Pre-diabetic food help needed
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This happened to me, i was diagnosed pre-diabetic and prescribed Metformin. I was not over weight but unfortunately have a family history of diabetes so I have a genetic predisposition.
I did a bit of research and discovered that having a larger muscle mass can help so i set my self a resistance exercise program.
While i was not overweight i was what you would call skinny fat, my body fat % using a dexa scan was 18.6, i too am runner and cyclist.
I have gone through couple of cycles of putting on weight then losing weight. The last dexa scan i had was in January and i actually weighed 1kg more than my initial scan but i now have a BF% of 13.7.
I take no medications at all and I am not pre-diabetic any more.
I basically try to eat low GI carbs, i do however eat high GI stuff occasionally (eg creme caramel or mango soufle) but it isnt a problem as i do not have any insulin resistance. I also eat more now than i used to as i exercise more.
Trying to build muscle in your retirement isnt such a bad hobby, work just gets in the way of living
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OP-When my husband was diagnosed as diabetic he freaked out too. His doctor's words of wisdom were if it tastes good spit it out. Not true, of course. I made an appointment with a nutritionist and she really helped my husband understand what he could and shouldn't eat.1
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try increasing exercise . low sugar low carb diet. it can be beat it is not a death sentence but it will take alot of careful eating but mostly exercise0
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manderson27 wrote: »Thank you all for your responses. He is finding this very hard to come to grips with this diagnosis and to understand what needs to be done so all your input and explanations are truly appreciated.
At the moment this is how he is seeing things: he can't eat processed meats, bacon, sausage, ham etc due to the salt (high blood pressure) He can't eat red meats, cheese etc ( high cholesterol) He can't eat bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, cake, biscuits, etc ( pre-diabetic) he can't eat his favorite fruits, he can't eat some veg, so all he can eat is salad, fish and eggs.
I have to agree with him up to a point. He has already had to reduce a lot of things that he liked to eat now if he has to go low carb how does he do this without using meat, cheese etc for protein.
I understand his frustration after eating so sensibly and keeping fit for the last 30 years he has had to adapt to his body throwing all this crap at him in the last 4 years.
I know we will sort it all out but it hurts me to see him so low. We should be enjoying our retirement not having to worry about what we are eating. For me it is only calorie restriction which is easy compared to what he has to sort out.
Sorry about the rant and thank you all for the advice and responding.
Yes, he can eat those things, just maybe in smaller portions than he is used to. He just has to eat appropriate amounts and stay within the allotted carbs his doctor/diabetes educator tells him. My mother has full-blown diabetes, she can eat what she wants, as long as she keeps to no more than 45 carbs per meal. Losing the extra weight should help as well.0 -
@manderson27 So sorry to hear of your husband's condition. He seemed to be doing all the right things before and still got this.
I also was diagnosed pre-diabetic with 10 lbs extra to lose. I've actually lost that and a few more as well. All my readings are good now on my home glucometer as well as the health checks we get every 4 months at work. Due to go back to my regular doctor now as a full year has elapsed since the first diagnosis.
Your husband's doctor should have given him a diet sheet or referred him to a nutritionist for that. I was given a list of Foods to Avoid, Foods in Small Quantities, and No Restrictions.1 -
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.2 -
Heather4448 wrote: »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.
The OP mentioned her husband is Jamaican and diabetes is a common genetic issue in people with African ancestry. She also mentioned he has had cholesterol issues and if he takes statins they are known to trigger T2Dm. His weight is a non-issue as far as risk factors but he has one, maybe more other risk factors. Genetics is the biggest risk factor.
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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 crackers2 -
awinner_au wrote: »This happened to me, i was diagnosed pre-diabetic and prescribed Metformin. I was not over weight but unfortunately have a family history of diabetes so I have a genetic predisposition.
I did a bit of research and discovered that having a larger muscle mass can help so i set my self a resistance exercise program.
While i was not overweight i was what you would call skinny fat, my body fat % using a dexa scan was 18.6, i too am runner and cyclist.
I have gone through couple of cycles of putting on weight then losing weight. The last dexa scan i had was in January and i actually weighed 1kg more than my initial scan but i now have a BF% of 13.7.
I take no medications at all and I am not pre-diabetic any more.
I basically try to eat low GI carbs, i do however eat high GI stuff occasionally (eg creme caramel or mango soufle) but it isnt a problem as i do not have any insulin resistance. I also eat more now than i used to as i exercise more.
Trying to build muscle in your retirement isnt such a bad hobby, work just gets in the way of living
Thank you that is interesting as my husband doesn't do any resistance training. I will speak to him about perhaps trying to gain muscle.
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@manderson27 So sorry to hear of your husband's condition. He seemed to be doing all the right things before and still got this.
I also was diagnosed pre-diabetic with 10 lbs extra to lose. I've actually lost that and a few more as well. All my readings are good now on my home glucometer as well as the health checks we get every 4 months at work. Due to go back to my regular doctor now as a full year has elapsed since the first diagnosis.
Your husband's doctor should have given him a diet sheet or referred him to a nutritionist for that. I was given a list of Foods to Avoid, Foods in Small Quantities, and No Restrictions.
Thank you for your response hearing that people have successfully changed their readings is heartening. He has calmed down a bit now after my reading out a lot of the useful responses and info I have had.
His doctor gave him some information regarding how insulin works and what diabetes is but no diet sheet or referral which did surprise me a bit. But we can always make another appointment and ask further questions.0 -
Heather4448 wrote: »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.1 -
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.
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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
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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.0
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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?1 -
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.0 -
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).0 -
Does your health insurance offer an Registered Dietician?0
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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?0 -
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