Pre Diabetic
SavingTomorrow
Posts: 1 Member
My doctor diagnosed me as pre diabetic this week, a1c of 6.3. She literally said don't eat sweets, eat whole grains and move more, see you in 3 months. I feel a little lost here, even after googling. Any advice, meal plan suggestions, macros? Anything 
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That was good advice. Many doctors just say "stop eating carbs". Start with the setup here - enter your height, weight etc, and weight goals, and MFP will give you a calorie goal you are supposed to hit every day. You don't need a meal plan besides that - but if you want to plan your meals, because that's not a stupid idea - you can and should make it yourself. You can use the default macros for the time being.1
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I wonder if your doctor realizes that grains start turning into sugars (glucose) the minute they hit your mouth?
Sorry to hear of your diagnosis. I was given the same one a couple of years ago (with the advice to eat more vegetables and leaner cuts of meats). I did my own research and found that the best way to lower blood glucose levels was to lower my intake of foods that turn to glucose. At first, I mainly tried limiting sugars and grains. To have just a little bit. That didn't work for me. The little bit still primed my appetite and knowing I was restricting myself made my cravings stronger. I actually gained weight. LOL
Then I read Dr Bernstein's Diabetes Solution. Fantastic book about how to lower blood glucose and insulin requirements of the body. It is written by a T1D who is a diabetes specialist, who basically invented home blood glucose testing, and is for all T1D's and T2D's. It's a life saving read.
http://www.diabetes-book.com/
As you can imagine, it advocates low carb and moderate protein. If you don't eat a lot of carbs you won't raise your blood glucose much. Skip sugars (stevia seems fine for most of us) and grains (wheat or durum, oats, rice, corn, etc). Limit fruits to lower sugar fruits, mainly berries and avoid tropical fruits like bananas and mangos. And limit or avoid starchy root vegetables like potatoes, carrots, and onions. Eat plenty of veggies, full fat meats, seafood, nuts and seeds, eggs and full fat dairy like cheese, whipping cream, butter, 14%sour cream or 10+% unsweetened yogurt.
This will help lower blood glucose even if you lose no weight at all or are unable to exercise (walk) at all.
If you decide to try it, consider joining us in the Low Carber Daliy group. There are a bunch of us who have had great success with Bernstein's plan to reverse our health issues. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group
My other advice would be to get a blood glucose monitor and start testing. It's intimidating at first but it is the only way to know how foods affect your BG. Typically carbs will raise it the most, protein may raise it a bit, and fats have very little affect. Test before eating, and then 1 and 2 hours afterwards. I use the Canadian units but you can look up what numbers are good in the USA. For me, fasting BG is a 4 or low 5, and I never want my BG to go much above a 6. A 7 is too high in my mind.
Good luck!2 -
There are some resources and information on this site: http://www.diabetes.co.uk/pre-diabetes.html
Best wishes for improving health!
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Relatively good advice!
Stop with the sweets - one tends to use treats as a little plus and these calories add up. If you aren't tracking calories then stopping these is a fast way slow down weight gain or begin weight loss. Furthermore, resistance to insulin and the spikes from sweets is *not a good thing* for a pre-diabetic. Just listen to that one.
Eat whole grain - and a general shift to food that is high in satiety and nutrition will let you stay satisfied while eating well. Make your plate about half green and you'll do fine.
Move more - the single most important factors to reducing the risk of diabetes are weight loss and activity level. Listen to this one carefully. Find yourself an activity that you like to do regularly, that you can progress with, and do it. Really.
See you in three month - a pre-diabetic reading has no sense in a single measurement. Clinical guidelines require a second measurement 3-6 months later after lifestyle intervention of.... eating better and exercising more.
Just a loss of a few lbs per month and being more active can kick those numbers back in place.4 -
I have had the same diagnosis and so I did a little research. My mistake was to think that because my blood sugar levels were high I needed to cut out sugar and high glycemic foods. But that's not why the pancreas and liver stop working properly. They stop working because they get clogged up with fat. So any excess food will cause a problem.
