Nutrition for Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes

Been diagnosed with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes? It can be super scary, especially if you're not 100% sure what diabetes is and how it affects the body. That's okay, I'm glad you're here on this webpage and looking for advice from a diabetes dietitian. With a targeted nutrition approach, you might actually be able to reverse your diabetes or prediabetes if you act now.
As a registered dietitian and diabetes nutrition expert, I can help you understand your diagnosis, set up a personalised nutrition plan, and help you get back into the safe zone. I want to help you get off your medications, have more energy, and live a longer, healthier life with the people you love.
What does personalised nutrition advice for prediabetes or type 2 diabetes involve?
Assessment
Working with your latest blood results, we can determine any contributing nutritional factors to your prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, work with any medications your doctor has prescribed, and understand any other health risks you have which we can address using food and nutrition.
Nutrition Diagnosis
From here I will determine your nutrition diagnosis/es to help us develop a targeted nutrition strategy. Often times people with prediabetes or diabetes have multiple nutrition diagnoses, as it can go hand in hand with increased weight, high cholestrol, and high blood pressure.
Intervention
We can make meaningful changes to your diet and lifestyle that are achieveable for you and your whanau. Often times it will involve a focus on carbohydrates in food, salt and fat intake, exercise, and mindful eating. Understanding your medications and how they work is also key to managing your blood glucose levels.
Monitoring and Evaluation
We want to know that your diet and lifestyle changes are working. Regular monitoring of your HbAlc is a good way to see if our nutritional strategy is effective. Checking in with a registered dietitian or nutritionist for diabetes will help keep you on track.

Don't Wait For It To Get Better. Be Pro-active About Your Health.

It’s easy to feel discouraged when you get a medical diagnosis. However, there is so much you can do to make it better. Make sure you speak to a dietitian or nutritionist and get back on track. Here at Mobile Dietitian, you can get personalised nutrition support. If you have health insurance, check to see what policies they have in place for nutrition consults. Often times if you have a referral from your GP or a specialist, you can get reimbursed for your consults.
book a consult
Finances are a bit difficult right now?
There are some free services available offering group sessions to help with healthy eating and diabetes self-management. Check with your GP to see what is available for you and your whanau and current eligibility criteria.
What are Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes?
Prediabetes is what you get before a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. It means that you have slightly more sugar (glucose) in your blood than usual. A healthy body needs to maintain blood glucose levels within a certain range. When we need it, the body produces a hormone called insulin, which takes glucose from the blood into body cells so it can be used for energy. In prediabetes, your body is showing signs of the insulin not working as well as it should. The glucose levels in your blood start to rise. Some people can get symptoms of this, including:
  • Urinating more than usual
  • Getting very hungry or thirsty
  • Feeling tired
  • Issues with their vision
With diet and lifestyle changes (and sometimes medication), you might be able to bring your blood sugar back down to safe levels. Some people go on to develop type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes is diagnosed if your HbAlc is equal to- or above 50mmol/mol. As well as symptoms of prediabetes, you might also experience weight loss. However, this is not good weight loss. It means that your body cells are not getting enough energy, as the glucose is staying in your blood. High blood glucose levels are very damaging to your body and can cause problems with your kidneys, eyes, legs and feet. High blood sugar levels can also damage your brain. Even if you have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, it's never too late to do something about your diet and lifestyle. Many people are able to reduce their blood glucose levels and no longer require medication. It's important to get dietary and lifestyle support early, so you have a better chance of reversing your diabetes, or reducing the risk of complications.
Your doctor might ask you to get a blood test to check your HbAlc. This is the measure of glucose in your blood over the last few months. A normal HbAlc result is less than 41mmol/mol. If your HbAlc is between 41- 49mmol/mol, it means that you have prediabetes.