Diabetic Nutrition

[canadianrookie]

Hello everyone,
I was recently diagnosed with Type II and have been told to loose a lot of weight otherwise they're going to put me on more medication (currently I'm only taking Metformin) Does anyone here have any experience with this? I've started cardio 3x/week for 25-30 mins and will be upping it to 5x/week in the new year. I'll also be doing some lifting 3x/week to develop/maintain muscle mass. I'm kinda stuck on the nutrition though.
Any advice/resources would be awesome.

Thanks!

 

[zarro84]

Don't eat crap. It really is simple as that. There are only 3 things you can eat, meat, veggies, fruit. You can eat nuts if you want, but that's really the only additional thing you should concentrate on. I imagine you have to take your blood sugar pre and post meal, so stick to mostly meat and veggies and experiment with how much and what type of fruit you can handle.

 

[canadianrookie]

Thanks!
My doctor is also telling me that my fiber intake should be up as well. In terms of meals she's saying 3x/day with a total of 5-6 servings of veggies and an equal ammount of whole grains(high in fiber) /day. Then she says I need 3x/day of milk/dairy and the same ammount of protine. This is also what our Canadian Food Guide says, should I be following this or should I look into hiring a dietition(sp?) ?

 

[zarro84]

Thanks!
My doctor is also telling me that my fiber intake should be up as well. In terms of meals she's saying 3x/day with a total of 5-6 servings of veggies and an equal ammount of whole grains(high in fiber) /day. Then she says I need 3x/day of milk/dairy and the same ammount of protine. This is also what our Canadian Food Guide says, should I be following this or should I look into hiring a dietition(sp?) ?

I really think those reccomendations are crap. Your the one who has to monitor your blood sugar. You could try out those reccomendations and when you see your blood sugar jumping all over the place eliminate the milk, then when it's still jumping around like crazy eliminate the grains. I agree that fiber intake should be high, but you can get all the fiber you need from fruits and veggies. If your looking for people to advise you, I'd reccomend Dr. John Berardi and Alan Aragon. They both are very good at what they do and will be able to teach you how to figure out the best diet for you.

 

[jonny21]

I really think those reccomendations are crap. Your the one who has to monitor your blood sugar. You could try out those reccomendations and when you see your blood sugar jumping all over the place eliminate the milk, then when it's still jumping around like crazy eliminate the grains. I agree that fiber intake should be high, but you can get all the fiber you need from fruits and veggies. If your looking for people to advise you, I'd reccomend Dr. John Berardi and Alan Aragon. They both are very good at what they do and will be able to teach you how to figure out the best diet for you.

Speaking of poor recommendations. Should he cut eventually cut all his carb's?Where is the soluble fiber? in the fruits and veggies? I think not.


canadianrookie,

BG management depends on consistency, commitment and moderation. Controlling and choosing your carb's wisely will make all the difference. Maybe start with a simple layout of 3 meals & 3 snacks throughout the day. See how you do with 3-4 carb servings (~45-60g) at each meal and 1-2 carb servings (~15-30g) for each in between meal/snack.

Carb choices should be low-moderate glycemic foods. Carb's high in soluble fiberare key. They delay transit thru GI tract. Legumes, lentils, nuts, oatmeal....you get the idea?

If you have a glucometer do yourself a favor. Test before meals and then retest 2 hours postprandial. Take note of the elevations and the type/amount of carb's consumed. Do this for 7-14 days. It may mean a few extra sticks for a couple of weeks but the knowledge gained will be priceless.

 

[zarro84]

Point taken about the soluable fiber. I think in the end we agree on what should be done.

"If you have a glucometer do yourself a favor. Test before meals and then retest 2 hours postprandial. Take note of the elevations and the type/amount of carb's consumed. Do this for 7-14 days. It may mean a few extra sticks for a couple of weeks but the knowledge gained will be priceless."

Exactly

 

[alan aragon]

Hello everyone,
I was recently diagnosed with Type II and have been told to loose a lot of weight otherwise they're going to put me on more medication (currently I'm only taking Metformin) Does anyone here have any experience with this? I've started cardio 3x/week for 25-30 mins and will be upping it to 5x/week in the new year. I'll also be doing some lifting 3x/week to develop/maintain muscle mass. I'm kinda stuck on the nutrition though.
Any advice/resources would be awesome.

Thanks!

