Prediabetes & Diabetes

Prediabetes? What is this? Prediabetes is a condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be classified as type 2 diabetes. This stage is a warning sign that you’re at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Typically, prediabetes does not present noticeable symptoms, making it crucial to monitor blood glucose levels through regular health check-ups. Lifestyle changes such as a healthy diet, regular exercise, and maintaining a healthy weight can help manage and reduce the risk of progressing to type 2 diabetes Shocking Statistic: 1 in every 2 people have prediabetes in the UK.   Risk Factors Obesity A first-degree relative with diabetes Ethnicity: South Asian, Chinese, African-Caribbean and black African. Increasing age The area where someone lives – lower-income groups Presentation Patients with raised blood sugars also known as “impaired glucose tolerance” usually have no symptoms This rise in blood sugars can be after fasting and after eating The risk for cardiovascular disease may be present even with a small rise in blood sugars. These risks include hypertension (high blood pressure), obesity, dyslipidemia (high cholesterol, etc.), and macrovascular diseases such as stroke, coronary disease, or peripheral vascular disease Testing for prediabetes This is either having a fasting plasma glucose test or an HbA1c test, both are used to diagnose type 2 diabetes or prediabetes. The following results indicate the presence of prediabetes: Fasting plasma glucose: 6.0 mmol/L to 6.9 mmol/L HbA1c: 42 to 47 mmol/mol (6.0 to 6.4%) If your results are above the upper limits for prediabetes, your GP may either diagnose you with type 2 diabetes or take another test to confirm whether you have diabetes. If you have symptoms of diabetes but have an HbA1c of below 42 mmol/mol (6.0%), you may be given an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). If you are diagnosed with prediabetes, your doctor should clearly set out the steps you need to take to lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Can I stop prediabetes from developing into type 2 diabetes? YES!!!  The good news is that cases of prediabetes that are identified early on can be reversed, preventing them from progressing into full-blown type 2 diabetes. Each year in the UK, 5% to 10% of people diagnosed with prediabetes go on to develop type 2 diabetes. The two principal factors for consideration are: Making changes to your diet and Appropriate physical exercise to your lifestyle By making these changes, blood sugar levels can be returned to normal. At 121 Dietitian we help people daily by improving their blood sugar control improving their health and well-being. If you have been diagnosed by your GP with prediabetes then please do not hesitate to book a program to reverse your chances of going on to developing type 2 diabetes. If you do have a diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes and need advice with your diet and health we would be delighted to assist you also. Book Prediabetes Programme Book Diabetes Programme

Hashimoto’s and me – part 2…

For me I could not imagine how I would be coping if I had not been able to recover my health after my Hashimoto’s Hypothyroidism diagnosis. Well sorry for the very long pause, things always happen when you least expect them. My mother who is disabled with MS was in a car accident and badly broke her leg in June. This meant all my extra time outside of work and family was directed at her care and attention and to keep her mentally strong. It is an ongoing slow process but she is getting there. To get to the level I am at now did take a big decision as I was, pre 2010, not an ‘elimination of foods’  Dietitian! My motto was to increase food choice and enhance variety in all my patients diets (obviously not those with allergies and specific ill health but the people who required help with healthy eating). The big leap was that I removed gluten from my diet, and I can only say I am happy I did. My symptoms like constipation and skin irritation did not change greatly but I knew it was scientifically worth the change – even if removal was to prove it was the wrong path, I could save my patients from  possibly making the decision. It is 2 years since I made the change and I am continuing with this. I feel the scientific evidence is there and unfolding at present there is not enough research written up and so I will continue this route while I await further results to unfold. If you are unsure of how to change your eating habits, or need help optimising the foods you eat please do contact us. We would love to help you or your family and friends with any nutrition related queries big or small. In the meantime do please check out our 121Dietitian Shop If you have enjoyed this blog we would love you to share this with your family and friends on your social media channels. Why not visit our YouTube Channel for more on keeping your health optimal. How can a Dietitian help Book a consultation via our Online Portal About Gillian Killiner  Check out our tailored dietary programmes Gillian x [instagram-feed] Information checked & correct on 16th May 2018.

