Question for diabetics - Moderating sugar intake

[OpenToSuggestions]

Hey all.
Over the last 4 years my Dad has gone from fine to injecting insulin.
He seems to think it could be linked to his serious (near fatal) pneumonia around 20 years ago.
This would be great news as it would mean it is not running in the family, but no point in chancing it.

Anyway, I am now 27 and at 25 I decided to lose weight.
I go to the gym, I walk a bit and just generally try to take care of myself.

I don't like beer and have cut my fizzy pop intake by 90%. The little amount I do have is sugar free.
I sometimes have my fair share of sweets or cake, but I am not sure how strict I need to be.

I am not a diabetic and and was even checked in Decemeber (I woke up a lot in the night sweating) and I have no signs of it, but I just wondered what the diabetics on this forum do to moderate their sugar intake. I've seen his hypers and hypos, which I would like to avoid if possible!
Someone close to me is showing signs of diabetes too from poor diet, so looking for real life tips there too.
Looking for a bit more than 'eat/drink healthy' .

Opentosuggestions.

Oh, I took a dump through my letterbox already, so you can rule that one out .

 

[Zethor]

I'm not diabetic but I've mostly removed sugar fron my diet. What I've done:
- decreased the amount of sugar from tea/coffee by half at regular intervals. I now usually take 1 spoon tip or no sugar.
- removed sodas and fruit juice from my diet. Even natural fruit juice is bad for you, just eat fruits.
- removed bread, a useless type of food unless you do lots of physical work.
- avoid pasta/pizza whenever possible, along with pastry. Still enjoy them occasionally.
- removed fast food

That's it basically, I've never liked sweets much so that wasn't a problem for me.

 

[OpenToSuggestions]

My killer is without doubt bread.
I plan to make a focus of avoiding bread for a week, which is quite an effort for me .

 

[scorza]

I'm not diabetic but I've mostly removed sugar fron my diet. What I've done:
- decreased the amount of sugar from tea/coffee by half at regular intervals. I now usually take 1 spoon tip or no sugar.
- removed sodas and fruit juice from my diet. Even natural fruit juice is bad for you, just eat fruits.
- removed bread, a useless type of food unless you do lots of physical work.
- avoid pasta/pizza whenever possible, along with pastry. Still enjoy them occasionally.
- removed fast food

That's it basically, I've never liked sweets much so that wasn't a problem for me.

Remove rice as well, especially white rice. Fruits aren't particularly good so make sure that of your 7 a day you have a maximum of two portions of fruit. Veg is king, and no, potatoes don't count as veg.

 

[WithMyApologies]

Originally Posted by Zethor
I'm not diabetic but I've mostly removed sugar fron my diet. What I've done:
- decreased the amount of sugar from tea/coffee by half at regular intervals. I now usually take 1 spoon tip or no sugar.
- removed sodas and fruit juice from my diet. Even natural fruit juice is bad for you, just eat fruits.
- removed bread, a useless type of food unless you do lots of physical work.
- avoid pasta/pizza whenever possible, along with pastry. Still enjoy them occasionally.
- removed fast food

That's it basically, I've never liked sweets much so that wasn't a problem for me.

Remove rice as well, especially white rice. Fruits aren't particularly good so make sure that of your 7 a day you have a maximum of two portions of fruit. Veg is king, and no, potatoes don't count as veg.

What can we eat then?

No fruit, no potatoes, no rice, no pasta, no bread. Do I just have chicken and veg every night?

Instead of cutting things out, the healthiest (and most enjoyable) way to eat is surely in moderation, with exercise?

My partner was diagnosed as being diabetic in March 2014, she still eats rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, takeaways etc and the diabetic clinic have been so happy with her progress that she doesn't need to test her blood sugar levels or visit the diabetic clinic anymore (apart from a yearly check). Since she was diagnosed we have been eating everything in moderation and getting at least 20-30 minutes of exercise a day, even just a brisk walk where possible.

 

[Maccapacca]

Potatoes are fine, people are too stupid to consider that a small portion with maybe some real butter salt an pepper is different from half a plate of chips. So it's easier to say no.

 

[Rroff]

- decreased the amount of sugar from tea/coffee by half at regular intervals. I now usually take 1 spoon tip or no sugar.

Funny thing with this - I used to like 2 spoons of sugar with tea and 1 spoon would taste horribly "lite" - once I cut it back to 1 spoon and got used to it it seems exactly the same as 2 spoons and 2 spoons is horribly sweet and sets my teeth on edge. Now cut it down to half a spoon with same result - can't stand tea with milk without a little sugar though.

Diet is all very well but from what I've heard if you want to reduce the chances of becoming type 2 diabetic in later life exercise is more important - even just 20 minutes of cardio workout a day can have a significant impact on your chances. (Heard its related to fat build up in the liver inhibiting insulin production but no idea on how true that is).

 

[doofer]

I'm not diabetic but I've mostly removed sugar fron my diet. What I've done:
- decreased the amount of sugar from tea/coffee by half at regular intervals. I now usually take 1 spoon tip or no sugar.
- removed sodas and fruit juice from my diet. Even natural fruit juice is bad for you, just eat fruits.
- removed bread, a useless type of food unless you do lots of physical work.
- avoid pasta/pizza whenever possible, along with pastry. Still enjoy them occasionally.
- removed fast food

**** me. I'd rather be diabetic. You all know the 'Years' you're adding to your lives by being 'Healthy' are the Adult Nappy years right?

 

[scorza]

Potatoes are fine, people are too stupid to consider that a small portion with maybe some real butter salt an pepper is different from half a plate of chips. So it's easier to say no.

