Pre-Diabetic

Unless of course you are diabetic when high glucose levels can cause immense damage to the body.And carrots have a lot of sugar As they say "There but for the grace of God go I"

This is a fairy story about whole meal and brown rice having a better GI. Some people cannot digest whole meal products and if you get a bloated feeling cut them out. Women all over the world spend hours seperating the wheat from the bran with stones and other implements. The Bran is for pigs.

The same with carrots. We in the northern country of England grew up with carrots and turnips and potatoes, all denounced in the Low Gi books as rasberries and blueberries cost more and the writers have the supermarkets behind them.
As to glucose levels then just eat less and cut out sugar.If you feel hungry then eat a carrot or an apple.

Any bread, rice, pasta, etc brown or white will turn to sugar in the blood. The difference is that brown varieties take a little longer. So for a pre-diabeties or a diabetic they are a no-no. Berries have the least carbs, apples and pears about 12g s each. So eat with caution. Pineapples 12g, grapes 16g and bananas 20g, each or in the case of grapes, a handful Best to get your carbs, in the main, from leafy vegetables

I try to have only low GI carbs such as brown rice, wholemeal bread etc instead of white. This is supposed to help with blood sugar. I have also heard that indigenous fruit such as apples are OK but to avoid tropical fruit such as pineapples.

Anya:Thank you for the offer.I always have a fruit bowl , as well as fruit with breakfast, fresh fruit for desert, in fact fruit any time I feel peckish. Probably as much sugar as a choccy biscuit.Loved the sound of your meal and have just started to read about cauliflower mash, who'd have thought.I will keep a close eye on the low carb thread.

Izabella:Yes, have been in total panic mode since Wednesday. I realise I have to totally change my mindset. To me all fruit was good. Low fat=good. All veg=good. Looking at monitors,think I shall get one. I think on reflection I need to settle down a bit, do more research because at the moment it all seems a bit daunting.
I looked at the Diabetes UK site and will probably join. I read the Michael Mosely book and he has recipes. May try a few of those. On the plus side OH has said he will support me 100%. As I said we usually have different meals, mine all healthy, fresh fruit veg, low fat. He is more of a fish and chips kind of person, with peas if he's feeling adventurous.

I feel a bit more positive this morning. Thanks for all help. I think Low carb is the way to go. will update this thread as and when I have news.

Cut out the Muesli and banana for a start. Try yogurt and berries instead. You can eat as many eggs as you like. Cut out bread, rice, biscuits, cakes. Berries are better than the larger fruits. Vegetables that from above ground are better than those growing below (the latter store sugars). Basically a low carb high fat diet. Buy yourself a blood glucose monitor (Amazon) and test before meals and 90 minutes or so afterwards. That is the only way you will know what actually raises your blood glucose. E.g. I cannot eat most bread at all but home made sourdough made with Spelt flour has no effect whatsoever.

If your doctor says do not worry, there is no need to test your blood glucose, then nod, but do it anyway. I can assure you it is the only way to know what foods to avoid. Don't get confused about eating butter, cream etc, they are fine.

I think someone else suggested joining the Diabetes UK website forums. Invaluable. If you pay for a private blood test be aware that every lab has slightly different thresholds, so you may be wasting your money as the result will probably be different anyway. PM me if you need more help. I was diabetic T2 in September and have reversed this by taking control. With my GP's knowledge I must add. Above all DONT PANIC,

I have a machine that measures body fat, visceral fat, bone mass, muscle mass, percentage water. I treated myself to it as a Christmas present. I'm not claiming it's 100% accurate, but my son had these calculations done as part of a health check paid for by his health insurance company and my machine was pretty close to his results.

So a good enough guide for me, If you lived close to me I'd be happy to let you use it. If you want to know more just PM me.

Apple and banana are full of sugar, as are many fruits. Some muesli too. You need to up your protein, eggs, cheese, and good quality meat. Nuts too. Instead of fruit, eat more vegetables. Tonight's tea for us was chicken Kiev, cauliflower mash, broccoli and green beans - good sized portions too. Then raspberries from the garden with cream. Berries generally have less sugar than other fruits.

Thank you for directing me to the low carb support thread BB makes interesting reading.

Anya: I have been reading about visceral fat. If I may ask, how do you measure your visceral fat. Did you have an MRI scan or is there another way to measure it.

Margaret: My OH said the same thing, that I should pay for a private blood test.
This is the thing. My diet is very narrow, we eat different meals. I have muesli, apple and banana for breakfast. lunch is normally fish and tea would be salad. I don't eat bread,cake or buscuits at all. No dairy, soya milk or oat milk.Love all veg except potatoes. Rarely drink alcohol. I never eat sweets. It does sound a bit spartan written down but I like it.

I will give it some thought over the week end and decide what to do.

Thank you for all replies.

My daughter a microbiologist worked once for a large diagnostic firm in the laboratory and told me that a percentage of results were not correct, were borderline.

She said If in doubt have another blood test even if you have to pay for it.
Up to now you are only pre-diabetic. You could eat less sugar Do you feel better for cutting out cake and chocolate?

Your visceral fat should be less that 12% Cathy and those posters who have flagged this up are correct.

My body fat us higher than I would like but my visceral fat varies between 8.5-9.5% . I'm sure some of this is down to genetics. But I'd also advise you to cut the carbs quite drastically, starting with the sugars.

There is also a age related diabetes, usually starts around the 60 mark.

The tread is ' the new low carb support thread for 2016' See you there Cathy.

Good luck and go for it! Cauliflower mash and cauliflower rice works well. You won't miss carbs. Go onto our diet thread - can't remember what it's called but maimiewill give you lots of guidance.

Thank you for your replies.

BBbevan Googled visceral fat, pretty scary. I had a stomach operation in 2014 the surgeon remarked that my liver was fat but it didn't mean anything to me. Interesting that you can be slim but still have this fat.

Nandalot Found the book on Amazon and will download on my Kindle.

Whitewave That is the same book Nandalot recommends. Very encouraging to hear first hand experience.

Thank you again for your replies.

PS - so successful the Dr. doesn't want to see him for a year.

DH was diagnosed early this year. He has lost a stone so far, but most importantly cut out ALL carbs including fruit heavy in sugar, all bread,rice,potato.pasta etc. There is a book called something like the 8 week sugar free diet. Within the 8 weeks his blood sugar levels were normal. So now we have reintroduced a sensible level of high in sugar fruit like bananas but are still very careful in our consumption of carbs.

Google the book we got it from Amazon. We found it really easy. Best of luck!

Not quite the same as you as apart from the smoking I fell into the other categories. Have turned it around now with weight loss and exercise. But my husband who like you is slim for his height and exercises also showed up as pre-diabetic. Michael Mosley , tv presenter, has written about this. He too is slim and active but tests revealed diabetes. He says you can be slim outside but fat inside. I think he has a book that can help.

You can still be thin but have visceral fat clogging your pancreas, and so compromising your blood sugar. You may need to get rid of that fat to halt progression to proper diabetes. The Low Carb High Fat diet has had great success in this.
Also go to Diabetes.co.uk which has a whole section on pre-diabetes. You have the opportunity for positive action
Good luck