Newly Diagnosed question about Dairy

Good Morning

I found this site after my husband (age 75) was phoned by his doctor last week and told he has diabetes.  No idea what the readings are.  Just come along to the surgery tomorrow and pick up a prescription for metformin and make an appointment to see the diabetic nurse.  He is not overweight but has enjoyed more sweeties and junk food that is good for him.  He is already on a cocktail of pain killing drugs including morphine for an unsuccessful knee replacement and also has prostate cancer (watch and wait).

Before taking the metformin we are independently giving the diet route a try.  Since the phone call he has cut out all sugar and wheat.  I know the current (not NHS) thoughts on high fat diets but am unclear on dairy.  Can anyone offer any advice please?

Hi welcome to the forum! I am sorry to hear of all of your husband's problems.

I stopped using the big five i.e. potatoes, bread, pasta, rice and baked/pastry products. I have no problem with dairy at all, in fact I eat lots of butter now and am losing weight.

I would also ask for a blood glucose meter - very few type 2's are given them, and we mostly buy our own, but if you don't ask you don't get. A meter would help your husband see which foods are worse for him. It's important to cut down carbs gradually if his BG's are quite high because a sudden drop in blood glucose can damage the eyes.

I'm not an expert in this but I believe cancer feeds on sugar, so getting his blood sugars back to a normal level would maybe help him?

I would ask for a printout of his blood test results when he sees the nurse. If there is anything on there you don't understand we may be able to help you with it. Be warned, the standard NHS dietary advice for diabetics is not what most of us here would follow. Come back with any questions you have as they arise and we'll try to help.

Thanks for your speedy reply Zand. I do know that the NHS recommendation is what Zoe Harcombe would call 'The Eat Badly Plate'. So I'm halfway there. My confusion comes from reading too many 'experts' opinions. I'm liking what I read on here and have bought the recommended Dr Bernstein book (not read it yet). So we're on our way. No milk is going to be toughie!

Cream is OK for me though. I have the odd dash of milk in tea sometimes, but I always measure it so I know how many carbs I have had.

Good luck

Hi Ollie, firstly, welcome to the forum. You've received some good advice from Zand, especially regarding self testing of Blood Glucose levels. Dairy & fats are generally OK but the only way to be sure is to test levels after eating. It's worth asking doc for one on prescription but be prepared, many refuse. If you are able to self fund though, well worth the investment.
Please keep us updated with his progress. Take care, Mo

Welcome to the forum Ollie! (And welcome to your husband too!)
Sounds like you're pretty much there in terms of researching your husbands condition and dietary measures.
In terms of dairy products which do make up a large part of my diet,the ones I'm careful with from a carbohydrate level point of view is milk and yoghurts...I do use milk in tea but I use full fat 'Lactofree' milk which tastes the same IMO but contains less carbohydrates due to the natural sugars being removed and in terms of yoghurt I find the best and lowest carbohydrate yoghurt is 'Fage Total' greek yoghurt which I use for breakfast with strawberries,blueberries etc or I sometimes add chopped cucumber and chopped fresh mint to make a kind of indian Raita dip to accompany an asian dish.

Best wishes

Paul

Thanks chaps. Very helpful. Just phoned surgery to ask what his reading were and told 58. Now at present haven't a clue what that means so need to do a bit more research.

Ollie wrote:Thanks chaps.  Very helpful. Just phoned surgery to ask what his reading were and told 58. Now at present haven't a clue what that means so need to do a bit more research.

Hi!

The '58' reading would be his HbA1c 3 month average results and for a newly diagnosed diabetic-58 isn't terrible as many folks I've come across were first diagnosed with levels over 100 but have reduced it down to safe,healthy levels through diet so even though your husbands level needs improving-safe levels can be achieved and maintained.

Excellent news. Thanks Paul. Just checked and it looks like 58 is still just about in normal range. We are determined to give this a good go with diet. The Metformin is still in the packet for the time being. Glad I've found you.

I agree with Paul whilst 58 is diabetic, it isn't a terrible reading.  With both you and Dr Bernstein helping your husband this should be fairly easy for him to improve on

Hello Ollie ...... a belated welcome to the Forum from me.  I'm sure you'll find it a friendly place. I am not a diabetic but my husband Eddie is, and I'm sure you'll hear from him later. I do live the LCHF lifestyle and feel very healthy doing this.

Look forward to talking more around the Forum.

All the best Jan

Hi, welcome

Hi Ollie and a big welcome to the forum, it’s a shame that your husband has been diagnosed so close to Christmas . Dairy in the form of butter, cheese, cream and yoghurts are fine just go for the full fat versions, I do take milk in my tea but it’s such a small amount it doesn't have any impact on my blood sugar readings.
 
