Low Carb - explained in 60 seconds

Kristin251

Expert
Messages
5,334
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
I knew you'd figure it out. There's food lists too

Do you have any idea how much you're eating?

I have a vegetarian bf. Just avocado. Holds me for hours. Then lunch is 1-2 oz protein and dinner 2-3. I eat about 5 (35 g) oz animal/ fish and get more in avocado, nuts, veg and a little cheese. Lately I've had an aversion to veg and my stomach is very happy. I feel loads better too. I think most people don't need nearly the amount of food they eat. Quality over quantity.

Recently since going ULTRA LC lots of things are improving.

I've also been reminded ( by myself but forgot) that a lighter evening meal and low saturated fat lowers my fasting a lot. Rosedale speaks of saturated fat being the hardest to burn and in his phase one 3 weeks he minimizes them.
 

Winnie53

BANNED
Messages
2,374
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Yes, vegetables can be challenging with a history of gastointestinal difficulties. After my second flare in fifteen years of IBD that lasted 9 months in 2015, I'm so grateful to be on the other side it. I can't see myself doing "ultra low carb", but perhaps that would change if my circumstances changed. We each have to find what works best for us.

Glad to hear you're doing so well! :)
 

Bingale1

Member
Messages
12
Type of diabetes
Type 2
I am sure this must be covered on the forum somewhere but I’ve been unable to find it. I am relatively new to the low-carb lifestyle and I’m struggling to understand the nutritional information on labels. Do I count the carbs or the ‘of which sugars’ value? Is there an idiots guide somewhere to explain it? Apologies if I have posted in the wrong place
 

Brunneria

Guru
Retired Moderator
Messages
21,889
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I am sure this must be covered on the forum somewhere but I’ve been unable to find it. I am relatively new to the low-carb lifestyle and I’m struggling to understand the nutritional information on labels. Do I count the carbs or the ‘of which sugars’ value? Is there an idiots guide somewhere to explain it? Apologies if I have posted in the wrong place

Hi and welcome Bingale :)

All carbs turn to sugars in our body, so you might as well ignore the 'of which sugars' and just look at the total carbs.

So if a food says 15g carbohydrate per 100 g, 2g of which sugars, then count the 15 not the 2.

Some carb is unavoidable, unless you are going to go on a very restricted way of eating. The trick for us type 2s is to know how much our bodies can cope with (we are all different) and then eat carbs within our personal limits.

Have you considered getting a blood glucose meter so you can check levels at home? It really helps discover which foods suit us individually.
 

Bingale1

Member
Messages
12
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Thank you Brunneria. That is what I needed to know. I have been T2 for about 10 years but having followed the advice of my DN and ever increasing BG levels followed by increasing medication I just wanted to try and gain some control and LC seems to be the way forward. It’s very early days for me but for the first time ever my BGs are between 4.6 and 6.2. I have a meter my GP gave me one when I told him what I wanted to do diet wise. He has been very supportive. I have found potatoes and pasta in any form lead to huge spikes that don’t readily return to normal. Sorry for the long post and thanks for the advice.
 
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Hello, this post is actually about how to eat on a low carb diet wthot losing weight ?I have had 'Type 2' since 1991. I take Diamicron 20mg twice a day. I have always been slim but in March 2017 It was suggested that if I did a Diabetes Manaagement course, just starting, it would help me gain better control of my Diabetes. I was puzzled because I had always been told I had under the limit HBA1C's for some years. I started the course and gradually noticed I was losing weight which I had not expected or wanted. The diet we were 'suggested' to follow in this was , I now realise ,classed as a Low Carb Diet. I had no idea at the time and thought I was seriously ill and the result has left me a nervous insomniac wreck !!! Has anyone had this experience, if so what did they do ? I am 69, still working and finding it hard to maintain all aspects of my life. I have a wheat intolerance too . Any help would be wonderful,I will probably post on a new thread here too X
 

ROSIE1988

Well-Known Member
Messages
90
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello to everyone.

We are on the low carb way of life and I was wondering - sorry for being thick - what is the difference between carbs and fibre?

To be honest, I have read so much I am getting muddled from time to time so I rely on my friends on here to put me straight hopefully x
 

Brunneria

Guru
Retired Moderator
Messages
21,889
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello to everyone.

We are on the low carb way of life and I was wondering - sorry for being thick - what is the difference between carbs and fibre?

