Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes: Where to Start

Dr. Jedha, Host

Hello there, Dr Jedha here and thanks for joining me for episode 46. If you’re listening to this, chances are you’ve just received a new type 2 diabetes diagnosis. And let me just say right up that it’s normal to feel scared, overwhelmed and lost. Thankfully, you’re in the right place here right now, and after listening to this podcast, you will feel a whole lot better and know where to begin in turning your health around. 

As I said, it’s normal to feel scared, overwhelmed and lost. You may also feel grief and sadness and it’s perfectly fine to feel a whole range of other emotions as well. Receiving any type of diagnosis can be overwhelming. For many people, a diabetes diagnosis can come as a shock. Often people hear of the diagnosis when they are at the doctor for something else. And unfortunately doctors often deliver the news in an unsympathetic and clinical way. Even worse is being told your health will decline, that you can’t reverse it and left with no hope. This happens a lot, unfortunately. 

Geraldine was told by her doctor that it would be unlikely for her to reverse the condition and that changing one’s lifestyle is very difficult to do. She received no guidance or support for making positive changes. She was given no hope but instead left feeling completely lost.

Dean shared that his doctor told him his health was destined to get progressively worse, he’d go on more and more medications, eventually have to take insulin and ultimately die from the disease. I mean, how horrifying that is, to hear something like this!

I’m sorry if you’ve found yourself in a similar situation. It shouldn’t be that way. And I’m here to reassure you that there is hope and you can reverse your condition, you can change your lifestyle, you can improve your health. Dean who I just spoke of has reversed his diabetes and is now medication free after living with type 2 diabetes for 20 years. You can listen to his story in episode 31. The point to make here is that Dean has been living with type 2 diabetes for 20 years. You’re newly diagnosed and so the sooner you take action, the better.  

Before we dig into the first steps to take, let me just share one word of warning. You may feel desperate for information, that’s normal too. Let me just say that you will read a lot of conflicting information out on the ‘wild west web’ so make sure you’re careful. There is A LOT of misinformation, outdated information, and just plain bad information. Just keep this in mind as you look around. I think sometimes this can make it even more difficult, confusing and overwhelming. The point I’m trying to make is, find a trusted source of information like this podcast or our website over at DMP and follow the recommendations step-by-step. Take things one step at a time, and remember that you don’t have to have all the answers right away so please give yourself permission to process the diagnosis and take things in. 

What we’re going to cover today are the first key steps to take to start turning your type 2 diabetes health around. We’ll discuss how to monitor your blood sugar levels after meals and why this is so important, how focusing on reducing sugar and carbohydrate intake will help you lower your blood sugar, weight and avoid or reduce medications, and we’ll cover practical steps for improving your diet and nutrition. By the end of this episode, you’ll have a clear understanding of where to begin and how to take control of your health.

So what is type 2 diabetes?

Type 2 diabetes is a condition that affects the way your body metabolizes sugar (glucose). In type 2 diabetes, your body resists the effects of insulin — a hormone that regulates the movement of sugar into your cells. Imagine insulin as a key that unlocks your cells, but then the key breaks or doesn’t fit the lock, so it stops working. This is known as insulin resistance and is the most common cause of all diabetes. In some cases, the body doesn’t produce enough insulin to maintain normal glucose levels, though that’s not as common.

Type 2 diabetes can have a strong genetic predisposition, so if there is a history in your family, you could be at higher risk of getting type 2 diabetes. For most people, type 2 diabetes is predominantly a result of insulin resistance, which develops slowly due to unhealthy diet, weight gain, stress, physical inactivity, environmental factors, and potentially other factors too.

With type 2 diabetes you may need medication and sometimes insulin may be required, but you can avoid medication and you can also reduce and stop medication once you start taking it. You do not necessarily have to keep taking medication forever. We know because we’ve helped many people reduce and stop meds, with our natural treatment approach.

To resolve any confusion, blood glucose and blood sugar, these terms are the same. And of course, blood sugar is an important thing. Our body is meant to have blood sugar in a certain range to keep us in the best health because when glucose accumulates in our blood, when it’s higher than normal, it can lead to a variety of health issues, both immediately and over time. Now, I don’t want you to get scared about the consequences but it is important to be aware of the fact that complications can develop IF your blood sugar stays high. That’s why it’s so important to focus on getting your blood sugar levels down into the healthy range and keeping them there. 