Hashimoto’s and me……. Part 1

I have been planning to write about Hashimoto’s Hypothyroidism for quite some time, but somehow I haven’t been able to pick the right moment or feel the time was right. This year has seen big changes for me and I have consciously been trying to rebalance my life. The last few weeks has really pushed me into feeling the time is right to write. In my youth,  I thought I was invincible, I tried to be everything to everyone, I empathised and sympathized with others on their poor health or misfortunes and tried to rebuild or improve them, but never in a million years thought that ill health could happen to me. My lack of truly listening to my body over many years caught me out, and with a family history of auto-immune disorders I regret now this stubborn inner me. However, as I live with a chronic auto-immune condition I feel that if anything positive has come out of it, is that it has really allowed me to understand my patients at a level deeper than ever imaginable before. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, for those unfamiliar with this condition, is in which the body’s own immune cells attack and destroy the thyroid gland. There can be up to 300 different symptoms and so there can be many of these symptoms that cross over into other illnesses. It can be slow progressing for some and so blood test may not detect it in the early stages making lives unpleasant with symptoms and no answers. Hypothyroidism is the most common outcome for a Hashimoto’s sufferer and medication is used to help treat this condition end of story.  That is what I was taught when learning about the Thyroid at Uni and during my hospital career. Take a tablet and all will be fine, next…. NOW I KNOW THAT SADLY THIS IS NOT ALWAYS THE CASE…. My Story is a common classic: I had not been to the GP in years, I had no time and no reason to see him, I had strangely and uncharacteristically booked to get my Vitamin D checked mainly due my Dietetic curiosity with the media hype. Don’t get me wrong I had felt rubbish for years but put that down to long hours running my business, caring for 3 small kids, getting older and was involved weekly in caring for my disabled mother. My husband, a fabulous man, was hardly around with his job. I was a “no time for me person” to whom I used to say if I met someone like this: If you don’t look after your health you will have “plenty of time in the future”, as you won’t be able to work! A total Hypocrite I know. I just did not see it for myself or maybe I chose to ignore it. I remember when my blood panel came back I was shocked and if honest relieved. I was not surprised that something showed up and that all my symptoms that I tried to ignore or had secretly stressed about were valid. In addition to a Hashimoto’s diagnosis I had a very low Vitamin D level and suboptimal levels of B12. My diagnosis was in Dec 2012 and I thought that was it, all fixed. I was commenced on Levothyroxine and I slowly built up the dose as guided by my GP and I sat back and waited to get better. Did I feel better?  Psychologically maybe a little as I started to take more interest in myself and others around me had to also consider my health. However this feeling did not last long; 4 weeks later and I was worse and so the GP increased the tablets and so the story went on until my bloods were in NORMAL range but I was feeling worse than ever. My GP made an urgent appointment for me with an Endocrinologist who assessed me and said “go take a holiday”. OMG I didn’t see that coming. I was hoping to be taken seriously but clearly I was not ill on the small panel of thyroid blood tests taken and so it had to be in my head….any of you who have been there will know the score. From that moment onwards, as best I could, I did my research. I was so unwell I did not see how I could make it to my next birthday: I was 1 month away. Some major symptoms: severe headache like a vice, walking in concrete, mixing up words, brain fog, exhaustion not able to get out of the car to lift my kids or shop, back pain, chest pain, lots of sighing, brittle nails and hair, skin on chin irritated, sensitive teeth and gums, low moods, insomnia, tearful, constipation, freezing cold, heart palpitations….my adrenal glands were struggling too. I bought a medical thyroid book book which was a great starting point and I commenced the recommendations. I know you would think that as a Dietitian I would be an expert in nutrition, which I am! but the subject of auto-immune and supplements was lacking in my knowledge and so all news was new and I ate it all up. (With these new skills I now successfully treat patients today) Anyway; I took a summer holiday with my family but sadly as a shadow of my former self in vitality, stamina and energy. Sitting at 40c I was cold and wrapped up, but the headaches were gone and that was one step in the right direction. I came home from my holiday and began to fix myself further. I joined the Health Unlocked forum which again has been instrumental in my recovery. I requested further blood tests and from this I commenced a medication which had a combination of T4 and active T3. This along with the daily regimen of supplements made a noticeable difference and some of the significant symptoms began to settle. At the same time I made a difficult but important decision that I

