Diabetes and Diet

I have been told I have type 2 diabetes and it can be controlled by diet living in Vietnam with all the good fruit and vegetables where can I find a web site that can give me easy food guides. How much fruit can I eat and what fruits to avoid and also what calories does all food contain. thank you for your advice
This was diagnosed whilst back in the UK with in last month.

There is no one-size-fits-all diet for diabetics. In general, the foods that spike blood sugar the most are carbohydrate. That means bread, grains, oatmeal, rice, potatoes, noodles, pasta, corn. You will often hear people talking about ‘good’ unrefined carbs versus ‘bad’ refined carbs but in reality, a carb is a carb. All carbohydrates turn to sugar in the blood, so wholegrain bread is the same as a sugar donut, it all becomes pure sugar. As diabetes is about uncontrolled high blood sugars, all diabetics need to be careful in their consumption of whatever spikes blood sugar the most, i.e., all carbohydrate.

You should eat to your meter. Buy a blood glucose meter if you have not got one already. Log everything that you eat. Test 2 hours after eating. If you are under 140mg/7.8 mm/ol, then you are OK. If you are above this target, then you need to look at what you ate. Either reduce the portion, or cut it out entirely.

Everyone’s body is different. Only by testing will you find patterns that are right for YOU, and only by testing will you know how much carb you can eat. Note too that the amount of carb you can tolerate might be different depending on the time of the day (most people are more insulin resistant in the morning), the time of the month if you are female, stress, and exercise.

As to your unique challenges living in Vietnam:

I think this will be challenging. I love Vietnam and my favourite cuisine in the world is Vietnamese. BUT Vietnamese cuisine is extremely high in carbs. And diabetics cannot metabolize carbohydrate! In particular, Type 2 on diet/exercise therapy really do need to watch their carbohydrate intake. That’s going to be really difficult living anywhere in Asia.

You will find that the standard servings of rice and pho will almost certainly be too high in carbs for you to tolerate. (As measured by your post-meal readings of blood sugar.) And because carbs as a staple are ingrained in local culture, you might find it hard to eat in a way that is more blood sugar friendly.

Here’s how I adapt my Vietnamese dishes to make them diabetes-friendly:

- Pho : I don’t eat any of the rice noodles. I just have the soup, the meat and all the raw vegetables and herbs I can stuff into the bowl.

- Bun dishes : I only eat the meat part. I ask them to leave out the rice vermicelli and just have the meat with the vegetables and some of the sauce. The sauce has some sugar in it, but not as much sugar as in the rice vermicelli!

- Rice dishes : I eat them without rice. Yes, that gets me strange looks in Vietnamese restaurants, but I can’t eat rice and keep within blood sugar targets.

How much fruit can you eat? Test your blood sugar 2 hours after eating to find out.

Calories? Don’t count calories. Diabetes is not about calories, it’s about carbs. Learn how to count carbs.

Finally, you might have problems looking for information online because most of the information is tailored towards people living in Western countries and eating a Western-style diet. But you will never go wrong by trusting the data you get from your blood glucose meter. Your blood glucose meter will be your best friend. It will never lie to you

Paleo diet (consists mainly of meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, roots, and nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, salt, refined sugar, and processed oils.) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleo_diet)

Okinawa diet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okinawa_diet)

Plant based (Vegetarianism or Vegan)

Paleo diet is probably your best bet, but consider also that lack of grains, legumes and dairy products can cause you to be short on vitamins and minerals. Early American Colonists, who mostly lived off the paleo style diet had chronic issues with malnutrition, even though they had plenty of food. It wasn’t until the 1700s, when they again had grain and some dairy that these issues were controlled.

American indians didn’t have the same issues due to long term adaptation.

Poster Tabea, you really need to get over your issues. Pre-diabetes is recognized whether you like it or not. It has certain qualifiers, just like a diagnosis of diabetes. Can you live on no carbs at all? Yes, but not very long without constant medical attention. That is why epileptics who try that special no carb diet have to be constantly monitored or they risk dying of malnutrition.

How do you FEEL about that? Don’t you think it’s about time you feed your kids healthy foods? 1 in 3. As a parent, you have a responsibility. Buy fruits and vegetables. If you and your children are at the store and your child asks you to buy candy or soda, or Little Debbie Snacks so NO. Your child doesn’t control you! They WILL thank you for it later on. Trust me! Don’t let this statistic come true, or your children will outlive you!
haha good call. I meant that you will outlive your children.

You need to clarify here. 1 in 3 will get Diabetes but is that Type 1 or Type 2. I find many folks on here are so misinformed they have no clue what the difference is. Type 1 or juvenile diabetes is the result of damage to the pancreas thought to be from a virus the child has had. There is no prevention and no cure for this. The child will always be insulin dependent. Type 2 on the other had can include factors such as family history, weight and diet. Get the proper facts and then make statements and give statistics.

Mother of a juvenile diabetic

besides fruits and vegetables.

A broiled steak, grilled swordfish… any meat or protein type food is usually low in carbs.
Pickles are good and have no carbs. You can really eat anything you want but just have to count the carbohydrates.
If you don’t understand how a diabetes diet works, then consult a dietician.

Over the last few weeks, I have felt myself being a little thirstier than usual, but im not drinking like a fish or anything. also, once or twice a day, i feel like one of my feet have pins and needles and feel a little cold. I am 15, 5’10" and 155 so i am not fat or anything. my family has no history of diabetes, but i dont eat very well, hardly any fruits and vegetables and i drink a lot of soda. Can someone describe their onset of diabetes ie how thirsty they were and how often or if at all their feet fell asleep? thanks.

With teens, the symptoms are way more dramatic than being thirsty. There’s a lot of nausea and vomiting and a general feeling of illness and severe lethargy. The fact that you are a little thirstier than usual isn’t alarming.

and apples, and oranges, and bananas, etc.

Eat more vegetables and fruits, and eat far less fast food.

And also exercise far more and have physical education in school.

That’s what their parents should be doing. But many if not most parents would not know about the risks or how to prevent diabetes unless the information was provided. And providing good information for the welfare of the nation is the president’s job.