I know they're fine, but they still don't count as veg, which was all I said

 

[Zethor]

Funny thing with this - I used to like 2 spoons of sugar with tea and 1 spoon would taste horribly "lite" - once I cut it back to 1 spoon and got used to it it seems exactly the same as 2 spoons and 2 spoons is horribly sweet and sets my teeth on edge. Now cut it down to half a spoon with same result - can't stand tea with milk without a little sugar though.

Diet is all very well but from what I've heard if you want to reduce the chances of becoming type 2 diabetic in later life exercise is more important - even just 20 minutes of cardio workout a day can have a significant impact on your chances. (Heard its related to fat build up in the liver inhibiting insulin production but no idea on how true that is).

Yes, exercise is more important than a good diet. I've read a study which found it adds more years to life expectancy than not smoking even. That's at least 6 extra years of not being worm food, not a bad deal for a total of 1-2 hours of weekly effort.

 

[Jono8]

I'm not diabetic but I've mostly removed sugar fron my diet. What I've done:
- decreased the amount of sugar from tea/coffee by half at regular intervals. I now usually take 1 spoon tip or no sugar.
- removed sodas and fruit juice from my diet. Even natural fruit juice is bad for you, just eat fruits.
- removed bread, a useless type of food unless you do lots of physical work.
- avoid pasta/pizza whenever possible, along with pastry. Still enjoy them occasionally.
- removed fast food

That's it basically, I've never liked sweets much so that wasn't a problem for me.

What a load of rubbish. What's left?

This seems rather extreme, and natural fruit juice is certainly not bad for you. In fact nothing much is actually bad for you. Too much of a certain thing is what is bad for you.

 

[HungryHippos]

I'm not diabetic but I've mostly removed sugar fron my diet. What I've done:
- decreased the amount of sugar from tea/coffee by half at regular intervals. I now usually take 1 spoon tip or no sugar.
- removed sodas and fruit juice from my diet. Even natural fruit juice is bad for you, just eat fruits.
- removed bread, a useless type of food unless you do lots of physical work.
- avoid pasta/pizza whenever possible, along with pastry. Still enjoy them occasionally.
- removed fast food

That's it basically, I've never liked sweets much so that wasn't a problem for me.

I never take sugar with my tea, just get better brands of tea. The cheap stuff like PG tips is so bad that it needs sugar to taste good, but better quality stuff should be just fine without it.

 

[Jono8]

Hey all.
Over the last 4 years my Dad has gone from fine to injecting insulin.
He seems to think it could be linked to his serious (near fatal) pneumonia around 20 years ago.
This would be great news as it would mean it is not running in the family, but no point in chancing it.

Anyway, I am now 27 and at 25 I decided to lose weight.
I go to the gym, I walk a bit and just generally try to take care of myself.

I don't like beer and have cut my fizzy pop intake by 90%. The little amount I do have is sugar free.
I sometimes have my fair share of sweets or cake, but I am not sure how strict I need to be.

I am not a diabetic and and was even checked in Decemeber (I woke up a lot in the night sweating) and I have no signs of it, but I just wondered what the diabetics on this forum do to moderate their sugar intake. I've seen his hypers and hypos, which I would like to avoid if possible!
Someone close to me is showing signs of diabetes too from poor diet, so looking for real life tips there too.
Looking for a bit more than 'eat/drink healthy' .

Opentosuggestions.

Oh, I took a dump through my letterbox already, so you can rule that one out .

Everything in moderation.

 

[Rroff]

I never take sugar with my tea, just get better brands of tea. The cheap stuff like PG tips is so bad that it needs sugar to taste good, but better quality stuff should be just fine without it.

Its the inclusion of milk that does it for me - regardless of how good the tea itself is as soon as I add milk without a little sugar it tastes like its lacking "something".

 

[Tefal]

My killer is without doubt bread.
I plan to make a focus of avoiding bread for a week, which is quite an effort for me .

i find wraps a good substitute. still bread but much less of it compared to a normal sandwich.

also loads more room for filling

 

[HungryHippos]

Its the inclusion of milk that does it for me - regardless of how good the tea itself is as soon as I add milk without a little sugar it tastes like its lacking "something".

What tea do you typically drink? Do you let it brew for long enough? Do you put in too much milk? (really milky tea is no good!)

 

[Zethor]

What a load of rubbish. What's left?

This seems rather extreme, and natural fruit juice is certainly not bad for you. In fact nothing much is actually bad for you. Too much of a certain thing is what is bad for you.

A typical glass of say, 100% natural orange juice, contains the equivalent of 4-5 oranges. Would you normally eat so many oranges at once? Juice is bad for you because you unknowingly overeat when you consume it.

 

[aardvark]

i eat pasta every single day and have done for decades - still stick thin.

 

[Rroff]

What tea do you typically drink? Do you let it brew for long enough? Do you put in too much milk? (really milky tea is no good!)

I tend to have a fairly broad range of experience - sometimes its brewed properly, sometimes its not (depends how much of a hurry I'm in, who makes it, etc.) and I'm a stickler for putting the milk in last - which is generally along the lines of a splash of milk and no more.

My own stock tends to be Typhoo brands to be honest - which are a bit heavy but one dimensional - but atleast don't taste as "lite" as most supermarket brands - but its not the only tea I drink day to day - my dad is into his Earl Grey, Lapsangs and various Chinese teas I can't even read the label on :S and my cousin works for Miles so we get a broad range of their stuff as well.

 

[scorza]

A typical glass of say, 100% natural orange juice, contains the equivalent of 4-5 oranges. Would you normally eat so many oranges at once? Juice is bad for you because you unknowingly overeat when you consume it.

Not only that, if it's "juiced" then you lose all the fibre that would have been in the orange, meaning that as soon as it hits your stomach it gets converted to glucose pretty much straight away.