im new and would welcome so input

[Newmarket1]

im type 2 insulin dependent diabetic aged 57. I had a heart attack 8 days ago and stent inserted. now home and starting rehab...one of my frustrations is diet and what i can cannot should shouldnt eat..im catering ( no punintended) for two health problems here and am all at sea...and i would really like some guidance and a glass of red wine !

[080311]

Hello Newmarket1

Welcome to the forum, a lot of us here follow the Mediterranean diet recommend by BHF, it’s a very easy diet to follow and if you go onto the BHF web site you will find lots of info and recipes.

We have lots of different heart issues on the forum, I have had an Aortic valve replaced and bypass done 4 years ago, so well on the heart mended road. We have quite a few who are also insulin dependent as well. Remember your not alone you now belong to this merry band of Hearties 😂 if you need to talk or even vent there will always be someone to listen and if you just need a shoulder to lean on we are here for that too.

Life sometimes just pulls the rug from under our feet but life does go on .

Wishing you a great recovery Pauline

[Newmarket1 in reply to 080311]

tyvm

[SpiritoftheFloyd]

Hello and welcome

I had a heart attack/cardiac arrest in December 2018, and was diagnosed with type 2 at that time, so I totally understand where you're coming from as regards diet. I started out worrying about healthy diets and then got my type 2 confirmed with a follow up blood test, so I was just sitting there saying to myself WHAT can I eat!

As Pauline has said the Mediterranean Diet is what most of us try to stick to. I'm doing that and also removing a lot of the stuff I used to eat - first off - no salt or sugar in the house, removed all processed meat from diet so no more cooked breakfasts, now only very rarely eat red meat and have replaced it with fish in the main, also now cook meals from scratch, no longer buy any ready made meals. Also cut back drastically on the sweat stuff - loved cakes. chocolate and anything sweat - now have the odd cake or choc as a treat but not everyday like I used to.

It's a horrible dilemma to start with, going from eating anything without thinking about to trying to get your head around eating differently. It did take me a while to get used to it, but I do feel I'm getting there, not there yet, have the odd lapse. Would recommend a good book - The Low-Carb Diabetes Cookbook by Dr David Caven & Emma Porter which has some great ideas that (a) don't take all day to make, and (b) you don't have to be Heston Blumenthal to be able to make these meals.

[Newmarket1 in reply to SpiritoftheFloyd]

SotF thats really helpful..med food is fine by me. We always cook from scratch and eat a lot of fish..i love(d) all those things u mentioned juicy steak ,cream, bacon, salami, chocolate main vices but not into cakes sweets biscuits fizzy drinks so thats going to be really hard on one hand less of issue on other..i like wild game too which i believe is better venison pheasant duck partridge and so on so i hope i dont have to forego all that too. I not a fan of rice and pasta but like lentils and chick peas and so on so that wont be hard for me. I will check out the book suggestion....i shall miss hestons egg and bacon ice cream

[pjw17]

Hello Newmarket 1,

I had a HA in May and a stent fitted. I mainly now have white meat and fish and maybe red meat once a week if that, I dont have cakes, crisps etc anymore resulting in losing 8 or 9 kilos!

When I first spoke to my GP about diet I asked about going out for occasional curry and a few pints, his quote was "life is for living", as long as you don't overdo it.

Re. alcohol I don't drink pints anymore I have bottled lager or non alcohol if we go out.

There is always someone on here to help, good luck.

[Ianc2]

Have a look at chappychaps most recent reply in the next post below. Have you had a look on the diabetes.co.uk site? If you look on the LCHF subsection you will find some interesting reading as well. You have not mentioned your weight and your exercise patterns ?

[Newmarket1 in reply to Ianc2]

100 kilos 6 foot tall exercise limited to gardening dog walking swimming in summer..not a gym bunny !

[Ianc2]

Your BMI is about 29.8 border line obese (30). If you can get your weight down 83 kg you will be just inside your BMI normal range and you might just find that your diabetes goes into remission. Have a look on diabetes. co.uk for further information.

As PJW17 said -

lose the cakes, the crisps, the biscuits, the chips and cut right back on the bread. Have a look at your waistline. At 6 foot it should be about 36 inches. If it is above this , diet is part of the answer. Exercise is the other part; get yourself exercise tracker or an app , shock your dog and extend your walks so that get a nice brisk mile in on your morning walk, about 20 minutes , and the same again in the evening.

I am 75. There are 3 big risk factors for covid :

1. Age

2. Over weight as in obese

3. Diabetes.

Can't do much about my age - but I can do something about the other 2. So can you.