General Chat

Hi Julia, As you know daughter was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and I wondered if you had any tips. I have noted the skin thread by Chris but I was thinking more of recipes. e.g. I make walnut cake, I realise I can replace the sugar with candarel but in what proportion? Also my (actually my Mum's) recipe has butter cream layered in but that is butter, icing sugar and walnuts. What would be a good substitute?

Daughter mad a good shortbread using candarel instead of sugar, it was a bit more crisp but very nice. :-)

I'm just generally very careful. I have never taken sugar so that is no problem for me. Also, as mentioned before, I use LoSalt. Low fat spreads instead of best butter. Lay of the chocolates, if that applies, but don't deny altogether. Same with biscuits and cakes. Definitely no fry-up, and generally watch how you cook things.
I would have thought either her GP's or a clinic or on here, would suggest alternatives.
I just use my common sense, which has worked for me. For instance, when the weather is alot warmer, I do eat alot of salads. I don't have to count points or weigh anything out. I do eat fruit, but remember these have hidden sugars.
For me it was a case of suck and see, and it has worked.

Julia in Derbyshire

PS. High sugar and low sugar levels are both as bad. You have to maintain a balance. I never bother take a sugar reading, but they always do in hospital, especially at un Godly hours.
There is another person on here that has it too, but I don't think her daughter, also on here, or her grandson has it.

She is very intelligent and aware of medical matters as she is a underwriter and claims manager for life insurance so she does know the basics. But, knowing that you cook it was more for my benefit if I were to make the walnut cake for her. If you make a sponge for instance, whereas many people would use butter cream I wondered what you would replace it with. she doesn't eat biscuits and rarely cake and not often chocolate. She already uses light spreadable butter and very little fat, being overweight and already dieting she does have a head start. Her OH does the cooking and cooks from scratch so no problem there, uses very little salt as he had high BP. She was told not to buy diabetic chocolate.

Thanks anyway. :-)

No Ann, don't buy any Diabetic products, they are a waste of time, so I was told. I don't eat much cake myself, but the occassional piece does not do any harm. I think you are as bad burnt as scalded in that, on the odd occassion I do make cake, I rather tend to put a LITTLE Elmlee Whipping Cream in and fruit..
It really is a case of suck it and see. And, not everyone is alike.

Julia in Derbyshire

Another thing I have just thought of.
When making a stew or casserole, I never 'sweat' the meat and veggies in additional fat. Low fat helps as much as low sugar.

Julia in Derbyshire

Thank you Julia for that, very useful.

I have read about several people whose Tybe 2 diabetes was much improved by following a low-fat, low carb diet and thus losing any excess weight.

It was strange that daughter was diagnosed when she was as she has lost quite a bit of weight in the past 6 months. She was overweight but has now reduced it. She does follow a low fat/low card diet so hopefully will be able to control it. She is on medication, but I don't know what.

Ann - notice your sil probably cooks with a little salt - no need. Have not cooked with salt since Feb 1958 - how do I know? I was diagnosed with toxaemia - dau b. in April. All salt was forbidden and although I got back to salt on my food (not a lot) have never ever cooked with salt since.

Circa 1980 Lo-salt came on market - at that time only place I could buy it was Boots. Again never used any other sort since. Word of warning - friend extols
the virtues of sea salt - a few weeks ago I was able to inform her after reading an article on salt - that there is virtually no difference in sea salt or table salt - just price!!

Actually Chris I don't think he adds salt at all when cooking so i wrote that incorrectly. I never cook with salt, haven't for years and none of us add salt to our food. If I use any at all it is lo salt. Thanks anyway.

Hi Ann, not sure if your daughter is diet controlled or diet controlled and tablets, if the latter she will get free prescriptions as all diabetics are intitled to them.
( Hope that makes sense, lol )

Hi Ann, we don't do much baking for the diabetic in our family (parent) but it is a very useful question, since they have recently moved onto insulin and told to gain weight.

The canderel site
http://www.canderel.co.uk/our-range/original/cooking
says "spoon for spoon" but divide the sugar weight in a recipe by ten when baking because canderel is so light - does that mean you replace 4 oz sugar with 0.4 ounce of canderel? And does that result in a similar volume of canderel as you would end up with of sugar? I'm not a regular cook, but I thought that sugar was needed not only for taste but also for structure?

Ivy, good question, does the Canderela site have a help section?

Mummo She has been given tablets but it is early days yet and she is rather concentrating on her appointment with the oncologist next Tuesday to see if she need chemo, Radio Therapy or both for the breast cancer, the diabetes has taken a back seat although she is watchinh her diet closely.

a low fat diet is usually all you need to keep type 2 at bay.plus a tiny bit of what you fancy once in a while.x

Hi Ann,

the Q&A webpage is here

http://www.canderel.co.uk/questions-and-answers

All the best to your daughter for Tuesday, and the coming year - glad to hear that she has a support team looking out for her. My father went onto a specialist heart/diabetes ward last year - not sure if they do the same with oncology?

Edit - apologies, had promised OH would log out by now!

The best thing to do is get help from nurse at health centre . they will give her does & donts with food & diet .i was told nearly 7 yrs ago was border line type two .still not on meds & just eating sensibly .dont let it take over your life .& dont worry to much .sensible eating & as Julia says, dont buy diabetic food I was told its not worth it & can be expensive .A lot of food contains sugar !! Good luck .its a new way of eating not a diet .Take care Barbra x

Type 2 since 2002. Lasted 8 years on Diet and Exercise. Started tab's last year. Current age 71. Diabetes can be a killer! As my mate found out - and others I knew

Have some cake recipes suitable for diabetics but prob is I can take low sugar ones most women can't! ie I like fruit crumbles. For the crumble mix I use SR Wholemeal Flour, porridge oats, low fat spread and a small amount of granulated sweetener in lieu sugar. Wotever 'fruit' I use - apples, rhubarb, blackberries etc I do NOT add any sugar to said fruit. Women I know just screw their faces up when tasting it and reach for the sugar bowl. 19 year old g'son (not diabetic) just asks for more crumble!

