Question re. blood test results (buy, Walmart, diet, fasting)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hubby has a strong family history of diabetes. Two of his brothers have it, his mother and several of her sisters had it as well. He recently had his annual blood test and his fasting blood glucose is 100, and the HgbAIC (it looks like an "i" on the card, but I assume it's supposed to be a "1" and refers to the averaged 3 month blood glucose test) was 6.2. They usually call when anything is off with any of the tests, but they just sent a card noting that he has elevated glucose and should decrease carbs and sugars. His other labs are good.
I am scratching my head about that, shouldn't there be some sort of counseling and maybe monitoring of blood sugar via a glucose meter after meals, so he can determine which foods (beside the obvious) increase his blood sugar?
Also, were any of you in this situation and were you able to stave off full-blown diabetes for a while, or at least control it with your diet?
Diet is the only way to stop the progression and possibly reverse the condition. I will not go into details (too many) but he needs to go on a low carb diet. Diet is obviously the number one determining factor in this with.
^^Thanks for your reply. I am trying to convince him he needs a glucose meter and we need to experiment with various foods to find out which foods increase his numbers. From what I've read it's pretty individual and I can't cook appropriately unless I know his trigger foods.
You can buy a meter at Walmart for $14, and 50 test strips for $9. You need a lancing device and lancets too, which is about another $10. My doctor prescribed strips, but my insurance copay is $20, so I use the Walmart meter and strips.
Every person is different, but for me, eating less than 30 g of carbs at breakfast and lunch and 50 g or less of carbs at dinner has been what works. Some people can't handle even that many carbs, it really depends on the individual. It also helps to never eat carbs by themselves, always have some protein and some fat with them to slow the digestion.
^^Thanks for your reply, that's a pretty reasonable cost for all the supplies. I am guessing 50 strips would be used up really quickly when you're first trying to measure the effects of various foods. Might have to buy 100 initially.
It's going to be a steep learning curve to figure out carb content in fruit and veggies and serve the correct amounts. Lots to read up on.
^^Thanks for your reply, that's a pretty reasonable cost for all the supplies. I am guessing 50 strips would be used up really quickly when you're first trying to measure the effects of various foods. Might have to buy 100 initially.
It's going to be a steep learning curve to figure out carb content in fruit and veggies and serve the correct amounts. Lots to read up on.
I went through strips pretty quick at first but now I only test in the mornings, so 50 strips lasts a long time.
For the carb content in fruit and veggies, you'll probably find that using a calorie tracker like My Fitness Pal or Spark People is the easiest way to see the total carbs for a day. Spark People has a good recipe calculator so you can figure out the carbs in a recipe that you're making. You can also search carbs in food (for example, "carbs in apple") and find out that way. A small food scale would probably be helpful because the size of fruits and veggies can vary a lot. When you're looking at carbs for a fruit or veggie, subtract the fiber.
^^Thanks so much, I checked the recipe calculator on SparkPeople and it looks like it will help a lot! I do have a good food scale because we've both been trying to slim down and I've been weighing food portions. Also read lots of interesting advice such as cooking rice (husband loves his jasmine, he hates brown rice) with coconut oil and cooling at least 12 hours, which supposedly increases resistant starch and slows down blood sugar increase. But he is going to have to cut portions way down anyway. Threat of diabetes sure is a wake up call.
You don't need a meter. Just cut down on the dietary sugars (carbs) and get the HgA1c retested every 3 months. Books list the carb contents -- a general understanding should be sufficient, unless your husband really wants those needle pokes (ie. a monitor normally isn't used or necessary unless a person takes insulin). Type II diabetes (and all of its complications including kidney disease, peripheral neuropathy/amputation, blindness, and heart disease) is completely preventable via diet and weight loss.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Might have to buy 100 initially. 