To be honest, I have read so much I am getting muddled from time to time so I rely on my friends on here to put me straight hopefully x

Hi Rosie,

Actually, carbs is just a collective name for the starchy sugary fibrous stuff that is in all fruits and veg. Some carbohydrate digests down in a way that significantly raises blood glucose (bread, rice potatoes, pasta, sweet fruit, starchy veg, etc.) other carbs are indigestible (the fibre).

So when you see a fruit such as a tomato, you are seeing a food that combines different types of carbs, some will raise bg, some won't.

American food labelling lists all carbs together, and people have to subtract the fiber from the rest of the carbs to be able to work out how much of the carbs will affect their blood glucose.

British food labelling lists the fibre separately from the rest of the blood glucose raising carbs, so that what you see is what will raise your blood glucose.

Always worth remembering whether a food or a recipe is American or British, because that will tell you whether the carbs are included in the count, or not.

Hope that helps!
 
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ROSIE1988

Well-Known Member
Messages
90
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello. We are carrying on with our low carb way and I was just wondering....

On the diet doctor website 20g of carbs is what they consider low carb which is virtually a Leto diet isn’t it. So as I am not diabetic can I have do a low carb diet with 150g max of carbs a day? Or is this just not low carb?
Thank you x
 

Brunneria

Guru
Retired Moderator
Messages
21,889
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello. We are carrying on with our low carb way and I was just wondering....

On the diet doctor website 20g of carbs is what they consider low carb which is virtually a Leto diet isn’t it. So as I am not diabetic can I have do a low carb diet with 150g max of carbs a day? Or is this just not low carb?
Thank you x

'low carb' covers a wide range, from around 130g carbs a day down to 0g
'keto' covers a lower area, that falls into low carb. keto is usually described as anywhere from 50g downwards.

The whole idea that 20g = keto is because most of us can be pretty certain we are achieving ketosis if we eat 20g carbs or less.
But the reality is that some people hit keto on 50g carbs a day.

So really, the whole thing comes down to individual bodies and what we eat for those carbs.
I mean, a 5 foot sedentary woman weighing 100 pounds and eating 50g carbs a day is going to be in a completely different boat than a 6 foot 4 man who cycles 20 miles to work every day, and weighs 200 pounds, who also eats 50g carbs a day.
Each of them is going to require a different level of carb intake to achieve ketosis.

Sorry not be able to give a more specific answer. :)
 
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ROSIE1988

Well-Known Member
Messages
90
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hello. We are carrying on with our low carb way and I was just wondering....

On the diet doctor website 20g of carbs is what they consider low carb which is virtually a Leto diet isn’t it. So as I am not diabetic can I have do a low carb diet with 150g max of carbs a day? Or is this just not low carb?
Thank you x
 

ROSIE1988

Well-Known Member
Messages
90
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi Brunneria,

That's great and I can understand that. I have been looking through the Diet Doctor website which is great I think and very clear, although it seems very biased towards the KETO way and it is hard to find Low Carb Recipes on there unless you sign up I think? It says $9 a month - I wonder if it may be worthwhile me signing up to access recipes and information which allows a low carb and liberal carb way?

Do you or anyone else know about signing up for this site? Or is there another site for Low/Liberal Carb Recipes etc?

Thank you again for all your help - we are still trucking and doing very well - its all certainly an education on here and we have found that we actually enjoy our food much more now.
 

Brunneria

Guru
Retired Moderator
Messages
21,889
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi Brunneria,

That's great and I can understand that. I have been looking through the Diet Doctor website which is great I think and very clear, although it seems very biased towards the KETO way and it is hard to find Low Carb Recipes on there unless you sign up I think? It says $9 a month - I wonder if it may be worthwhile me signing up to access recipes and information which allows a low carb and liberal carb way?

Do you or anyone else know about signing up for this site? Or is there another site for Low/Liberal Carb Recipes etc?

Thank you again for all your help - we are still trucking and doing very well - its all certainly an education on here and we have found that we actually enjoy our food much more now.

I think you can have a look at the DD recipes without signing up... but it is a while since I was a paid up member of DD, so not sure.

Regarding paying for DD membership. I did it for about 6 months last year. Very easy, and I never regretted it.
The menus, shopping list and recipe ideas are worth the price of admission alone, IMHO.
Also very easy to cancel when I stopped eating that way.

As for the recipes, I think that almost all of them would be a good basis for low carbing.
Lots of DD recipes have herbed butter or flavoured mayo or added cream to get the fat up to keto proprotions. reducing those for a non-keto low carber would be vry easy.
 
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ROSIE1988

Well-Known Member
Messages
90
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Smashing thank you.

Would you mind saying why you stopped eating that way? Do you not think its very good really?