The FastDay Forum

[janeg]

Beloved has just had his FBG results back from yesterday. it is 198.3mg/dl 11mmol/L
According to the range thats almost double.
a bit worried but not keen to run back to the doctor as, here, he will be labelled as having diabetes 2 and stuck on medicine as a first treatment.
I am thinking that further FBG would give a better idea as to what's going on, then, armed with this info, getting to a quack in Scotland where treatment is possibly more conservative.
Any thoughts, ideas and advice would be gratefully received.

[Tracieknits]

Exercise! Even just walking will help. I had gestational diabetes and I was able to manage it with walking, walking walking, as well as never ever eating carbs by themselves. If he can't avoid carbs, then always always eat them with plenty of fat and protein to dull their effect on the blood sugar.

I've heard that cinnamon from Sri Lanka (Ceylon) can be used to help blood sugar. So sprinkle some on his food. I wouldn't do crazy amounts. Try to get in an extra 1/4 teaspoon a day and see if that helps. I love cinnamon in curries or on chicken.

I found that I got my sugars normalized within a few days doing this, but I was only 32 at the time.

Does he have symptoms? I would imagine he can't be feeling very well with his sugars that high.

I'm hoping you get this sorted quickly!

[Tracieknits]

If he wants oatmeal (a great place to add cinnamon), make it with cream and/or butter to dull the carbs, and serve eggs and/or cheese on the side to really help dull the effects of the oats.

Hi Janeg, I'm with you on avoiding the medications! Might I suggest checking out the Wheat Belly diet? There are lots of folks that had type two diabetes that resolved the issue by giving up most grains, especially wheat. It seems that two slices of whole wheat bread raise the blood glucose as much as 5 tsp. of sugar. Who knew??
I reciently gave up all grains mostly for the anti inflammatory effects in addition to fasting. I am seeing improvements in inflammatory arthritis, lower blood pressure and cholesterol. I don't have diabetes, so no personal experience. But, lots of people have had good results.
One thing to do also is balance carbs consumed with protein and fat to slow absorption and keep the glucose from going up quickly. Oh, and exercise as TracieKnits says. Good luck, hope he can get it under control with minimal intervention. Phyllis

I' m glad our friends here could give you some advice Jane x
Hope Hub is ok x

I second what @mountainmyst said. I would recommend looking at the Wheat Belly site and even reading the "Wheat Belly Total Health" book. Once you get past the revivalist preacher tone, which I grant you can jar, there is a lot of useful stuff. Also some YouTube lectures by Dr Jason Fung. I learned a lot.

[janeg]

Thanks for the replies.
He has no symptoms and feels well which i find a bit strange!
He is a big man, 2m tall and is overweight. Shifting 10kg will probably help.
At the moment he does no exercise and it's very difficult to get incidental exercise here, so an effort will have to be made. It will be easier in Scotland though.
I'll have a look at the wheat belly stuff. Loves bread though and I do make a mean loaf!
Changes afoot methinks, and he has to do it, although I can help...
*still a bit worried*

It might be useful to follow Peebles' advice to monitor his response to food as it will certainly give you more useful data to discuss with someone you trust on your return to Scotland (is that soon?).

post208957.html?hilit=meter%20blood%20sugar#p208957

Do you know your DH's HbA1c? (Longer term indicator of blood glucose.)

[janeg]

thanks @SSure very helpful too.
I did wonder where the decalitre measurement came from!
The fbc doesn't have the HbA on it, but looking at response to food is a good ploy. He's looking at machines for testing.
Due back in Scotland in 15 days. Getting very excited.

[wildmissus]

@janeg, I notice that you said he was overweight and wondered if you and he had ever heard of the 5:2 diet ?

I agree with what everyone else has said - ditch the refined carbs straight away. Another person to google is Partrick Holford, he advocates a low GL way of eating. I have read a few of his books and use some of his meal ideas and snack ideas, eg, hummous with rough oatcakes, an apple with some almonds. As others have mentioned it is about keeping the release of glucose from the complex carbs low/dulled down by making sure you balance them with protein/fat.

In a nutshell - cut the carbs - definitely the processed ones in the form of bread, rice, pasta, beer, potatoes, cereal, as drastically as he can and sustain it. Get active. Lose weight. Get a monitor and see what certain foods do to his blood glucose and eat accordingly but 11mmols as a fasting is quite high (but here you need 2 fastings over 7 to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes) so I wouldn't leave it too long if he's not able to make some lifestyle changes. It is possible though to have great results from changing things re diabetes so good luck.

PS Like wildmissus says - Patrick Holford's books are good too.

PPS Ignore the advice given by organisations like diabetes uk because they are living in the dark ages about carbs and diabetes (imho)

[janeg]

A wee update and to say thanks for all the advice.
We have had a mentally busy and disruptive time recently. The end is in sight with a slightly more settled period on the horizon.
Part of the extreme business has been a touring gig which saw Beloved walking upwards of 19km daily for 6 days. This was accompanied by very good catering...
The damage, when he finally checked is a 50 point drop in fasting blood sugar!
We have no idea if weight loss has happened as the scales are still en route from the sandpit, but the belt has moved in another notch. Visceral fat must be reducing.
We'll be able to monitor better in the next weeks but it's looking quite promising.
Thanks for all your suggestions

[carorees]

That's great news @janeg

What approach (apart from exercise) did he/you decide to take? Whatever it was, keep it up!

Glad things are looking more settled for you...I'm sure that will help too.

[janeg]

So far, just exercise @carorees, Caroline. I do think that the eating was more controlled though - a cutting down on snacks and a more 'three meals a day' approach,, simply because of the circumstances.
He has decided to embark on increased exercise and is considering fasting

[carorees]

Get him to read the articles in the fasting library on diabetes @janeg! The 16:8 method may be best for controlling blood glucose, especially if combined with reducing carbs.
https://www.fastday.com/fasting/how-can ... -diabetes/
https://www.fastday.com/fasting/fasting-with-diabetes/

Good luck!