That actually makes the whole process much easier for you. All you have to do is reduce your calorie intake and lose weight. So at MFP you are in a good place.
The general advice seems to be to lose weight FAST before your organs become more damaged and before the damage can't be reversed.
I followed a modified version of the Newcastle diet, substituting packaged Slimfast type products for whole milk shakes and soups with one light meal (protein and veg:salad) at lunch time.
Try this link to learn more:
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/news/2015/10/type2diabetes/
The diet they suggest is boring and hard. Feel free to friend me to learn more about my slightly less draconian version.
I've lost 20kg in 100 days and completely eradicated all my symptoms. My blood sugar levels have halved and my chloresterol has reduced too!
It can be done.
You'll find loads on the internet about it - but the diet is still in test stage - so your doctor won't recommend it. Mine agreed to let me try it and gave me the necessary blood tests to help me ensure that I was getting balanced nutrition throughout.0 -
SavingTomorrow wrote: »My doctor diagnosed me as pre diabetic this week, a1c of 6.3. She literally said don't eat sweets, eat whole grains and move more, see you in 3 months. I feel a little lost here, even after googling. Any advice, meal plan suggestions, macros? Anything
Hey! Yup, I'm a full blown Type 2 diabetic. Five years now, I think.
Nothing to be afraid of. Just take your meds, watch your blood sugar, stay away from pasta or any kind of processed flour, meaning muffins at restaurants and stuff. Our carbs should come from whole grains. Read labels for sugar content. MFP is terrific at helping you keep track of that. .... AND exercise. The exercise will give you a sense of security, control and accomplishment. Walking, especially, get an activity watch like a Fitbit or one of those Garmin Vivofit or VivoActive HR or similar, activity watch. I use a simple Garmin FR15. Inexpensive and very very helpful. Good luck with that!!1 -
I wonder if your doctor realizes that grains start turning into sugars (glucose) the minute they hit your mouth?
That's not true. Grains that aren't whole, or simple carbs, spike your blood sugar faster, but whole grain IS better because it slows the spike and that's because they have more fiber as a rule. And really, they don't turn to sugar the minute they hit your mouth. It takes a little longer than that.1 -
what hasn't been mentioned is that when you exercise it regulates your blood sugar..using all the excess sugar in your system for energy during the workout..therefore stabilizing blood sugar. That fact is what makes me get my butt to the gym and exercise each day. So, if you cut your calories, exercise, and cut out obvious sugars and limit high starch items.. you might have a very good doctor visit in three months.
Why do anything more radical unless it is necessary.. you may find losing some weight, exercising ..and cutting daily sweets does the trick.1 -
Hi, I was pre-diabetic for almost a decade, a T2 diabetic for just as long, and now in remission from significant weight loss.
Learning to visualize my plate was an easy early lesson that really helped.
http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/planning-meals/create-your-plate/
By eating a variety of macros in balance you help take over the balance of delivery of energy to your body (which for people without the disease is balanced by the pancreas with insulin). It's becoming aware of your sugar highs and lows.
Eat on a schedule starting with breakfast at the same time every day, and don't wait too long between meals.
Your doctor's advice is pretty good and fairly easy to remember.
It helps to always have a little protein with your carbs.
For breakfast, cereal is too much carb unless I eat it with a dollop of Greek Yogurt. Eggs are always good.
Cheese or tuna with that lunchtime salad.
For dinner, a chicken breast or other meat, about the size of a deck of cards, with veggies on the side and about a cup of carbs (brown rice, potatoes).2 -
kommodevaran wrote: »That was good advice. Many doctors just say "stop eating carbs".
Actually, most DON'T say stop eating carbs, and that is a large part of the problem. Sugar is only one form of carbohydrates. Whole grains are another. Both interfere with normalizing blood glucose - so "stop eating carbs" is a far better message than "don't eat sweets, eat whole grains."
