but more exercise and better portion control are keys. I started walking on my breaks at work.. 15 minutes... at my own pace.. and gradually my pace increased so I was getting a better workout. Some things that helped me... start with a salad at a meal... increase the veggies... and look at the labels and read carefully... many things we think of as a 'single serving' are, in fact, two or three or more! Also watch the label for carbs and fiber if it's 50 carbs and 2 fiber that nets to 48 carbs.. for me that is too many carbs for an entire meal. If he can get a glucose meter it would be a good idea for him to track for a while to see what does and doesn't spike his blood sugar. I also watch which veggies I eat, corn and beans are pretty starchy so I don't eat them at the same meal and neither of them if I'm having potatoes. Do 'open faced' sandwiches (one slice of bread, no top) or find a low carb bread. Sauces and dressings can have a lot of hidden carbs.. gravies and salad dressings etc. Sandwich thins are pretty good for burgers and so forth. If you have a burger or dog on a bun don't do fries or chips with it... or just a very few... or do without the bun. He can have whatever he wants.. it's just a matter of making better choices about the carbs you eat. Everyone's body reacts differently.. some people dried fruit doesn't spike their blood sugars, some people it does. Do brown rice instead of white... do whole grain pasta instead of regular... sweet potatoes are a good idea, more nutrients and fiber than white. If he's a soda drinker stopping that can be the absolute best start. Work on one or two things at a time.. for instance start walking the first week if he has a sedentary job.. and set a goal to increase vegetables.

Is he going to go along with the plan? I'd hate for you to put all this effort in if he turns around and sabotages it.

Create Your Plate - American Diabetes Association

If there are any education classes offered by your insurer, take advantage of them and go together. He has to understand the balancing act that comes with controlling this disease. It's not just what he's eating but the proportion and the timing.

Hubby came to some of my classes and he knows when I am "cheating" and will call me on it. Neither of us will forget the class where a dietitian student filled baby food jars with various levels of fat to show us how much we were getting, say, from a DQ Burger and fries. We never looked at a fast meal the same way again.

A reformed diet with more protein, fruits and veggies might help him lose those extra pounds and stamp that pre-diabetes back in to his family tree.

I'm in remission now by the way, due to significant weight loss.

cwolfman13 wrote: »

TrailNurse wrote: »

Look into a Ketogenic diet. It basically cures Diabetes Type II and/or prevents it from progressing.

keto is not necessary to control diabetes. i worked with my dad and his dietitian for awhile for his type II...she never once mentioned keto. his plan consisted largely of nutrient dense food items, many of which are carbohydrates (whole grains, starches, veggies, fruit) as well as lean sourced protein, some healthy fats, and minimal "junk"...he controlled his blood sugar levels just fine doing this and losing some weight.

What is his A1C?

What most doctors consider "controlled" is below 7.0, or (from the most aggressive doctors) below 6.5. A normal non-diabetic A1C is below 5.7, and is often achievable by eating a ketogenic or low carb diet. My doctor's initial advice was to check 2 hours after eating to make sure my blood glucose was back under 180. There is no expectation by most doctors or diabetes educators that the bulk of people with diabetes will ever achieve a normal blood glucose level - so the advice they give is geared toward the elevated diabetic "normal." The problem with that advice is that blood glucose levels start to do organ damage when the blood glucose is sustained for more than brief, transient periods, above140. I have not encountered anyone who eats a "normal" amount of carbs and who has also achieved a normal (non-diabetic) A1C.

The conversation I had with my doctor on the follow-up visit, after I had gotten my diabetes under control in 3 days by following a low carb diet, is that the kind of advice your father received (part of which he had originally given me - at least in terms of expected blood glucose levels) is that it is way too high in carbs and out of date based on the current studies.

TrailNurse wrote: »

Look into a Ketogenic diet. It basically cures Diabetes Type II and/or prevents it from progressing.

I wouldn't go so far as to say it cures it - since curing it would mean that you could return to eating a "normal" diet. It can keep keep the insulin resistance static (or possibly lower it a bit), and prevent progressing to insulin insufficiency by keeping the blood glucose at levels that minimize harm to the beta cells in the pancreas.

earlnabby wrote: »

I am T2Dm. I was diagnosed with an A1C of 7.3 and was able to reduce it in 9 months to 5.5 and I have maintained it at normal levels (my last one was 5.0) for over a year now with no medication. I also eat moderate carbs, per my doctor's recommendation.

You DO NOT need to eat keto or low carb. You DO need to monitor your carbs and keep them at a moderate level. The Registered Dietician or Diabetic Educator you see should be able to give a daily target number. Mine told me to stay below 180 grams total carbs per day

Congratulations, both on weight reduction and achieving a normal A1C!

If I ate that many carbs, my A1C would be nowhere near the normal range - and to get it as close as I could, I'd need to eat 9 meals separated by at least two hours, since 20 net carbs in one sitting is about the maximum my body tolerates.

Even that much is iffy. 28 grams (including 10 of fiber - so net 18) of fresh veggies pushed it to 189 yesterday, 17 grams (including 7 of fiber - so net 10) of lentil soup pushed it to 167 on Saturday - the two highest readings I've had since diagnosis. Both were the kind of carbs registered dieticians and diabetic educators suggest eating, generally in amounts ~3 times as high in a single meal as those two meals.

The difference may be that I, and most of the diabetics I know, seem to have a form of diabetes that is only weakly related to weight (I am heavy, but most were low-normal BMI and/or regularly exercising at the time of diagnosis) - so weight reduction (I suspect the biggest factor in your case) and increased exercise have a very minor impact on the disease in the people I know.

nvmomketo wrote: »

I too was prediabetic and followed Dr Richard Bernstein's plan. He is a T1D who discovered that a very low carb high (healthy) fat diet was the best way to stabilize his blood sugar and reduce his need for insulin.

Do not equate a T1D whose underlying metabolic defect is low circulating insulin levels, with a T2D from obesity who has *high* circulating levels of insulin and peripheral resistance.

Lola38mfp wrote: »

Thank you so much. He definitely isn't sedentary buta we are going to start walking bc he gets no other exercise. These are all the same things I suggested. Thank you very much!!

jgnatca wrote: »

Is he going to go along with the plan? I'd hate for you to put all this effort in if he turns around and sabotages it.

Create Your Plate - American Diabetes Association

If there are any education classes offered by your insurer, take advantage of them and go together. He has to understand the balancing act that comes with controlling this disease. It's not just what he's eating but the proportion and the timing.

Hubby came to some of my classes and he knows when I am "cheating" and will call me on it. Neither of us will forget the class where a dietitian student filled baby food jars with various levels of fat to show us how much we were getting, say, from a DQ Burger and fries. We never looked at a fast meal the same way again.

A reformed diet with more protein, fruits and veggies might help him lose those extra pounds and stamp that pre-diabetes back in to his family tree.

I'm in remission now by the way, due to significant weight loss.

Yes, he is going along with the program. We are uninsured. Weightloss is going to be key I'm almost certain.

you are correct - weight loss is important in his case. Depending on his blood glucose (BG) spikes after eating carbs, it may be useful to limit carb intake as suggested by others. In any event, it would be useful to eat fewer simple carbs (like sugar) and more complex carbs (like whole wheat) and swap out carbs in favor of protein and fats where feasible. Eating protein and fats at the same time as carbs will also temper BG spikes from carbs.