So let’s just briefly cover blood sugar numbers here. There are two types of tests that can help you with your diabetes, daily monitoring done via a finger prick glucose monitor or by using a continuous glucose monitor. And the hemoglobin A1c, also known as HbA1c or A1c. A1c is a blood test ordered by your doctor and done by pathology and it’s usually tested every 3-4 months. This test measures the average amount of sugar on your blood from the previous 3-4 month period and it gives you and your doctor a good overview of how your overall diabetes management is going. But by using a monitor to measure your daily levels, you can use work to lower your A1c. What you want to focus on here is your blood sugar levels after meals. Time from your first bite of food and then test your levels two hours after your meal. You want your levels to measure below 140 mg/dl or 7.8 mmol/l. If you do that, it means you will be keeping your blood sugar in the normal range and that will bring your A1c down. Your doctor might say monitor morning blood sugar levels but that’s confusing, and you will make better progress with lowering your A1c if you focus on measuring your after meal blood sugar, which is also called postprandial blood sugar. You want your levels to be below 140 mg/dl or 7.8 mmol/l. 

To bring your blood sugar levels down and start reversing your diabetes, the first place to focus on is improving your diet and nutrition. Nutrition is the number one most powerful natural treatment strategy. The food you eat is very powerful, as it can help you reverse your diabetes so your body is functioning normally – normal blood sugar, cholesterol, liver function, blood pressure, digestive function – yes, all these things can be improved as they are all connected!

The thing is, while medication can be helpful, depending on medication alone is not a great option because if you have to take more and more medication, it indicates your diabetes is getting worse. On the other hand, if you focus on improving your nutrition, you can stop your diabetes getting worse, and reduce or eliminate your medication. 

One of the easiest places to start by improving your diet is by cutting down or cutting out processed and packaged foods that are high in ‘added sugar.’ Think: soft drinks, candy, baked goods like cookies and cakes, and breakfast cereals. These foods all spike blood sugar higher than necessary, so by cutting them out or at least cutting them down, you’ll be seeing better numbers right away. 

Then you want to focus on the carbohydrates in your meals. There are a lot of terms out there, so just to be clear: Carbohydrates are sugars, sugars are carbohydrates. Both carbohydrates and sugars break down to glucose in the bloodstream. Carbohydrate foods have a direct influence on blood sugar and A1c. And what you want to do is focus on cutting out or cutting down on very high carb foods. These are called ‘starches’ and include things like pasta, noodles, rice, bread, oats, wheat products and starchy vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn. If you can start by reducing these foods you will be well on your way to improving your blood sugar levels. 

I want to give you some practical insight into this so let’s look at pasta and imagine you’re eating a spaghetti bolognese. A half a cup serving of pasta is around 20 grams of carbs, but most people won’t eat a small bowl of just half a cup, they’ll eat a lot more, so a medium sized plate of spaghetti bolognese would contain around 50-60 grams of carbohydrates – that’s a lot of carbs for one meal. That 60 grams of carbohydrate is going to break down into glucose/sugar and influence your blood sugar levels. If you switch that pasta out and put your pasta sauce over a bed of stir fried vegetables or some soy spaghetti, you’re going to still have a deliciously satisfying meal, a more nutritious meal and a much lower amount of carbohydrates in the meal, around 16 grams. 

Now to help you get started on this stuff, go and download our recommended food list. You can grab a free copy at Type2DiabetesTalk.com/foodlist and it will show you the types of foods that are higher in carbohydrate and are best to avoid or minimize, and also the types of foods to focus on eating every day. That’s Type2DiabetesTalk.com/foodlist

Our recommendation is to have no more than 100 grams of carbohydrates each day. The 100 grams a day carbs does not go by the weight of food, what we’re talking about is the carbohydrate content in a food.  For example if you cut 6 slices of a cucumber and weighed them on some kitchen scales, they’d weigh about 100 grams. Clearly no one can live off 6 slices of cucumber. So we’re talking about the carbohydrate content in a food. A cucumber for example, has very little carbohydrate content, about 2g per half a cup, while something like pasta has around 20g for half a cup. 

To begin getting your head around this, grab a free copy of our recommended food list at Type2DiabetesTalk.com/foodlist. 

When I say cut out pasta, noodles, rice, bread, oats, wheat products, potatoes and corn, you might be thinking, what on earth am I going to eat? I understand, at first this might sound like you will be able to eat nothing. But believe me when I say there are PLENTY of things to eat. You’ve just got to get to know a new way of eating, and anyone can do it – even you! 

