Diagianosed with diabetes

[Shaggydog67]

I agree it is very confronting dealing with people that are living with diabetes - if you think you can just take an injection & carry on, as previous poster have said, you will soon be living in a world where you are minus several limbs.

This diagnoses requires people who have it to take control of their care & diet or end up in a wheelchair minus limbs & having a very short and poor quality life.

I have cared with way too many young people in the health system to think that this is something that people can take lightly...

[anglesea]

Like others I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes about 10 years ago and am surviving well at 74  now.

Metaformin works for me to help control the blood sugar. But I am struggling a bit now as I have put on about 3 kilos without any reason and cannot get it off. Bugger!

Although some exercise is required the critical thing is what you put in your mouth (95% of the issue) and your weight.

1. Try to cut out most of the carbs. Avoid bread, rice and pasta. As well as potato and chips. Eat lean meat, fish and vegetables.

2. Cut down your portion sizes to a small plate size. You may have to do this in stages

3. If you must snack, eat mixed nuts

4. Make your evening meal your smallest, and do not eat after 8pm

5. Avoid beer and convert to spirits and mixes. wine is OK

Good luck as the risks of not controlling it can be really bad for you

[norton]

One way or the other, in today’s world most medical issues are from the life style of the person - most are excessive weight based. Keep your weight checked the issues are less likely, keep a strong heart from some cardio, walking long distance or a very active routine and reasonable strength anyway you can get it. 

[Straw]

On 6/4/2018 at 06:59, SkippyRoo said:

pumpuynarak. A couple of question if I may. What beers are okay foryour type  (I am assuming you have type 2) diabetes. .?

How do you say diabetes in Thai?

I am concerned that they will (TiT) mix up cokes and put sugary coke in my drink rather than diet

does Manteo soda have much sugar?

cheers Skippyroo 

 

 

Am sure others are thinking the same. Forget Thailand for now until you get this under control as if you don't that will become permanent. Pattaya will still be here 1-2 years down the line as always

Edited that should have been directed towards the OP not yourself apologies

[likeaking]

It appears that the OP, alex1981, is banned, if I'm reading this right. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[twilight1234]

I would agree with previous posts. Focus on keeping your weight under control and you can mitigate a lot of the negative consequences of Diabetes. 

[Pumpuynarak]

Good thread guys, lets keep updating with our experiences/knowledge gained. Its good to share imo.

One question you guys might be able to answer, i live in Thailand and love Thai fruits, i'll eat them all often. Does anyone have knowledge of which Thai fruits diabetics should not eat ? info on the internet is confusing, well it is for me. 

[SkippyRoo]

Yeah is pineapple okay...?

What about som tam seems to have a lot of sugar?

Skippyroo 

[philkrenshaw]

7 hours ago, SkippyRoo said:

Yeah is pineapple okay...?

What about som tam seems to have a lot of sugar?

Skippyroo 

EVERYTHING is OK depending on HOW MUCH you eat and what else you eat around the same time. The goal is to avoid a SPIKE in your blood sugar. That can come from starch (carbohydrates) as well as sugar, so a large serving of rice is worse than a small amount of pineapple. Fruit juice is worse than a piece of fruit because the solid fruit has a lot of fiber and proportionally less sugar than  straight juice. Fiber also helps slow digestion and lowers the "spike" in glucose levels. 100 g of pineapple has about 12 net carbs (after subtracting fiber). Som Tam has only 22 g of sugar in a "single serving" defined as 320 g. As things go, som tam is a fairly low carb Thai food. (1 cup of cooked rice has 45 g of carbs.)

You need to set your targets for how many grams of carbohydrates are OK in a meal and stick to it. 60 g of carbs is a good place to start. Measure your blood sugar with a finger prick and a drop of blood to see how well you're doing. Do the measurement about 2 hours after you start eating, since that's about when your blood sugar will peak. You want a measurement under about 170 (unless the meters in your country are calibratited in different units than in the US--in that case find out the target number from your doctor). If you are measuring higher than that, lower your carb limit. If you consistantly measure lower you can have a few more carbs in your meals. As a side effect, lowering your carb intake will often help you lose weight, which is also good for diabetics.

There are books that will tell you how many carbs in a given serving size of many foods. Years ago, there was a big fad for the Atkins Diet (low carb) and books on that subject will have many suggestions about eating a lower carb diet. They are plentiful in used book stores. Most fast food places have their menus on the internet along with a link to nutritional content. Remember that fiber gets counted as a carbohydrate for nutritional purposes but you can subtract it from the totals as it does not get digested and converted into glucose.

The best things to beat your hunger without carbs/sugar are protein and fat. Eggs, bacon and sausage for breakfast is diabetticaly healtheir than a plate of fruit (as a diabetic you may have to change priorities on things like cholesterol). Eat more vegetables, meat, salads & eggs and less rice, potatos, noodles, fruit & bread. There are special "low net carb" energy or protein bars (spawned during the Atkins Diet time) that are filling but low sugar that make great snacks when you're hungry.

Exercise will burn calories. The first choice of your body is to use up your blood sugar to get calories*. If you want something sweet, you can keep your blood sugar lower by exercising. Instead of using the baht bus, walk 20 minutes to the restaurant, eat and walk 20 minutes back. The glucose burned during your walk will blunt the blood sugar spike.

If you want an ice cream cone for dessert, dont' have it right after your meal--wait 3 or 4 hours until your blood sugar spike has gone down. The same goes for the pineapple. 

With type 2 diabetes your pancreas is either not putting out as much insulin as it used to or your body is getting less efficient at using it. Medication (usually Metformin or the like) can help but you need to limit your intake of glucose raising sugars and carbs to a rate you can handle. Eat smaller meals spread out in time, or have a sweet treat when you haven't eaten recently, or get some exercise to try and burn off blood sugar to blunt the spike from a meal. It's a big puzzle with peices you can fit together in whatever way works best for you. Your glucose/finger prick/strip measuring device is how you keep score. As long as you consistantly check your blood sugar to see if your experiments (having pineapple, or eating som tam, or controlling portion sizes, or whatever) are working, you will arrive at new eating habits that let you have many of the things you enjoy. Just maybe not as often or as large a serving.

Good luck Skippyroo.

*The theory behind the Atkins Diet was to keep your blood sugar very low and force your body to burn body fat for calories.