Ask your GP for a meter and test strips if you’re lucky you might just get them on prescription however as many Type two’s are refused you could purchase them you self. Meters from the main suppliers are inexpensive but the big cost is in the strips, an alternative is the SD Codefree you can get the full kit for £11-60 that comes with ten strips, additional strips are £6.49 for fifty.

http://www.homehealth-uk.com/medical/blood_glucose_monitor_testing.htm

Blood Sugar 101 is a good place to start for BG monitoring tells you all you kneed to know.

http://www.phlaunt.com/

Cheers
Graham

Really helpful comments. Thank you. We are steering clear of the grains but what is the general feeling about legumes? I noticed a recipe on the site that included cannelloni beans.

They are a nutritious addition to a diet so I would try them and when he has a meter, test before eating them, and then an hour after starting the meal, and then 2 hours after. If your husband can tolerate them the 'spike' (the difference between the before the meal and the highest of the other 2 readings) should be around 2 or less if they suit him.

This is a bit of a bother in the early days, but you soon get to know which foods are OK, and which are OK in moderation, and which are a definite No!

I can have legumes in moderation, but I have to watch the portion size. I know of others who can eat them freely.

Greetings Ollie, About test meters I live in Denmark and we diabetics get them free, and a couple hundred free test strips as well each year. In Britain, haven't you a diabetics magazine given out free or at low cost. In Denmark we have such a diabetics magazine and meter manufacteurs sometimes offer free meters in the magazine. I learned, though, to answer the question "How many times do you test each day" to answer 5-6 times, otherwise the manufacteur doesn't care to give a free meter. My local hospital will give me a meter for the asking and some free test strips as well.
As to diet I replaced cow milk with soya drink, nearly zero carbs. I also eat about 100 gr of greek yogurt for breakfast and am free about eating cheese and butter.
I wouldn't be afraid of metformin medicin. It hasn't bad side effects for hardly anyone. It has anti-cancer properties and is said to slow aging. Very inexpensive as well.

We do get a diabetics magazine.  I read mine and then threw it in the bin because even as a newbie I knew the advice was wrong.

I agree that Metformin is a good, well tested, useful drug.  The only problem (apart from the tummy upsets!) I can see with Metformin is that it may deplete our vitamin B12 levels.  My doctor won't let me have it anymore because my HbA1c is less than 48.  If I was given the choice though, I would still be taking it.

It's interesting that you say that given the choice you would still take Metformin Zand. May I ask what benefits you receive if your HbA1c is normal? Really appreciating the advice. Supermarket shopping is taking forever as we trawl the Isles looking for stuff without 'ose' in it.

Just enjoyed a nice Nutribullet lunch of kale, celery, kiwi, celery, avocado, dollop of yogurt, sunflower seeds and blueberries all made into a gorgeous smoothie.

The main advantage of Metformin for me was that it helps to reduce insulin resistance. I was morbidly obese and am now merely seriously obese. I am sure the Metformin helped and I would have liked to take it for longer so that I could lose another 5 - 6 stones. I particularly noticed the difference when I walked more than say 4 miles in a day, the weight just dropped off me for a little while. Exercise never made much difference to me before I started taking metformin.

The other thing was it acted as an appetite suppressant for me, so I needed less food and therefore found it easier to lose weight.

I don't think it lowered my blood glucose level by much at all, but I could do that myself with diet.

The main problems were a tummy upset which many people get with metformin (the SR - slow release- version is gentler). I only had a problem with this twice. Both times I had eaten more carbs than I should have! The rest of the time I didn't have tummy problems at all.

I also found my hair thinned a lot, and as a woman I wasn't keen on this side effect, but I would still choose to take metformin now despite this.

All in all though I think it's a good drug. I like it because it is an older drug which has been well tested on very many people like me for years, so any problems with it will have been discovered by now.

Your lunch sounds perfect!

Great explanation. Thanks Zand. Don't know why but I thought you were a chap!

Yes a lot of people do! I don't suppose the football avatar helps!

Douglas V wrote:Greetings Ollie, About test meters I live in Denmark and we diabetics get them free, and a couple hundred free test strips as well each year. In Britain, haven't you a diabetics magazine given out free or at low cost. In Denmark we have such a diabetics magazine and meter manufacteurs sometimes offer free meters in the magazine. I learned, though, to answer the question "How many times do you test each day" to answer 5-6 times, otherwise the manufacteur doesn't care to give a free meter.  My local hospital will give me a meter for the asking and some free test strips as well.
As to diet I replaced cow milk with soya drink, nearly zero carbs. I also eat about  100 gr of greek yogurt for breakfast and am free about eating cheese and butter.
I wouldn't be afraid of metformin medicin. It hasn't bad side effects for hardly anyone. It has anti-cancer properties and is said to slow aging.  Very inexpensive as well.

Hi Douglas, In the UK many doctors and DSN's actively discourage the use of meters for T2 diabetics, some of the reasons they give are frankly idiotic "testing will make you depressed", "it will make your fingers sore," "it will only confuse you" and "you could get an infection from the lancets"

It is easy to get meters here but the exorbitant cost of test strips makes it to expensive for most. I'm one of the lucky ones I was given a meter and prescription for test strips and over six years later I still get fifty strips a month.