One key step you can take to reduce all those high carbohydrate foods is to increase your intake of vegetables! 

Let’s look at an example nutritious daily eating plan:

Breakfast: switch out the boxed breakfast cereal and incorporate avocado, tomato, baby spinach and mushrooms in an omelet, frittata or egg muffins. Frittatas and egg muffins can be cooked ahead for a grab-n-go breakfast and eaten cold or reheated.

Lunch: opt for a chicken and salad sandwich or a sandwich wrap layered with lettuce, tomato, beetroot, onion, grated carrot and sliced onion, choosing a breads or wraps with lower amounts of carbohydrate and higher amounts of fiber. So yes, you can still have bread but you need to choose wisely. Another really easy lunch idea is to grab a rotisserie chicken and some packs of ready-made salad, combine together for a quick and easy lunch. 

Dinner: skip the rice or pasta for a beef and vegetable stew fry, stew or casserole; or at the very least include a tasty side of vegetables alongside your beef, chicken, fish or choice of meat-free protein. To save time you can purchase pre-chopped and pre-packaged vegetables and you can do simple things like mix through a pesto and some parmesan cheese for a quick and tasty side dish.  

These are just a few ideas to get started but trust me there are still plenty of delicious meals to be had, and best of all, once you start making changes you’re going to feel so much better. I just want you to get started somewhere. Start building changes into one meal and work from there. 

Nutrition is going to be the number one thing that will reverse your diabetes. If you need to lose a bit of weight then nutrition is going to make this possible. In fact, following our guidelines and our food list will help you shift the weight easily. Listen to episode 7 and 36 where Wilma shares her 79 pound weight loss. Losing weight does help to reverse your diabetes. 

Exercise can help too of course, as this increases cellular sensitivity to insulin throughout the body and this helps lower blood sugar. But exercise is secondary to your diet and nutrition, so if you can’t exercise for some reason don’t be worried about that, just focus on your diet and nutrition. 

Then look at other aspects of your life such as stress and getting good quality sleep, as these things will be important to your health and wellbeing. 

And of course, take your medication as prescribed by your doctor. But as I said earlier, being on medication doesn’t mean you need to take medication forever. When your blood sugar levels are stable at 7 or below, then you can have conversations with your doctor to reduce the medications. Listen back to episode 18 on deprescribing medications for guidance around that and having that conversation with your doctor. 

So, as we wrap up today’s episode, I want to leave you with a few key takeaways. First and foremost, remember that it’s okay to feel a range of emotions after your diagnosis. Acknowledge those feelings and give yourself the time and space to process them.

Remember, there is hope and you can improve your health. We’ve seen it happen with many people, including Dean, who reversed his diabetes after 20 years. You’re newly diagnosed, and the sooner you take action, the better.

Be cautious about the information you find online. Stick to trusted sources like this podcast or our website over at DMP. There’s a lot of misinformation out there, and it’s important to follow recommendations that are evidence-based and reliable so you know you can effectively improve your health.

To start reversing your diabetes in the opposite direction, focus on these key areas first:

Monitor your blood sugar levels after meals. You want to measure your blood sugar levels two hours after eating to ensure they are below 140 mg/dl or 7.8 mmol/l. If your levels are above 140 or 7.8 you need to make some food changes. Monitoring will help you understand how different foods affect your blood sugar and guide you in making better food choices. 

Reduce sugar and carbohydrate intake. Begin by cutting down on processed and packaged foods high in added sugars, and high sugar drinks as well, including fruit juice. Focus on reducing high-carbohydrate foods like pasta, rice, bread, and potatoes. Increase your intake of vegetables throughout the day. These are simple steps you can take today and improve on day by day, meal by meal. 

Nutrition is the most powerful natural treatment strategy for diabetes and will help you lower blood sugar levels to normal, support weight loss and help you avoid or reduce medications, so focus your attention on improving your nutrition. 

Get started by grabbing a free copy of our recommended food list at Type2DiabetesTalk.com/foodlist. I’d also recommend listening back to episode 6, where we covered what to eat to treat diabetes. And if you’d like to make it all much easier, consider joining us as a member. Our members’ site really is a one stop shop for everything you need to reverse your diabetes naturally and I’m so proud to be supporting so many people to improve their health. 

Most importantly, stay positive and take it one step at a time. You can do this!

Dr Jedha, over and out.