Breakfast.

Im going through a period of changing my diet to suit my health condition (T2 diabetes)

With a recent report saying the NHS health plate is wrong in its recommendations of foodgroups that actually promote food that increases blood glucose, rather than lessen it i am finding breakfast hard to get my day off to a good start.

So fruit, bread etc are off the menu, any suggestions from folks would be welcolme.

Re: Breakfast.

Nom matey, I'm T2 Diabetic too, but yet I eat a good breakfast - sometimes a full 'fry up', but more often toast, butter & marmalade (and not the diabetic variety either). I have swopped from white to wholemeal bread though and yet, despite the sugar content in the marmalade, still manage to keep blood sugar within tolerance levels.

Re: Breakfast.

I wouldn't expect the NHS for a second to understand or publish the intricacies of differnt breads. So I will say to you what I say to most on this forum. There is bread, and there is real bread.

Supermarket bread is just an unhealthy mass of poor ingredients forced quickly through the bread making cycle.
Diabetics generally have to avoid it because of its effect on blood sugar levels.

Real breads however are different, especially sourdoughs, by which I mean real sourdoughs not the fraudulent mislabelled "sourdoughs" in supermarkets.

Sourdoughs and many other artisan breads go through long fermentation times, anthing from 4 hrs to 24 hrs. During that fermentation of the dough the wild yeasts reproduce/multiply and as a by product create cardon dioxide and ethanol/acetic acid which give the bread its sour tangy flavour.

This acetic acid element is good for diabetics. It helps regulate blood sugar levels.

Therefore you CAN imho still have bread in the morning but you have to get the real thing, not supermarket plastic bread. The bread MUST be long fermented. Find an artisan bakery and get your bread from there or bite the bullet and learn to make it yourself. I make it all the time and it takes about 15 mins of my time to make a loaf. Really easy.

You can also be more discerning about what flours are in your breads.

Spelt flour should be ok for you because it is digested slowly according to reports.

Rye flour also good. 100% rye breads like pumpernickel should be fine I think, though they aren't really breakfast breads.

Fibre is vitally important to your diet. Fibre stops sugars from being metabolised quickly. That's why fruit juices are a killer (for everyone). They are all of the fruit's sugars and none of the fibre so when you drink fruit juice the sugars get converted immediately and unless you're an athelete, your body has no immediate use for the energy produced so stores it away as fat.

Fibre stops this. It makes the metabolism of sugars a long process. So the energy is released bit by bit over time and thus DOES get used by your body as you walk around, do work etc etc. That's why sports players eat bananas. Lots of fibre which means the energy they provide is spread over a period of time.

You need to be very savvy about what things you buy.

Packets of All Bran and Bran Flakes may sound healthy because of that fibre element but in fact those cereals are loaded with sugar. So are just about all cereals found in the supermarket. The exceptions are 100% shredded wheat and porridge oats. Always always check the sugar content on the labels of products.

Shredded wheat provides about 12g of fibre per 100g.

Bananas provide about 3g of fibre per 100g.

So, I'd say you could have a bowl of shredded wheat with chopped banana on top and maybe some other good fruit too. Yes there's a little sugar in the fruit but the presence of good fibre content means your blood sugar levels will not spike.

Choose almond milk to go with it rather than normal milk. You will hardly notice the taste difference and there are no carbs in almond milk.

So there are 2 very tasty breakfast options.

Good proper sourdough bread and a bowl of fibre rich cereal with nutritious fruits inc bananas.

Obviously check everything for your personal circumstances.

Re: Breakfast.

Thanks Realist, this has been prompted by a change ive went through recently, i have totally lost my taste for bread of any kind, i dont like the texture of it this has come on suddenly and bread formed an important part of my diet diminishing for a while.

Re: Breakfast.

I'm not diabetic but I can tell you that porridge is very satisfying and it's easy to get used to without sugar.

Delicious ..and slow energy release.

Re: Breakfast.

Presumably this is a side effect or by product of one or more treatments you have had. Regardless, your body still needs its fuel no matter what you think you like or dislike.

It's a curious thing I find. People say "I like this", "I hate that" but the truth is your body loves it regardless. It's all fuel.

Do you perceive a difference between YOU and your body? Or do you see them as one and the same thing?

Re: Breakfast.

Protein is the way to go

Couple of eggs and a rasher is quick

I also love kippers with poached egg. I use the tinned kippers, not cheap but oh so good

Re: Breakfast.

Nom I am also diabetic but nobody has ever suggested that I shouldn't eat fruit.
Do you just take Metformin or have they put you on insulin injections?

I have insulin and eat egg on toast for breakfast & they now say that eggs are good.

Have a look at this site....

https://www.everydayhealth.com/type-...-for-diabetes/

It may be helpful and, if you get what you eat right, it will certainly help with your blood sugar levels.
If you can't find the right answers ask if you can see a dietician because they can offer good advice, especially on how to work out the carbohydrate level of what you eat.

Everybody will offer advice, but unless they have experience of diabetes, the help they offer may not be good!

Re: Breakfast.

There was an episode of the Food Programme on Radio Four discussing the conflicting advice from The Heart Foundation and Diabetes UK. The former advocates a decrease in fats and an increase in carbs to combat heart disease, and the latter says to decrease carbs to prevent type II diabetes.

The eating of fewer carbs argument was illustrated by the massive increase in obesity despite the modern trend of eating low-fat products and the rise in diabetes. I followed the `heart diet` as advocated by my GP (who must have been at least a size 18 ) whereby two-thirds of your plate should be made up of carbs. This info made me gain weight and caused me to be type II diabetic which resulted in me having to take Metformin and statins (Realist's pharma conspiracy? ). I've since changed my diet and reduced my carbs greatly, so no bread apart from the odd thin slice off a small wholemeal loaf), boiled rice around once a week served with high-protein foods such as pork and chicken, ditto pasta and perhaps a few new potatoes. A high-fibre no sugar cereal (shredded wheat or oat bran) I have maybe twice a week with semi-skimmed milk. The other carbs are contained in veg and fruit, and guess what? The weight has dropped off my.

My breakfast usually comprises bacon, egg, mushrooms and tomatoes with the occasional slice of black pudding - all high protein which stops me getting hungry for a large part of the day whereas with a cereal breakfast I'm hungry again after two hours or so.

My sugar levels have returned to normal averaging 4.1mmol

Re: Breakfast.

What cereal would that be? Most are laden with sugars which would explain the crash and snack attacks.