Type 2 LCHF Advice Please

RedDragon1960

Member
Messages
14
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi Guys and Gals
I'm new here and looking at doing LCHF diet for my health benifit ! Right now im using large amounts of Insulin ( Lantus 92 unit and Novo Rapid 32 units x3 ) per day plus a load of Pills inc Metfomin 800mg x3.
BG levels tend to be around the 7-8 level daily. However im piling on the WEIGHT ( now touching the 300lbs area) Not really a huge eater so guessing weight gains are due to the insulin use..
Would anyone know of a good book about Keto diets to get me started on my Journey ??
Thanks
Chris
 
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Rachox

Oracle
Retired Moderator
Messages
15,811
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I'll tag @daisy1 for useful links for you. I can't advise on keto diets as I just do low carb 50-70g per day. I think you'll need to be careful taking a sudden drop to keto levels as on insulin I think I'm right in saying you'll risk hypos.
 
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Kristin251

Expert
Messages
5,334
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Agreed with @Rachox. My insulin needs diminished a lot. I'm keto. 20 or less carbs per day. Mostly above ground veg, avocado and some low carb nuts and pumpkin seeds.

Do you have any idea how many carbs per day you're currently eating and how many you wish to eat?
 

bulkbiker

BANNED
Messages
19,576
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Have a read here
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb
its a great resource and explains low carb and keto..
As the others have said once you start to low carb you will probably need to cut back on insulin use to avoid hypos. You would probably be best contacting your doctor/nurse about reducing your meds although they may not be supportive of eating this way they should still be in a position to advise. After all it is your body and your diabetes.
 
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RedDragon1960

Member
Messages
14
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
I'll tag @daisy1 for useful links for you. I can't advise on keto diets as I just do low carb 50-70g per day. I think you'll need to be careful taking a sudden drop to keto levels as on insulin I think I'm right in saying you'll risk hypos.
due to see the DN next week !! i know what she will be saying already ( you got to eat lots of carbs :( usual British diabetic advise) I do already play with my Rapid dosages but only by 2-4 units per dose
 
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daisy1

Legend
Messages
26,457
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Cruelty towards animals.
@RedDragon1960

Hello Chris and welcome to the Forum :) Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Have a look in particular at the Low Carb Program (link below) which should help you with your diet. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

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 well over 250,000 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

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.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

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 blood glucose 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.

Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. They're all free.
  • Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
  • Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
 

ringi

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,365
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Sorry you don’t have any safe options just the great risk of going on as you are with ever increasing insulin resistance and the lower risk of doing something about it. Waiting until the NHS is willing to provide medical support to you with Low Carb etc is not an option, as you may be dead by then.

Apart from diet, resistance training (wrights) and high intensity interval training has been proved to be of great benefit with reducing insulin resitance. In a lot of area there is a system where GPs can prescribe excise and you get free gym membership plus a expert instructor for a few months – ask your DN about this.

As to the level of carbs, I think you should remove ALL carbs you can from your diet, then once your BG is under control without meds you can consider what carbs you can add back. The choose is between you getting control of your BG or going blind etc, hence doing as “little as possible” does not look like a good option for you. (Unlike lots of people with Type2 who have time on their side.)

If I recall correctly the protocol for the latest round of research on the Newcastle Diet have people stopping all diabetic med (and halving blood pressure meds) then only adding back the meds if someone is over 20 at the end of the first week. The message I get form this, is that the leading UK expert on Type2 diabetes (Professor Roy Taylor) is very happy to have people with a higher BG for a short time so as to enable them to lose weight without the risk of Hypos (or taking up too much GP time). (He believes that fat lose is key to reversing Type2.)

Dr Jason Fung in his book (The Complete Guild to Fasting) says people should reduce their insulin the day before a fast so their BG is in high single figures and keeps it that high while fasting to avoid the risk of having to break a fast due to Hypros.
It seems that the experts agree that having a higher BG for a short time is a small price to pay for long term control by diet. (Dr Jason Fung believe that having a low a insulin level as possible [both body produced and meds] while contorling BG with diet is key to reversing Type2)

Hence if you are committed to removing most carbs from your diet and have planned how to do so, it may be best to allow your BG to get near to 10 before hand, and let it be in the high single figures. Track your progress on how much less insulin you need each day, not on your BG.

As to the choose between Low Carb, Intermittent Fasting and the Newcastle Diet, they all work well and it is much better to take action today, rather than spending time deciding between them.

(I am using UK units in all of this, USA readers will need to convert into their system of BG units.)
 
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