::Diabetic question:: what foods help lower your A1c

Hmm I am a T2D myself, for 18 years now. You mention that you eat quite a few veges. So are carrots and beets included, because if they are they need to go. Once in a great while I will eat a baby carrot. But I know for a fact based on my BS readings and AC1. That if I ate baby carrots 5 of them everyday. They would spike my readings. I love beets but these days only have like 3 times a year.

I went round and round with my endocrinologist over Metformin, and finally got them to take me off it. I think because I took for so long, it after time failed to keep up with needs. Also I can say first hand getting off the pills has helped me with the gas/diarrhea that I had for a decade while on Metformin, also off the Actos.

Our weight loss is close, I started in May 2018 and have lost 77 pounds this year. I am not down to 42 for lantus, and working on weaning myself off the Humalog, still take about 10 per day. When I started this year I was taking 74 lantus, and 24 humulog. The humulog was 12 in morning and 12 at night. Has your Dr. given you a sliding scale of how much Humanlin to take based on what your BS readings are? For last 4 years I have had a sliding scale and that overall did help some.

The other one I take is Trulicity pen once a week at 1.5. I have found that it has helped as well.

Some of my big wins this year, and I decided I was making as a lifelong change. I no longer eat bread or crackers in any form. Same for Pasta. When I make mexican I allow myself 3 T of rice. I make once a month.

And white sugar and I have had a long affair, but for me to win and reduce my BS. It had to go. I have been learning to bake (yes I have a sweet tooth), using almond flour, and for sweetner honey, and at times Swerve or Monkfruit. Which I am finding does not spike BS the same way a regular sugar cookie would.

I follow low carb, not keto. And I find I can follow it and 99% of the time I am happy with it. I average 55grams net carbs, 50 grams for fat, and 80 for protein. All before any exercising is added in. I eat back about 20-30% of claories for when I am exercising. My main exercise is walking, doing about 2.5 miles 5 days per week at 3.5-4. mph. As I find the numbers on MFP to be way too high. I very rarely hit the sodium numbers and same with sugar. For sugar these days I average about 15-18 grams per day and that is all from fruit, veges. I really have made one of my mantras to get away from processed food, as it was causing part of my issue.

So how often are you checking your BS daily? Are you getting the AC1 checked, and then the next time they do the Fructaine (I know I messed that spelling up).

Do you have chronic kidney disease? I ask because I am stage 3A. And if your AC1 is consistently running high, it will impact the kidneys, and even though my AC1 is now at 6.4 down from over 12 at beginning of year. I cannot undo the damage already done to kidneys. I can only work on trying to make sure they do not get worse. Also if the kidneys are having an issue that can cause a negative issue with the AC1.

If you are not seeing eye to eye with the nutritionist you have been working with, find a new one. They are supposed to help, not hinder progress. I have changed more than once when they were being too rigid.


Best of luck, I totally understand where you are coming from.

ozzra8 wrote: »

No sliding scale. I'm on 30 units of lantus twice a day and 50 units of humalin once a day. 1000mg of metformin in the am and 1500 in the pm. 10mg of glipizide xl twice a day. I had an intolerance to the metformin in the beginning but am fine now.

I do eat carrots but no beets. Ill cut out there carrots and see if that helps. I switched to squash in place of potatoes but just realized that acorn squash is pretty high as well so cutting that out too. Spaghetti squash is still good. Also oatmeal. I eat steel cut oats in the am. Just found out that this can beet the root to my sugar spikes as well. Fingers crossed

You need to start counting total carbs. Do you log here at MFP? It is a quick and easy was to see how many carbs you are eating. If so, make sure you weigh all solids and semi solids and measure all liquids. Has your doctor or Registered Dietician given you a total carb number to stay under? If not, you need to talk to them. They may give you a daily number or a number to stay under per meal (I have been given a daily number) Have you taken classes taught by a Certified Diabetic Educator (most healthcare organizations offer them for those diagnosed with T2Dm or pre-diabetes). They can help you learn food substitutes. I find substituting turnips instead of potatoes in my stews significantly lowers the carb count.

Individual foods don't matter as much as the totality of what you have eaten during the day. I can eat a teaspoon of sugar in my tea (4 grams of carbs) but that means I need to have a smaller piece of fruit or forego the bread on my sandwich so I can stay under my maximum of daily carbs.

ozzra8 wrote: »

earlnabby wrote: »

ozzra8 wrote: »

No sliding scale. I'm on 30 units of lantus twice a day and 50 units of humalin once a day. 1000mg of metformin in the am and 1500 in the pm. 10mg of glipizide xl twice a day. I had an intolerance to the metformin in the beginning but am fine now.