Diabetic nutrition isn't very different from diabetes-free nutritional recommendations for optimal health. You need all the macros (roughly in isocaloric proportion) through a wide variety of foods within & across the groups. The only difference is that you don't have as much leeway with the refined sugars like folks with normal metabolisms. Keep your meals small and frequent. Concentrate the bulk of your carbs pre & postworkout, use sparingly elsewhere. Keep the carbs from whole food sources to keep the fiber content high, steer clear of refined sugars & refined grain products. The rest is fair game. Try to have a small to moderate amount of healthy fats at each meal, such as raw unsalted nuts, nut butters, avocados, seeds, oils from fish or various plant sources. Your most significant weapon in your battle with diabetes is progressive exercise, assuming you weren't eating like total crap to begin with.

As far as resources go, there isn't really any existing research on diabetic resistance trainees who aren't seniors. For your reference, I was able to find these papers that might give you some ideas:

Physical Activity/Exercise and Diabetes.
Physical Activity/Exercise and Diabetes -- 27 (Supplement 1): 58 -- Diabetes Care

High-Intensity Resistance Training Improves Glycemic Control in Older Patients With Type 2 Diabetes.
High-Intensity Resistance Training Improves Glycemic Control in Older Patients With Type 2 Diabetes -- Dunstan et al. 25 (10): 1729 -- Diabetes Care

Battling Insulin Resistance in Elderly Obese People With Type 2 Diabetes: Bring on the heavy weights.
Battling Insulin Resistance in Elderly Obese People With Type 2 Diabetes: Bring on the heavy weights -- Willey and Singh 26 (5): 1580 -- Diabetes Care

Intermittent High-Intensity Exercise Does Not Increase the Risk of Early Postexercise Hypoglycemia in Individuals With Type 1 Diabetes.
Intermittent High-Intensity Exercise Does Not Increase the Risk of Early Postexercise Hypoglycemia in Individuals With Type 1 Diabetes -- Guelfi et al. 28 (2): 416 -- Diabetes Care

Evidence-Based Nutrition Principles and Recommendations for the Treatment and Prevention of Diabetes and Related Complications
Evidence-Based Nutrition Principles and Recommendations for the Treatment and Prevention of Diabetes and Related Complications -- Franz et al. 25 (1): 148 -- Diabetes Care

 

[zarro84]

The man has spoken.

 

[canadianrookie]

WOW!!
Thanks for all the information!!

 

[Nitrox]

I joined the diabetic club several years ago. I have experimented with different diets and routines both on and off insulin.

If you are serious about dealing with your condition the most most important thing I can suggest is to get in the habit of following a detailed meal plan. Get yourself some measuring equipment, including a decent digital food scale. Familiarize yourself with fitday.com or other diet tracking software; plan, follow, and record your glucose results. This way your levels will be predictable and you will gain a much better understanding of how different types of meals affect glucose levels. Yes it can become tedious and boring but personally that is a sacrifice I'm more than willing to make for optimal health.

Alan and Johnny both gave you some excellent info. Also your doctor is right about losing weight. Overall, the leaner you are, the less the load on your insulin function will be.

To wrap up, I'll echo others' recommendations and add some of my own:
- Make up a daily meal plan with 5 or 6 meals of roughly equal protein, fat, carb ratios and appropriate calorie level to get you a comfortably low body fat level (say 10-15%). Skew your carb intake around exercise.
- Stick to whole foods and lower GI carbs (fruits, dairy, grains, and legumes).
- Try to do some intense exercise everyday (cardio or weights). Intense exercise has a greater impact on glucose levels and also increases insulin sensitivity for longer periods (24-48 hrs).
- Measure and record your levels pre and post meal for each meal for several days to get an idea of how you are respond to them. After that you should be able to get by with testing less. Be aware that although Metformin does not typically cause dangerous hypoglycemia it can cause frequent mild hypo if you make drastic changes to your body composition and lifestyle and do not adjust your dosage.

On a last note. Getting huge and lifting monster weight in the gym are not easy when trying to manage Diabetes without insulin. Your body just doesnt have the same tools as a 'normal' person does.

HTH

 

[canadianrookie]

Thanks again!
Just one last quick question, anyone have a line on a good brand of digital food scales?

 

[jonny21]

Thanks again!
Just one last quick question, anyone have a line on a good brand of digital food scales?

I swear by my Salter Aquatronic

 

[Nitrox]

I've got a Salter as well. They make a few models ranging from about CAD$50-100.

