Newly Diagnosed - Some diet questions

[dandy78]

Hello

I am 38yo male, diagnosied 2 weeks ago with diabetes (BG: 14.2 mmol/l, HbA1c: 10). At the moment of diagnosis I also had muscle spasms in right calf and and constant vibrations in my left leg (does this sounds like diabetic neurophathy? Does having neurophathy means the diabetes is already advanced)?
Anyway, since finding out about diagnosis, I started on a low carb diet (70g carbs, 50g net carbs, 1500 calories/day) while still trying to keep cholesterol and saturated fat within recommended limits, because liver panel blood tests (gamma gt, tryglicerides, HDL, LDL, ALT) was also very bad. So no eggs/butter/fat meat for me (yet) - just seeds, nuts, smoked salmon and poultry .
I am planing to go on 20g/day carb diet, after I get my glucometer next week, but I am really concerned about brain function. Since started this diet, I noticed that I have problems with concentration and memory, and I read somewhere that the brain needs around 130carbs/day to function.
Since my work is mostly intellectual, having brain impairment would be a big problem for me (I guess my bosses are already wondering why did they hire me as I don't seem to understand anything in the last 2 weeks).
Did you experience any of these side effects when starting low carb diet? Is it just a problem of adjusting to the new diet or should I just accept that in my situation will just not work? I don't think it will be very difficult to follow a low carb diet as I don't have any carb cravings now, but I am scared about cognitive problems and afraid that I might do more harm than good.
I would love to hear from your experiences and what are your advice.

 

[chalup]

Hi there and welcome. Part of your brain fog is a temporary side effect and should go away fairly quickly. I am on less than 20 grams carb per day and my brain seems to be just fine. There are a very large number of people on this forum who are very low carb and doing just fine. One thing about low carb is that you really do need higher fat. Your body does need something to burn for energy. In many cases cholesterol improves, sometimes dramatically with low carb and high fat. Everyone is individual and I am certainly not a doctor so this is just my opinion. I can't tell you if you have neuropathy or not, I do but mine is a numb foot which has been slowly but steadily improving with this diet and metformin. Read threads on this forum and read the info that @daisy1 provides to newcomers. Best of luck to you and don't give up on the diet until you have given it some time.

 

[Daibell]

Hi. Yes, when you go very low carb you must have enough protein and fat to provide a source for glucose and other nutrients. Having fat and protein when low-carbing should improve your lipid 'panel' as it's the carbs that are the real problem and many of us would say that saturated fat and meat etc are not the problem. When you next have an HBa1C do a fasting one and ask the GP what your panel test ratios now are. I suspect they will have improved?

 

[Brunneria]

That whole myth about the brain needing 130 g dietary carbs just will not die, will it?
Sometimes it seems like it is breeding across the internet, with uninformed person after uninformed person just promulgating it - and they genuinely believe it, so you can't really blame them...

The fact of the matter is that the human body is very good and finding what it needs out of the fuel we put into it. and there is a cunning little process called gluconeogenesis where our own body will use up leftover protein, converts it to glucose and provides as much as needed. So don't worry about the 130g carbs. You (and every other low carb and ketogenic eater on the planet) will get all the glucose they need by just eating their normal amounts of meat, fish, eggs, tofu, soya and dairy.

Unfortunately, the deeper you wade into Low Carb, the more of these myths you encounter, but don't worry. There are a few excellent sources to help you through those first few weeks. I will post a few links that helped me. Plus the ones in my signature.

Oh, and welcome to the forum!!!


Here you go:
https://authoritynutrition.com/5-most-common-low-carb-mistakes/

http://low-carb-support.com/low-carb-mistakes/

http://www.ketotic.org/2013/01/protein-gluconeogenesis-and-blood-sugar.html

 

[daisy1]

@dandy78

Hello and welcome to the forum To add to all the interesting advice you have received from other members, here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 150,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program


Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

 

[Robbity]

Quite honestly I think that many of us on the forum would be brain dead zombies by now if our brains actually needed that many carbs to function! When we eat a very low carb diet our bodies can become fat (or keto) adapted, and we turn from burning carbs for energy into into fat burners, and certainly my brain functions much more efficiently in this mode.

You may suffer short term from "low carb flu" aka Atkins or keto flu (check Google), while your body adapts to your new diet. But you must replace the fuel from the missing carbs with more fatty and oily food to ensure you're getting enough for your energy needs.

Robbity

 

[Lindy1706]

I have been on a max of 20g of carbs a day (often much lower) since March and am still functioning and managing to run my own business, to be honest once I was Keto adapted I had no brain fog what so ever and boundless energy.

Agree with Robbity that you may well experience the dreaded "carb flu" just bear with it, drink lots and if it gets really bad a bouillon cube really helps as do a couple of paracetamol.

 

[dandy78]

Thanks for your responses. I feel a little better right now, I guess it was a combination of factors: adapting to the new diet, the shock of receiving the diagnosis and a more stressful period at work, aggravated by the fact that I am seen as more absent now, thinking about the diagnosis and the solutions that I have to cope with diabetes.
After reading your responses and doing some more research, I came to think that saturated fat and cholesterol is not as bad as it had been presented for decades. So, I am still keeping an eye on them, but I will not put any hard limit, especially since I have to be more careful about carbs than other nutrients.
I also adjusted my carbs intake, to be at 50 total carbs and 30-40 net carbs (I switched from burgen soy and linseed bread to homemade low carb bread and cut the serving size of side dishes).
Last week, my diet was: 15% Carbs, 60% Fat, 25% Protein. Do you think there are some adjustments to be made or should I continue like that?
And now for (what I think it is) good news. I got my blood glucose meter and did a test: 7.1 nmol/l. For me it's a huge improvement, considering the fact that 3 weeks ago I was at 14.2 nmol/l, I didn't hope to be lower than 10. But it's still slightly above recommended levels, so I have to find ways to lower the BG even more. I am still in the process of getting the tests prescribed, so I can't test very often now.

 

[chalup]

Just sticking to low carb will gradually bring those numbers down. Well done

 

[Liam1955]

@dandy78 - Hello and Welcome to the Forum . Feel free to ask as many questions as you want. There will always be someone to answer, we are all helpful and supportive to one another.

 

[PenfoldAPD]

Thanks for your responses. I feel a little better right now, I guess it was a combination of factors: adapting to the new diet, the shock of receiving the diagnosis and a more stressful period at work, aggravated by the fact that I am seen as more absent now, thinking about the diagnosis and the solutions that I have to cope with diabetes.
After reading your responses and doing some more research, I came to think that saturated fat and cholesterol is not as bad as it had been presented for decades. So, I am still keeping an eye on them, but I will not put any hard limit, especially since I have to be more careful about carbs than other nutrients.
I also adjusted my carbs intake, to be at 50 total carbs and 30-40 net carbs (I switched from burgen soy and linseed bread to homemade low carb bread and cut the serving size of side dishes).
Last week, my diet was: 15% Carbs, 60% Fat, 25% Protein. Do you think there are some adjustments to be made or should I continue like that?
And now for (what I think it is) good news. I got my blood glucose meter and did a test: 7.1 nmol/l. For me it's a huge improvement, considering the fact that 3 weeks ago I was at 14.2 nmol/l, I didn't hope to be lower than 10. But it's still slightly above recommended levels, so I have to find ways to lower the BG even more. I am still in the process of getting the tests prescribed, so I can't test very often now.

Well done on lowering your BG. Just give it time and it will come down further if you have good control. We all want to rush lower levels (I definitely do!) but sometimes it's just a process you have to allow to run its course. Try not to get frustrated.

Best of luck, sounds like you are doing the right things so far