I do eat carrots but no beets. Ill cut out there carrots and see if that helps. I switched to squash in place of potatoes but just realized that acorn squash is pretty high as well so cutting that out too. Spaghetti squash is still good. Also oatmeal. I eat steel cut oats in the am. Just found out that this can beet the root to my sugar spikes as well. Fingers crossed

You need to start counting total carbs. Do you log here at MFP? It is a quick and easy was to see how many carbs you are eating. If so, make sure you weigh all solids and semi solids and measure all liquids. Has your doctor or Registered Dietician given you a total carb number to stay under? If not, you need to talk to them. They may give you a daily number or a number to stay under per meal (I have been given a daily number) Have you taken classes taught by a Certified Diabetic Educator (most healthcare organizations offer them for those diagnosed with T2Dm or pre-diabetes). They can help you learn food substitutes. I find substituting turnips instead of potatoes in my stews significantly lowers the carb count.

Individual foods don't matter as much as the totality of what you have eaten during the day. I can eat a teaspoon of sugar in my tea (4 grams of carbs) but that means I need to have a smaller piece of fruit or forego the bread on my sandwich so I can stay under my maximum of daily carbs.

I've been seeing a nutritionist and endocrinologist for over a decade and not once have I been given a daily number of carbs. Just was taught the difference between good carbs and bad carbs and that "good carbs" under a certain net carb index shouldn't effect my blood sugar. My new nutritionist that I just started seeing (new insurance) doesn't want me on a diet at all stating that restricting food from my diet is only going to cause me to cheat. I literally laughed in her face asking if she read my file and said you do realize that I'm seeing you because of my diabetes not just my weight, right? So yeah.. I can't eat sugar or anything out of the good carb index even in moderation or I'll have sugars in the 400-500's and that's with taking all of the meds listed above.

If you have been seeing the same medical professionals for 10 years and their advice is not working I would change doctors. Also, I am surprised your insurance will pay for a nutritionist. You should talk to your doctor about seeing an actual Registered Dietician. They have much more education and many of them specialize in diabetes.

If you don't know how many grams of carbs you can eat, how do you know you are not eating too many of them? Overeating "good carbs" will affect your BG just as much as eating bad carbs. The amount will vary, but most newly diagnosed T2Dm will be given a number somewhere between 150-180 grams per day (or a max of 40-45 per meal with 10-15 grams allowed per snack) and adjusted in 3 or 6 months depending on what the A1c is doing.

earlnabby wrote: »

ozzra8 wrote: »

LeslieMedic wrote: »

The class of medication that both responders mentioned are called GLP-1 agonists. They mimic a hormone found in healthy adults that tends to be very low in diabetics. There are several classes of diabetic medicines that can cause weight gain in trying to normalize the blood sugar (several were mentioned above.) The GLP-1 meds are associated with weight loss, these are Ozempic, Trulicity, Victoza, Bydureon, and byetta. If your A1c is in the double digits, or even if you are not making headway on your current regimen, I urge you to go see an endocrinologist or at least talk to your doc about trying a newer medication. There is another class called SGLT-2 that can lead to weight loss and can help protect the kidneys while lowering your blood sugar.

Your insulin regimen leaves a lot to be desired. You can help someone help you by checking your sugar multiple times per day, fasting, before meals, and before bed. I recommend that you make a chart and write these readings down by time of day.

Please, go see someone informed and ask about the GLP-1s, find an exercise routine that helps to lower your insulin resistance, and be aware of the types and volume of food you are eating to get better control of your diabetes before you suffer severe complications.

I am seeing an endocrinologist. Been seeing one since I became a diabetic over a decade ago. I'm very much aware of the health risks and this is the #1 main reason why I was placed in the bariatric program because there is a very high chance that it will put my diabetes in remission. I apologize if I made anyone think that I'm not educated on my disease. I appreciate all the feed back but my initial question to the public was if anyone knew of any foods that help lower ones A1c. This is the knowledge I am seeking.

And this is the knowledge you are being given. The only foods that will lower A1c are foods that do not contain carbs.

This is correct. All carbs, meaning foods that comes from any plant (excluding oils) will raise BG and A1C to varying degrees.

The worse offenders tend to be carbs that are refined and highly processed such as juice, soda, sugar, syrup, foods made from flour (bread, muffins, crusts, noodles, cereal).

Next worst is often grains like rice, oats, corn, etc.

Dried fruits (raisins, dates, figs) and tropical fruit like mango, banana and grapes will raise BG a lot unless you eat very small amounts.

Root vegetables are also high in glucose (starches turn to glucose very easily) so potatoes, yams, turnips, sweet potatoes, beets, onions, etc. may affect your BG a fair bit.

Temperate fruits like apples, oranges, plums and nectarines raise BG too. Berries less so.

Other vegetables will raise your BG too, but not as much. Same with most tree nuts and seeds.

All foods from plants will raise your BG to varying amounts. Testing your BG after eating is the only way to know how different carbs affect you. Use a blood glucose monitor before and after meals.

Foods that will barely raise, or not raise, BG is meats, seafood, eggs, full fat unsweetened dairy, fats and oils.

I eat an almost carnivorous diet and my A1C and BG is incredibly steady. A lack of sleep or stress now affects it more than eating does. I would consider cutting more carbs from your diet if the level you are at now is not working.

Fung's Obesity Code d Diabetes Code are good reads. So is Dr Bernstein's Diabetes Solution. Both doctor have websites with videos and information. Dr Sarah Halberg is another to look up online. Good luck.