 

[canadianrookie]

Thank you very much for all the info! I see a lot of areas where I'll be buckleing down as I was hardly exercising and eating like crap before I think these changes will help.
Sounds like I've got a lot work ahead of me, any additional help regarding meal planning would be muchly appreciated (I'll be spending the weekend putting together a diet plan, if someone could critique it that would really help)

 

[mrcoolboy15]

stay away from corn, and corn products...

 

[canadianrookie]

Any particular reason why one would stay away from corn?

Srry this is a week late but my poor little girl has been sick and since she's ill... I caught whatever she had too .... here is my planned diet.

08:30 - Egg sangwich w/ 3 whites and 1 whole egg.

10:00 - Snack consisting of 1/2 cup of podded snow peas.

12:00 - 2 x Chicken pitas w/ salsa

14:30 - Snack consisting of an apple

17:30 - 10oz steak with a baked potato and a cup of steamed carrots

21:30 - Snack consisting of a Banana

Going to try and attach the fit-day page screen shot....

hopefully that worked.
Would it be prudent to ask what (if any) supplements to take here or should I start another thread in the supplements section?

Thank you again everyone for your help and advice!!

 

[Nitrox]

stay away from corn, and corn products...

Too vague. Whole kernel corn would be fine in moderation as a starchy carb source. Processed corn products such as Doritos are as bad as processed potato, rice, or wheat products.

 

[Nitrox]

here is my planned diet.

08:30 - Egg sangwich w/ 3 whites and 1 whole egg.

10:00 - Snack consisting of 1/2 cup of podded snow peas.

12:00 - 2 x Chicken pitas w/ salsa

14:30 - Snack consisting of an apple

17:30 - 10oz steak with a baked potato and a cup of steamed carrots

21:30 - Snack consisting of a Banana

Going to try and attach the fit-day page screen shot....

hopefully that worked.
Would it be prudent to ask what (if any) supplements to take here or should I start another thread in the supplements section?

Thank you again everyone for your help and advice!!

Personally I would try to cut out about 10% of your carbs and replace that with healthy fats from salmon, almonds or walnuts, olives, and/or natural peanut butter.

The meal with two pitas has too many carbs. You have close to 100 grams in one meal. I would cut back to one pita and add in some good fats.

Eat your banana before your workout instead and have some protein and/or fats bed.

More veggies if you can. Just for overall health.

From my experience, supplements have a neglible effect on blood sugar hence I would say they are not cost effective. By far the largest improvements will come from increased activity and energy and carb intake restriction. Your oral meds will provide the next best improvement.

A couple cups of green tea per day is about the only 'supplement' that I think would be worth adding in. It boosts metabolism by a hair and has miscellaneous other health benefits as well.

By the way, how tall are you and what is your weight?

 

[canadianrookie]

Thanks Nitrox!
So to sum up your sugestions, up the veggies...have the banana pre-workout and stop at one pita and add some almonds or something like that right?
Would low fat cottage cheese be a good night snack instead?

Also I'm an embarrasing 5'11" and 260lbs

 

[Nitrox]

Thanks Nitrox!
So to sum up your sugestions, up the veggies...have the banana pre-workout and stop at one pita and add some almonds or something like that right?
Would low fat cottage cheese be a good night snack instead?

Also I'm an embarrasing 5'11" and 260lbs

Cottage cheese is good for a nightime meal. It doesnt have to be low fat - regular cottage cheese is already about 2% which is not all that much.

I was asking about your stats just to get an idea of your calorie needs. At 260 lbs and becoming active you may find that 2000 calories is going to be challenging (ie you're going to be hungry). Don't be afraid to add in a extra meal here or there if the pressure gets too much - better than binging on a tub of Ben & Jerry's.

 

[canadianrookie]

Thanks man I really appreciate all the advice!!
I was figuring if I get the urge to eat more I could always up the veggie snacks of peas and such.
I'll add the green tea as well

 

[mrcoolboy15]

Thanks man I really appreciate all the advice!!
I was figuring if I get the urge to eat more I could always up the veggie snacks of peas and such.
I'll add the green tea as well

Wish you luck, hope your able to improve your health. It is amazing that the body can sometimes rebuild it's self if you give it the right tool, such as correct vitamins, by eating right.

 

[canadianrookie]

Thanks very much!
With a little effort and time I hope I can be in the same position to pass out sagely wisdom to those who need it