The FastDay Forum

I was the same with the glucose meter! I got my own and I get my strips off Ebay. My GP just said to give up sugar. No mention of anything else. I checked out the NHS diet and I did give it a good shot but I went from the point where I was dipping in and out of diabetic levels into full blown Type 2. I followed the advice of the group of low carbers on diabetes.co.uk and I never looked back! My weight has steadily dropped and my BG is normal now. I do go off the rails from time to time and it does go back up quickly when I do. I feel generally better on low carb though. It makes such a difference to my energy levels. Having FMS I was spending half my life totally wiped out with exhaustion but the low carb lets me have a much better quality of life.

I log what I eat into MFS. It gives you a percentage of fat, protein and CHO for each day and for the month. As my weight loss had stalled I'm experimenting with keeping carbs very low, protein moderate and fat high. Hoping it might shake a bit more loose! Since I was diagnosed pre diabetic/Type 2 I have lost 53lbs and about 5 dress sizes but I still have a way to go to get to a healthy BMI.

A friends 6 year old son has recently been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. I know its a completely different disease to type 2, but she was asking on her FB page is a slice of Pizza classed as so many points or so many points. I ask you, pizza for a diabetic kid?

It is very different. Type 1 don't make insulin so it has to be replaced. Provided they follow certain rules for adding in insulin in much the way our bodies compensate for eating a bit of junk then its ok. It means Type 1 diabetics can lead a pretty normall life if you leave out all the blood tests and injections! Of course, they do need an overall healthy diet the same as any other kid but they can go out and party with their mates if they juggle the insulin. Type 2 is really a whole different condition.

Thanks for the clarification.

[carorees]

A friends 6 year old son has recently been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. I know its a completely different disease to type 2, but she was asking on her FB page is a slice of Pizza classed as so many points or so many points. I ask you, pizza for a diabetic kid?

Yes, as miffy says, type 1 diabetes is a different disease. In this case, it is an autoimmune disease in which the body attacks and destroys the cells that secrete insulin. The body's response to insulin remains normal. Once the cells that produce insulin have been destroyed there is no cure (though there is ongoing research on whether it will be possible to use stem cells to repopulate the pancreas with insulin-producing cells).

In type 2 diabetes, the body fails to respond to the insulin that is secreted (this is termed insulin resistance) and, in fact, the insulin levels in people who develop type 2 diabetes have been very high in order to overcome this resistance, though at that time most likely the person did not know there was any problem because the body was coping. Diabetes then develops when the body cannot keep up with producing so much insulin and the cells that produce insulin become burnt out and so fail to overcome the insulin resistance. Unlike type 1 diabetes, in type 2 diabetes, it is possible to rescue the situation (if action is taken early enough) by reducing insulin resistance. Exercise and losing weight can help lower insulin resistance, while removing carbs from the diet reduces the need for insulin and so preserves the function of the cells that produce it so they can cope with the small amounts of carbs left in the diet. The conventional medical treatment for type 2 diabetes includes drugs that reduce insulin resistance (metformin and the 'glitazones') but also uses drugs that stimulate higher insulin production, but this boosting of insulin production shortens the life of the insulin producing cells meaning that a transition to insulin injections is inevitable if the patient cannot adjust their lifestyle. This is what is so wonderful about what 140lbs has done...she has lowered her need for insulin and lowered her insulin resistance so effecting a virtual cure (as long as she doesn't reverse these lifestyle changes).

Most (but not all) overweight people have a degree of insulin resistance and so the 5:2 diet by lowering insulin levels and reducing weight (and reducing carb intake) can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Because type 1 diabetes is not associated with insulin resistance, carbs are as OK to eat as for anyone else.

Now if only the medical profession would follow the lead and promote a lower carb diet instead of telling us to eat more then lots more people could be like 140lbs and me and be toodling on quite happily without the need for medication. I suppose it does also depend on how determined you are to pull your knickers up and sort yourself out rather than just relying on what the doctors tell you. My life would be pretty shitty if I'd done that!

Theres a thread from the diabetes forum that's going the rounds at the moment from a chap who has pretty much reversed his Type 2 only to have the practice nurse raging at him and telling him he MUST eat CHO even though she has to admit that his symptoms are pretty much reduced to zero.

There really needs to be a shake-up of the way Type 2 is monitored and treated. Far too many people only get diagnosed because they already have a complication. I was only on the very edge of sliding into Type 2 but I had already got the beginnings of neuropathy. I had ignored it as I thought it was down to my FMS. I was picked up because I have annual bloods done due to my regular need for pain relief. Luckily it reversed as soon as my glucose levels normalised but I did the common thing and went on a sugar binge when I first started 5:2 and the classic tingling was back in my toes. Now I do 5:2 or 16:8 (depending on my mood) but eating low carb and its gone again. Phew!!