121 Sports Nutrition Performance

Sports Nutrition Performance Programme Take your fitness and performance to the next level with a personalised nutrition plan designed specifically for you. Whether you are new to structured training or a seasoned athlete, our specialist registered dietitians create tailored nutrition strategies aligned with your exercise routine, lifestyle, taste preferences, cooking skills, and budget. This programme supports: Body fat reduction Peak performance Recovery optimisation Long-term athletic health We work in partnership with NI fitness trainers to ensure your nutrition strategy complements your training demands. Please note: any medical concerns or conditions impacting nutritional advice may incur additional charges depending on time required. What’s Included 1-Hour Consultation – Review your current diet lifestyle and performance goals. Body Composition Assessment – Including weight, body fat, and key measurements. 7-Day Food Diary & Questionnaire – Completed via our Practice Better portal. Personalised Nutrition Plan – Bespoke guidance, recipes, shopping list, and structured menu plan. Follow-Up Appointment – Monitor progress and optimise your strategy. Ongoing Support & Resources – Practical tools to help you implement sustainable change. This structured, evidence-based approach ensures your nutrition plan supports both performance outcomes and long-term wellbeing. Our results speak for themselves: One recent achievement we are delighted about…. Top cyclist, Declan Mulholland, who participated in the Youth Olympics in Holland attended Gillian Killiner in her Belfast Diet Clinic. Following a 121 Dietitian bespoke sports eating plan to shift excess percentage body fat and weight said: “As a racing cyclist, power-to-weight ratio determines my ability to win events. In order to improve my cycling efficiency and lose weight while maintaining lean muscle I worked with 121 Dietitian to reach optimum weight for my events. Gillian provided me with concise, accurate and practical advice enabling me to represent my country at Youth Olympic level and become a multiple National Cycling Champion.” Book our sports nutrition performance programme today to see the wonderful changes you can make. Book Now

Have you heard about our mini assessment sessions?

We all know everyone likes to receive helpful advice, especially in terms of improving our diet, health and lifestyle. Check out 121Deititian mini sassessment sessions. Here at 121 Dietitian we provide this at various levels daily; to many clients who maybe in need of a little dietary direction, to business’ wishing to improve productivity and health in the workplace, to patients who have debilitating medical conditions, or to our media associates, food companies, nursing homes…. We realise however that even when interested, not everyone knows what they may need or has the time, money or medical condition to feel they require a visit to a Dietitian. We are now able to help with this dilemma … 121 Dietitian have set up a service just for this reason and we have been delighted with its success. Our specialist assessment sessions have gone from strength to strength, and it couldn’t be simpler. STEPS TO TAKE for a Mini Assessment: Download and complete the food diary and questionnaire found on the contact us page. Use the contact us page and request a mini Clinic appointment. When your appointment date and time  is confirmed bring your food diary and questionnaire with you to the appointment. A Dietitian will assess your details, take some body composition measurements and then identify key positive changes that you may require. The clinic chat takes 20 minutes with a follow up email bringing the total time spent to 1 hour. The changes for you to consider making will be life long. If during the consultation you are suspected to have a undiagnosed medical condition or require blood tests we will direct you to your GP for these and review you. The cost of this consultation will be deducted from further appointments if required to attend for further personalised advice. Information checked & correct on 16th May 2018.

Oats NOT so good!

Well, 16 years of educating others I thought I was immune to the everyday angst of nutritional dilemmas!!!!!! Until very recently, so recent that I still can’t believe it and I may be in recovery for a while! Okay enough drama, here’s what happened: I was on a long journey driving through the night and pulled into a service station to refresh with a coffee. It was 3am so calculating ahead as my usual Dietitian head does, I considered my ‘up and coming’ breakfast options and I decided I would pick up a snack at this point so if anything changes later with my journey then I could keep on driving. While ordering the coffee I perused the appealing, but limited, arrangement of sweet stodge! I decide I would over look these and went for the most righteous option the ‘Nutty Flapjack’. I paid, ate and drank with satisfaction. Ah! However things quickly turned nasty! As I finished my flapjack I smelt a rat, (okay not literally) the flavours were sweeter and fattier than my finely tuned palate was expecting, alarm bells rang. The detective flick switched on in me and I peered at the small print – the ingredients and nutrient information. AHHHH! I nearly choked, if the coffee hadn’t woken me up at 3am then the info on the packet certainly did!!! I had consumed the equivalent of a hamburger and small fries, or two slices of cake, or a cooked breakfast. What a cheat. What made it even harder to swallow (wished I hadn’t!) was that it was made with 60% butter and condensed milk with a scant offering of oats, nuts and more sugar!!!! So I couldn’t even glory in the, ‘well the ingredients were superior’ therefore I shall accept the wonderful nutrients and the kcal’s come as a consequence. This experience brought me straight to the coal face of what my clients experience daily and why sometimes when you think you are doing right you are doing wrong. The moral of the story: no matter who you are! If you are keeping to a healthy eating plan, check all ingredients and nutritional information as you could be in for a surprise! Information checked & correct on 16th May 2018.