If what I did was stop eating sweets, without removing/minimizing the other carbohydrates (particularly including grain-based carbs (whole or not) to which I am more sensitive than any other carb than straight sugar, I would still have out-of-control blood glucose.1 -
EvgeniZyntx wrote: »
Just a loss of a few lbs per month and being more active can kick those numbers back in place.
I'm down 72 lbs in 11 months (with a 3-month break for cancer treatment). My sensitivity to carbohydrates - including whole grains - has barely budged. I can now eat 25 grams within a 2 hour window, rather than 20.
For some people, reducing weight makes a difference. For others (like me), the diabetes is more tightly tied to what we currently put in our mouths (i.e. carb content of what's on the fork) - rather than the cumulative expression of what we have eaten over time (being overweight).
For nearly everyone, blood glucose responds far more quickly to a reduction in all forms of carbs (including whole grains) than it does to weight loss. My blood glucose normalized completely, aside from the dawn phenomenon, within 3 days of diagnosis solely from reducing my carbohydrate intake to no more than 20 grams in a 2 hour window.
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Vegplotter wrote: »The general advice seems to be to lose weight FAST before your organs become more damaged and before the damage can't be reversed.
The "fast" more has to do with the sudden decrease in calorie intake than the speed of weight loss (althouth that is a consequence of the Newcastle diet). That's what seems to trigger the return of the 1st phase insulin response that is critical to remission (as opposed to control, which is what I do by limiting carbs). I'm after the holy grail - remission, so that I can occasionally - without worrying about blood vessel and organ damage - eat larger quantities of carbs.
It is true that the second study (with participants who were diagnosed years ago) were less successful in reversing, but that has do with disease duration - not the speed of weight loss. So if you were diagnosed 10 years ago, as opposed to 10 days ago, the Newcastle diet is less likely to be effective.
My diet is open, and the period during which I was following the Blood Sugar Diet (modeled after the Newcastle diet) is from March 28 through May 15. (I had to interrupt it for cancer care - and went to maintenance for 3 months. During that first 6-week stint, I moved from diabetic (on an OGTT) to pre-diabetic. Now that I'm done with cancer care, I am back on it to see if I can now move the last step from prediabetic to nondiabetic - but my logging from May 15 - now is less complete, and the food content less well-rounded)
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I wonder if your doctor realizes that grains start turning into sugars (glucose) the minute they hit your mouth?
That's not true. Grains that aren't whole, or simple carbs, spike your blood sugar faster, but whole grain IS better because it slows the spike and that's because they have more fiber as a rule. And really, they don't turn to sugar the minute they hit your mouth. It takes a little longer than that.
Try checking your blood glucose at the first bite, and then every 15 minutes. I think you'll be surprised how quickly it does turn to sugar. Some of it is the minute the carb hits your mouth. There are two places where your body does the work of turning carbohydrates into sugar; one of them is in your mouth.
As to "better," you're probably correct - but a "better" option that still falls within the range of spiking your blood glucose at any point to more than 140 still contributes to the damage diabetes does to the kidneys, and other internal organs. (A far larger portion of people with prediabetes are already in the early stages of chronic kidney disease than previously realized, according to a December 2015 study that used more sophisticated tests. A blood sugar of above 140, anytime after consuming food, is within the range of prediabetes or diabetes.)0 -
I wonder if your doctor realizes that grains start turning into sugars (glucose) the minute they hit your mouth?
That's not true. Grains that aren't whole, or simple carbs, spike your blood sugar faster, but whole grain IS better because it slows the spike and that's because they have more fiber as a rule. And really, they don't turn to sugar the minute they hit your mouth. It takes a little longer than that.
Try checking your blood glucose at the first bite, and then every 15 minutes. I think you'll be surprised how quickly it does turn to sugar. Some of it is the minute the carb hits your mouth. There are two places where your body does the work of turning carbohydrates into sugar; one of them is in your mouth.
As to "better," you're probably correct - but a "better" option that still falls within the range of spiking your blood glucose at any point to more than 140 still contributes to the damage diabetes does to the kidneys, and other internal organs. (A far larger portion of people with prediabetes are already in the early stages of chronic kidney disease than previously realized, according to a December 2015 study that used more sophisticated tests. A blood sugar of above 140, anytime after consuming food, is within the range of prediabetes or diabetes.)