Caroline and Miffy. These responses are just the ticket!
I want the world to know the facts as put so well by Caroline, and I do wish that Type 2 had never been given that stupid title, because it is so different, and needs a very different approach to type 1.. For instance, the mother with a young child with type 1 must be in a quandary reading stuff about type 2, and all of us going on about reducing carbs, which for us is the right thing to do. But as Miffy states, that is not the line to go with a growing child, especially when socialisation and looming adolescence is on his agenda. I have worked with type 1 teenagers, and the psychological aspect of the condition is of paramount importance, which can so quickly turn into a life/ death emergency.
I am mortified at the case of the diabetic man who tells his story on the diabetes forum, who is being told by his diabetes nurse that he MUST eat CHO. There is no reason whatsoever that an adult NEEDS CHO, as nice as carb foods are, as we all know. I am so sorry that many NHS professionals have closed their minds as to the management of diabesity, That includes Doctors, Nurses and Nutritionists, who are all getting a slating on several forums at the moment. Where does the Royal College of Nursing stand on this issue? Are the study sessions still going down the old tracks of the balanced diet, which is bonkers. There is nothing 'balanced' about a low carb, high fat diet, which manages type 2 nicely. And there is nothing ' balanced' about a low calorie diet which enforces hunger on obese people. The word 'balanced' has no place in the management of any condition that needs remedial action.
So, has Continuous Professional Development become another ticky-box ritual, whereby dyed in the wool professionals fail to move out of their comfort zone.
Our NHS is groaning with these long term chronic conditions. Can't the practitioners acknowledge that the old ways are failing to address the issues? I was trained to be the patient's advocate at all times. That means, speaking up on behalf of the individual, and certainly not just unquestioningly following Doctors orders. That Nurse Practitioner needs to buck her ideas up, and it would help if, for a start, she just LISTENED to what the man is saying. In a simple sentence....he is keeping his glucose levels low, without any medications, and without ingesting CHO! SIMPLE!!!
Hecky thump! There I go again. These long car journeys as a passenger are not good for our lovely, happy forum.

[Betsysgr8]

Hecky thump! There I go again. These long car journeys as a passenger are not good for our lovely, happy forum.

Lol, this is exactly what keeps this forum lovely, happy, lively, informed and moving forward.

On the positive side, a friend from the FMs support group I belong to found herself in a similar quandary to us ie verging on Type 2. She had always tried to follow the NHS plan but always failed. Her weight was getting higher and higher. She mailed me really upset as she had been soundly told off by the practice nurse and had got home to another telling off from her concerned family. Her GP had also had a go and told her she was on the verge of needing dialysis. I gave her my low carb links and, bless her, she got stuck in. Her weight plummeted. Her energy levels soared and at her next visit the nurse complimented her on sticking to her plan. She turned on her and told her where to put her plan and said she was following instructions from her mate! That nurse did have the sense to tell her that it was working and to carry on! Shes now added in 5:2 and is doing even better.

Hello everyone.
Back home to my wi-fi connection, and a good excuse to leave the washing up for a couple of minutes.
Miffy, you must be so pleased with your friend's progress. I am glad the nurse didn't try to talk her back to the original, silly diet. I must say, I can empathise with her feelings of hurt when confronted by the nurse, the GP and then her family. Been there, got the tee shirt, as they used to say.
I could be cynical and unkind to the out-moded medics, by suggesting that they already knew that she would 'fail' on their regime. After all, they can categorically show that type 2 is progressive and irreversible. YES! but only if we follow the silly dietary instructions they hand out. NO! It needn't progress in a downward spiral, if the patients are given the enlightened knowledge that we are discovering daily on the internet.
We need our professionals to come out of the woodwork, and speak up for the public!
I wish I had the nerve to ask my super-slim endocrinologist how he maintains his physique. What I already know about him, is that when I questioned him about the NHS dietary guidelines, his eyes rolled to the ceiling, and he told me to carry on with my new regime, because it was working for ME. I would love them just to admit that it would work for a lot of over weight pre-
diabetics, and then we might get somewhere with our battle. One thing for sure, the diabesity situation is progressive and irreversible if we continue with the status quo!
Off to make a nice pork curry. There is no way we allow ourselves to go without good stuff on the WOE. But now I just have a spoonful of brown rice mixed with mung bean sprouts around the edge to look posh, and fill the mixture up with broccoli and fresh peppers. Of course, the meat is seared in ghee, and the sauce flavoured with coconut milk!
So, breakfast at 3pm on Friday, I reckon, with a healthy, satisfying feast like that inside me. Which is where this thread started........just where has my appetite gone?
It in the bin, with the NHS dietary guidelines.