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Just diagnosed with pre-diabetes

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Posted 2/7/2011 4:26 AM (GMT 0)
Hi all,

 I hope I'm not going to ask too many questions that have been answered previously.  I am 44

and very overweight. sad    I have always been able to control my cholesterol and triglycerides with diet and exercise, but have been...less dilligent for quite some time and now am paying the price. 

I was diagnosed early January, and had already started a low carb diet.  I'm a bit of a weird foodie, we only eat real food.  No processed foods and I make my own condiments.  We only eat grassfed animals....you get the picture.  My doc sent me to a nutritionist, which my insurance did not pay for, and this lady tells me to eat 3 carb servings at every meal  and 1 at a snack before bed.  I about fell out of my chair!  I would be comatose eating that much!  that's a whopping 150g of carbs a day!  wow!  I currently only eat around approx 60-75, consisting of  meat and veggies for the most part.  But she insisted this was the currant reccomendations.  I am very confused!  She gave me a diet with 3 carbs, 1-2 ounces of protein, and 1 fat at each meat with no snacks.  I know my body does not respond well to carbs....should I ignore these guidelines?  With the diet I was on my BS was ranging between 90 and 115.   This is a high protein, moderate fat, low carb diet.

I'm just very confused on which way to go.  I am very weary about starting to eat that many carbs, because then Im afraid I will start craving sugar again.  Eating the other way (when I follow it very closely) I finally quit craving the sweets.

I feel like I just put a match to $125 and lit it.  I think she toes the line with the ADA as she told me to follow the food pyramid. 

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

 

Posted 2/7/2011 1:34 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome to the Forum kakkers.  I have had exactly the same experience as you.  I am able to control my blood sugar on a low carb diet with regular exercise but the guidelines the nutritionist gave me had my blood sugar rise to heights I'd never seen before.  I wasn't on meds but if I kept on her guidelines and those from the ADA I would have to be on meds in order to keep my blood sugar under control.  The bottom line is:  I am following my own low-carb eating plan which is nothing made with flour or sugar, no potatoes or corn.  In this way, my blood sugar is under control.  I cannot tell you what decision to make.  I am not a doctor.  No one here is a doctor.  I cannot understand why a person would eat something like 45 gr. of carbs at a meal if that drives the blood sugar sky high and then have to take meds to bring it down.  Of course this is a personal choice.  My GP knows my eating plan and says I'm doing great.  My blood sugar is within normal measure.  My advice to you is to do what you feel you need to do in order to control your blood sugar and be sure to keep a log of your meals and your blood sugar and show them to your doctor.  Best of luck! 

:-)  

Posted 2/7/2011 5:50 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Lanie!

I was thinking along the same lines, but just really needed someone to confirm to me that way of eating is not a good idea.  I don't think my GP is up on the latest and is on the ADA band wagon.  I guess time will tell.  She told me I only need to check my BS in the morning and at night, but I do much better if I monitor them throughout the day.  Keeps me on my toes so to speak, I don't cheat hardly at all.  I am running higher in the mornings around 125 and haven't figured out how to get those readings down.  Any suggestions?

Thanks for your help!

Posted 2/7/2011 6:27 PM (GMT 0)
It's hard to say.  Some people experience 'dawn phenomenon'.  This is when the body gets ready to wake up and take on the day.  It dumps glucose into the blood to give you energy.  It's not a problem with people with normal blood sugar but in those who cannot metabolize carbs efficiently, the blood sugar remains high.  I believe this is because of insulin resistance, which means although the pancreas manufactures insulin which normally controls the blood sugar, the body cells resist accepting the glucose and so the glucose continues circulating instead of being absorbed for energy.  And we have high blood sugar.  Some members have tried eating a high protein snack that may or may not have some carbs before going to bed, like peanut butter and part of an apple or sugar free yogurt.   Sometimes doing this can control dawn phenomenon.  That doesn't work for me.  I eat my normal dinner and don't eat any snacks before bed and I don't have high fasting.  It's usually in the 80's, sometimes 90's.  I do find that when I do my regular exercise routine on a daily basis my fasting blood sugar is fine.  If I skip a day or two days, then I see the blood sugar rise even when I eat my usual low-carb meal.
Posted 2/7/2011 7:36 PM (GMT 0)
As far as I understood the food pyramid, it's just to make sure you get the nutrients and vitamins you need daily. At least for non-diabetic, non-allergic, non-vegan-etc diets.. I still don't know enough about alternative sources or even nutrition in general to tell which foods would make a balanced diet. It's stunning to me how Lanie keeps a controlled diet with carbs so low, but I'm thinking it's possible. It makes sense to lower carbs intake if your body can't absorb it all anyways.

However, I'm locked into the "food pyramid" way of thinking according to which I've learned to eat since I was in elementary, but my diet is not seriously high in carbs. Well, it's 5 times more than Lanie at the moment, but still.. I can go lower than my current level. The nutrionist also taught me to eat once every 3 hours, but I'm actually only eating 2 meals and 2 snacks a day. I'm type 1 though, and have been for so long that my pancreas haven't been producing any insulin for many years. I've been told to inject insulin for any meal over 10g of carbs, so I would rather not, and just eat a little less.

As long as you get enough nutrients, vitamins and exercise etc, you should be fine, but I'm still no doctor..
Posted 2/7/2011 8:29 PM (GMT 0)
The food pyramid here is wider at the base which contains grains and other carbohydrates and then tapers up with vegetables and fruits and then meats and other proteins and finally fats.  In a non-diabetic this may work fine - although this can also increase weight in many individuals.  Since obesity is a growing problem here in the US, I question whether this is a wise program.  The American Diabetes Association website now says it follows the "plate" plan, not the pyramid.  That is, they say to draw a line down the middle of your plate (figuratively, of course!) and then a line to divide one half of the other half of the plate again, so you have 1/2, 1/4 and 1/4.  Half the plate should be vegetables and salad food, one quarter should be grains (and other carbs) and the last quarter should be protein.  Now, let's talk about someone like me who is insulin resistant.  I still produce insulin but my body does not use the blood sugar that circulates around the system because although the insulin tries to work at opening up the cell walls for the glucose to enter, it fails, so my blood sugar remains high and the insulin can't do its job.  When I eat carbs, my blood sugar rises.  The more I eat, the higher it goes.  Flour-based food, food with sugar, potatoes and rice, any grain (whole or not) keeps my blood sugar elevated because I am insulin resistant.  When I eat a low-carb plan and I engage in exercise, I can control the blood sugar rather well. 

The best way I can explain this plan is by analogy.  If I play poker but I try to follow the rules of bridge, the result is chaos, not to mention angry partners.  It won't work.  If I want to play bridge I need to use the rules for bridge.  If I want to keep control of my blood sugar myself without medication, I can do this by diet an exercise.  If I eat grains, I cannot control my blood sugar.  It's really that simple.

There is nothing wrong with medication.  Type 1s have to use insulin and there's no choice.  Type 2s vary in some factors: amount of insulin produced and whether they are insulin resistant.  At this point, I can still  control my blood sugar myself with my food plan so I will continue to do so.  I do indulge sometimes but not regularly. 

We don't need grains for complete nutrition.  By eating a variety of vegetables and some fruit along with whatever proteins we like, we have all the vitamins and minerals we need.  Many people take vitamin/mineral pills in any case.  After four years of this eating plan, my lab tests are fine and I'm healthy.  :-)

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