Yes, you partially digest carbs in your mouth, but the sugar can't be absorbed until it enters the small intestine.1 -
Ok I am type 2 diabetic since Feb. of this year.
Here's what worked for me
1) eat lower carb and whole grain (so 1 piece of bread in a lunch sandwich, 1 TBP of rice if it is being served, measure out my oatmeal, etc.)
2) portion control and counting calories
3) walk 5/7 days at least 1/2 hour a time. A fitness tracker (the misfit) keeps me accurate here.
Pleased to say I have lost 45 lbs and my last blood test(HAic) was 5.5 I reduced my metformin to 2 pills a day -I was started on 3.1 -
Everybody's carb tolerance is different when it come to hyperinsulinemia, the underlying disease. Ask your doc for a prescription for glucose strips, enough to test 6 times a day. Test before and two hours after eating. You will know pretty quickly what foods cause your glucose and hence, insulin to spike. With me, I eat a low carb diet (less than 20 grams a day). That being said, I have heard that some proteins will spike you. You only know by frequent testing. My A1C fell from 7.2 (Average Glu 160)to 6.2 (average glu 131) after being on my low carb diet for 3 months and subsequent loss of about 20 pounds give or take.1
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Just got word yesterday that I am pre- diabetic, so no pills yet. Thank you all for your comments, still a bit confused on some stuff, but I just started. All veggies, fruit and meat today and it was fine but not enough calories to meet MP goal. The biggest change I made is to stop alcohol immediately, so far, think I am ok every where else.0
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Do get a blood glucose monitor or you won't know for sure if you are doing well or not. Good luck.I wonder if your doctor realizes that grains start turning into sugars (glucose) the minute they hit your mouth?
That's not true. Grains that aren't whole, or simple carbs, spike your blood sugar faster, but whole grain IS better because it slows the spike and that's because they have more fiber as a rule. And really, they don't turn to sugar the minute they hit your mouth. It takes a little longer than that.
I'm afraid it is true. Amylase will start breaking starches into sugars as soon as you can make it saturated with saliva. This is a very simplified explanation: http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/experiments/exp/white-bread-and-the-wonder-of-enzymes/
I'm afraid that whole grain is often not much better. White bread's GI is 75 and its glycemic load is 11. Whole wheat bread's GI is 69 and its glycemic load is 9. Just to compare, a cup of apple juice has a GI of 41 and a glycemic load of 12.
http://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/glycemic_index_and_glycemic_load_for_100_foods
All would raise my BG more than I'd like. I must admist though that my insulin resistance was not that tied to my weight. Losing weight, and walking an hour a day, have had almost no effect on my blood glucose levels. I control my BG only through food and meal timing.0 -
It is confusing in the beginning, especially since there is more than one way to lower your blood sugar.
One uncomplicated way is to eat less food (lower calories) so that you lose weight. Losing weight will bring good a1c result.
Eat protein and fats and oils. You could eat less sugar and rice and pasta and bread. Add lots more veggies like green beans, acorn squash, broccoli, yellow squash, zucchini, kale, lettuce, cabbage, avocados, olives, cucumbers, cauliflower.0 -
Hi SavingTomorrow. Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I received the same diagnosis, w/ that exact same 6.3 number, about a month ago. Since then I have been seeing a nutritionist/dietitian, and I have lost 12.2 lbs. I highly recommend a nutritionist. There is so much information out there, and it is so helpful to have someone tell you exactly what to do. Mine is covered under my insurance too, because of my high bmi. Mine put me on a 3-week "detox" diet, which was very low carb and low calories. Be sure you cut out sugar. And move. And drink 8 glasses of water per day. There is a lot more, but I don't want to overwhelm you. Also, I don't want to recommend my plan exactly, since it's rather low calorie and a doctor should be involved to prescribe low cal diets. Good luck.
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