Diet woes with Type 2 Diabetes. Too many conflicting diets.

@denny2019 Welcome to Mayo Connect. My name is Carol and I am a Diabetic 2. I am 75 years old and was diagnosed a little over three years ago. It came out of the blue and I had no idea I was sick. I knew nothing about diabetes, so I had to start from scratch and research and read everything I could find. My PCP doesn't know anything about diabetes, so she is no help. I had no symptoms. I live in a small town with one endocrinologist, who has since retired so now I am on my own. I found out from the beginning that there are foods that are acceptable and those that are not. I do not take any medication but try to control with diet. A dietician can help you plan your menus, if you have access to one. There is no one perfect diet for all diabetics; we are all different. It depends on age, activity, food preferences, and other health conditions. I had to experiment after I knew how many carbs per meal and how many calories and other numbers in my blood panel. This can tell you about potassium and other levels of vitamins and minerals. Since you know your A1C, you are in between what the American Assoc. of Endocrinologists (say 6.) and the American Diabetes Association (say 7.) is diabetic. I have had to make my own menus, based on what works with my situation . I have never had a dr. tell me to follow a fad diet. There is no easy fix, as you know. Diabetes needs a healthy, balanced menu. Once you find what works and what doesn't, it's easier to deal with meals. Let me know, if you want more information. Can you see a dietician? Did your dr. suggest what you could do?
Carol

Denny, most people hate working with diets, but I was always a nutrition freak since I raised my own garden. I really didn't want to write things down, so I started with food that I knew from reading on the web that I should not bring into the house. That made it so much easier. Then I thought about food that I really liked to cook and eat and looked up the glycemic index on some of them to see what was the best to eat. The lower, the better, but I had to remember that I eat too much, being on the farm with big meals for years. I picked a few no-no's to not eat, like white potatoes, potato chips, cookies and cake, except for carrot cake which is a vegetable, my son says. I decided to keep my bedtime milk because I get to sleep better. I eat whole wheat pasta once a month.
One piece of whole grain toast gets me by to eat with eggs, if I fix them. I can eat a wonderful lean hamburger with no bread if I have tomato, lettuce, etc.
I eat lots of veggies and some fruit, and I eat nuts and high fiber foods like prunes or dates if needed. Yes, I went to a nutritionist who taught me to count carbs and I did that for a while. I lost weight for a while and then it stopped. Not enough exercise. I am always trying new foods from the produce department, fresh and raw or sautéed with sweet onions and maybe a few shrimp. Maybe some mushrooms. Garlic makes it taste good. I don't count much anymore. If I test at night and it is high, I know to not overdo the next day. Balanced meals are essential. Learn that from the Mayo Diet book. Do not eat a sweet at 4:00 pm. thinking it is a nice snack. Eat protein at every meal if possible, with veggies and maybe some fruit. Eating new foods is fun. Dorisena

Thanks so very much for your help. I will check with my PCP to refer me to a diabetic dietitian. I will post how i am doi n g in a few weeks.

Thanks so much for the wonderful advice. I feel like detailing my diet will be the best way to go. I have a blood sugar of 116 after 8 hours of sleep and 164 2 hours after dinner. I will keep you informed of my progress. Thanks again. Sincerely Denny

Diet woes can apply to anyone of us, with or without diabetes diagnosis. I want to commend all of you for your proactive approach to controlling diabetes. Because my medications have a warning about possibility of diabetes, I have been following many of the healthy eating discussions as a guide for my own foods. For me, it's not always easy to follow a meal plan day after day because I run out of ideas.

I have found ideas in - https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/recipes
There is a Diabetes meal plan with healthy meal planning recipes and each recipe includes a Nutritional analysis per serving and a Diabetes Meal Plan Choices reference. You can open it by clicking on: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/recipes/diabetes-meal-plan-recipes/rcs-20077150

@rosemarya Now, that's a neat list! Does Mayo have one for CKD, or, even better, a combined CKD/diabetes list? I find I can't keep both lists in my memory bank, so I'm constantly having to Google different dietary items. Will print out the diabetes plan and cross out no-nos!!! Thanks so much!

@rosemarya Thanks, Rosemary, for posting the link to the Diabetes meal plan and info for what to eat. I was hurried and forgot to add that to my reply. I bought the book and it has two weeks of meals and snacks. From that a "new" diabetic can get a good idea of the variety that is available and try different combinations. It is more for different meals than I thought when I was first diagnosed. It really is a healthy eating plan for anyone. It works for my husband's heart too. And, the adjustments keep meals from being boring.
Carol

@denny2019 Hi Denny, and welcome to Connect.
You have some great ideas here from @retiredteacher, @dorisena and @rosemarya -- thanks for that link, Rosemary.
I have nothing to add in the diet area but I think you might want to increase your exercise. I generally exercise three times a week in the water -- a 45 minute water aerobics class followed by another 45 minutes of water jogging. On three other days, I go to the gym at my health club and start with either the treadmill or elliptical and then do some of the weight equipment. I spend at least an hour in the gym. Recently I have been out of commission due to a femur fracture but I am now getting back to it. When I don't get to my health club I ride my recumbent bike at home for somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes. I try to go at least 7 miles.
The recumbent bike is a very good exercise if you have some resistance and spend enough time on it, plus you can watch TV while doing it to distract yourself from the exercise. Sometimes I end up going longer than intended because I want to see the end of a TV show!
I do not follow any specific diet but if I did I think I would check out the Mediterranean diet because it's supposed to be heart friendly too.
JK

@contentandwell I dropped the ball on this post; thanks for picking up the pieces to you and @rosemarya for adding what I omitted. Of course since I no longer have an exercise routine, I didn't say that exercise is a part of the program: food and exercise, and I probably forgot something else. I have been distracted without a dr. and things seem wrong, but I hope to figure out a way to get right again. I know my feet will not be well again, so that remains a problem. I have a friend who takes turmeric; she told me I should try it and see. I wonder if that would help at all. I don't have a dr. to ask. So I probably should not post any more answers until I can get myself straight again.
I am so grateful to have other Mentor cyber friends who pick up the slack.
Thank you so much.
Carol

@retiredteacher Carol, I am still hoping that you find something that will give you some help with your neuropathy. Tonight I saw another post about CBD helping, this time it was ingesting it. When you see a doctor you could ask if that is something that would be OK for you, and certainly I am sure that the topical would be OK to use - if it’s ok for me I just figure it must be OK for most people, but that too should be checked with your doctor. If you no longer have a doctor you do need to find one of course.
JK