Low fat diet - most certainly as most fats can turn to sugar! My low fat diet incls full skimmed milk. Out - pastry, crisps, fry ups, takeaways - chinese high in fats, jams, beware some tinned/boxed soups - can be very high in sugar. Bread - advised to use wholemeal. Cereals some very high sugar. I stick with one weetabix for breakfast followed by 2 rounds wholemeal toast. NB Breakfast is a must for diabetics. If have to have choccy then advised to use dark stuff withat least 70% cocoa solids but even then only a small amount in any one day

Balancing sugar levels - have to or else in trouble. ie I am advised by my diabetes nurse to eat a biscuit halfway thro my gym session as exercise lowers blood sugars as well as BP. But, come wot may I have to have mid morning/afternoon snack ie a single biscuit is OK with a cuppa.

Meals I have to eat at more or less same time every day. I can just manage to go one hour past my usual meal time but then start heading for a hypo

Her GP should be able to refer daughter to dietitian. I can arrange to see a dietitian anytime

She should be having 2 eye tests a year. One where drops administered and then back of eyes foto'd - my local hospital does that one amd a 'normal' eye test at opticians but enhanced for diabetics. VERY important eyes are so checked.

Another 'must' is annual diabetic MoT which must incl a test for feet to see if diabetic retains full feeling in soles of feet. Most people you see with missing feet/legs are usally diabetics!

A diabetic should carry emergency sugar on their person at all times ie chocolate, Dextrose or wotever. I've had to make use of mine on several occasions over the years.

Most car insurers require notification if drivers start with diabetes. Driving Licence people have to be notified in some instances - I'm not uptodate with their current requirements but they know about mine

Hope this info useful. If want cake recipes just place a post on here. I look in on GRU every few days

My OH is type 2 diabetic, his is a long story. He was first diagnosed at 36 as diabetes being the cause of his heart attack. He'd just finished a charity bike ride from John O'Groats to Lands End, having passed a full medical previous, but two days later was suffering pain in his chest which didn't go away.

So he'd been diabetic without knowing it for quite some time, causing damage to the nerve endings, and cardio-vascular disease.

He's now 54, and has just had his second amputation operation. In September he had an angioplasty, in an attempt to free up the circulation to his left foot, which was so poor they couldn't actually find a pulse. The stents failed almost immediately, and three weeks later was admitted again with gangrene in his foot. His leg was amputated to below the knee, and when well enough came home after a couple of weeks. The scar became infected but stuffing him full of antibiotics and iodine dressings saw it off, but then the stitches gave way and the wound opened right up. So three weeks ago, the leg was amputated further up, half way up the thigh. Thankfully it's healing and now it's just an ongoing battle with the council and social services to get the help he needs to be able to live as independently as possible, so he can get into the bathroom and not have to use a commode in the bedroom, a ramp outside so he can get out, etc.

He's also had a stroke caused by the diabetes related cardio vascular problems some years back.

It IS worth checking sugar levels, it helps to know which foods cause spikes in levels, etc etc. For years he wouldn't be tested regularly, but now he at least lets me do it once a day, which usually tells me if there are any foods that are toxic to him. (low fat salad cream, just a smidgen in a boiled egg sandwich will send them through the roof. cheese is a big no-no).

As for special diabetic products...complete waste of time. They are low in sugars, but loaded with other dangerous carbohydrates, and it is the carbs that do the damage. Read the labels on products, they will all say..carbohydrates....xxxg then (of which sugars) ....xxxg.

Diet need to be anything too special. Just a healthy low fat diet, swap butter for low fat spread, cut the sugars, but occasional treats are ok, they won't kill you. While he was in hospital, his levels were normal one day so they allowed him a dessert of blackcurrant and apple crumble and custard. I often make carrot cake, and he will eat a small slice. I don't make victoria sponge as he'll eat far too much of that. A small portion of vanilla ice cream has been known to pass his lips.

It's lifestyle that is key, healthy diet, quit smoking, excercise.

Diabetes is a killer, and type 2 is not worse than type 1 (insulin dependent), just different. Type 2 is often late onset. Ignoring it and not watching what you eat (barring the occasional treat), is the worse thing you can do, it will catch up with you in the end, as my OH will bear testimony to. He buried his head in the sand for so many years, and now he has just one leg, possibly could lose the other eventually, and is at high risk of heart attack or stroke that could end up being fatal. Take heed. Choosing a healthy diet is not the same as being on a fad slimming diet where you deprive yourself of anything remotely fattening. It's a case of eating more of the things you like that happen to be healthy, and much much less of the things you like that aren't, and substituting high-fat high-carb for their lower equivalents. It's about adjustment, not complete change.

diabetic chocolate bork
it tastes like LIKE LIKE (well it does)

i am diabetic
but i still have chocolate sometimes real chocolate
its all about moderation not depriving yourself

thank you TW and Ronald, some very good advice there. I am confident that her diet is very good and not just since she has heard she is diabetic, she does a fair bit of exercise, walking mainly. She is 50. Like I said, has the breast cancer to tackle first, although is on medication for diabetes and watching her diet, diabetes will get the full treatment after breast cancer sorted.
It was definitely a double whammy.