Type 2 Carbs And The Doctor/dn

[Flora123]

So I have an appointment coming up and I will be quizzed about my diet (low carb and working very well). What do you say when you are lectured about eating carbs and how important they are. I’m fed up smiling sweetly and agreeing. I keep getting told I need carbs yet doing just fine on 20g a day. Thanks x

 

[Bluetit1802]

It is a problem, but hopefully your doctor/DN will be sensible enough to see how well you are doing, and providing all your bloods are good (not just the HbA1c) and can see a healthy person in front of them, they have nothing to challenge. Your chosen eating plan is working and not causing you to be unhealthy. You could perhaps challenge them to ask why they think you should change and why do they think you need carbs when our bodies run perfectly well powered by fats and protein, and when carbs make you fat and raise blood sugar levels.

 

[Brunneria]

I have tried various approached over the years, but most recently I have avoided the term Low Carb and High Fat, or any other trigger words that may set off an ignorant knee jerk reaction.

Last time I used the words 'I control my carbs, which is what brought my blood glucose down to normal levels'.
And since they had just seen my perfectly normal HbA1c they just let it go, and moved on to the next subject.
Either that or they didn't 'get' what I was talking about.

Of course, if a medical professional wanted to discuss things in more depth, I would happily do so. Probably in enough detail that they ran screaming from the room.

But until that happy day arrives, I can say 'I control my carbs' and they can hear 'she's eating carbs which is a good thing, cos of 50 reasons I repeat by rote which aren't actually valid', while what I actually MEAN is 'I control my carbs well enough that I have virtually eliminated them, and feel soooooo much better for it!'

 

[bulkbiker]

So I have an appointment coming up and I will be quizzed about my diet (low carb and working very well). What do you say when you are lectured about eating carbs and how important they are. I’m fed up smiling sweetly and agreeing. I keep getting told I need carbs yet doing just fine on 20g a day. Thanks x

You could always ask them how long they studied nutrition for at University?
Although if there is a pet dietician somewhere around that one could misfire..

 

[Mr_Pot]

What do you say when you are lectured about eating carbs and how important they are.

Apart from the Eatwell Guide that was part of a Desmond type course, nobody has ever suggested eating carbs to me. My DN is a LC enthusiast but even so we have never discussed how much carbs I eat. Don't HCPs usually tell you to cut down on things or eat more fruit and veg? Are you saying they are actually prescribing more carbs as a cure for something?

 

[Resurgam]

My response to the 'you need carbs' comment has always been - 'Really? What for?'

 

[Flora123]

Apart from the Eatwell Guide that was part of a Desmond type course, nobody has ever suggested eating carbs to me. My DN is a LC enthusiast but even so we have never discussed how much carbs I eat. Don't HCPs usually tell you to cut down on things or eat more fruit and veg? Are you saying they are actually prescribing more carbs as a cure for something?

I am always shown the Eatwell guide and shown the shopping list which includes pasta and bread! I always get a bit tongue tied and nervous for some reason and just nod and smile. I’m apparently a bit of a mystery to them but they don’t seem to link my low carb eating to my low BG . In fact when I mentioned the challenges of eating out (can’t remember why we were discussing that) I was told to eat the pasta but don’t have dessert!

 

[Flora123]

My response to the 'you need carbs' comment has always been - 'Really? What for?'

I was told it was for my brain...

 

[Flora123]

I have tried various approached over the years, but most recently I have avoided the term Low Carb and High Fat, or any other trigger words that may set off an ignorant knee jerk reaction.

Last time I used the words 'I control my carbs, which is what brought my blood glucose down to normal levels'.
And since they had just seen my perfectly normal HbA1c they just let it go, and moved on to the next subject.
Either that or they didn't 'get' what I was talking about.

Of course, if a medical professional wanted to discuss things in more depth, I would happily do so. Probably in enough detail that they ran screaming from the room.

But until that happy day arrives, I can say 'I control my carbs' and they can hear 'she's eating carbs which is a good thing, cos of 50 reasons I repeat by rote which aren't actually valid', while what I actually MEAN is 'I control my carbs well enough that I have virtually eliminated them, and feel soooooo much better for it!'

I really like that idea. Thanks.

 

[Mr_Pot]

I always get a bit tongue tied and nervous for some reason and just nod and smile.

Eating carbs doesn't seem to have been beneficial for their brains. Carry on with the nodding and smiling and ignore what they say, they sound too entrenched to listen to reason.

 

[Boo1979]

My endocrinologist was happy for me to be restricting carbs but only 1) when she saw my blood work 2) when I reassured her I wasnt doing Atkins or some other very high meat consumption diet and that my 30g or so carb diet was made up of a variety of fat souces and a variety of other foods
She went from saying “OMG, youre not doing Atkins are you!” to “ low carbohydrate is the way to go for most diabetics (if they can manage to do it)” in the space of half an hour

 

[Geordie_P]

Brunneria has the right idea: simple, honest, non-confrontational. You can't go far wrong with that approach.

 

[Daibell]

You have to judge whether your DN is the listening kind and wants to keep learning. You can always tell them the Eatwell Guide was driven and signed-off by the Food industry and not by the medics and the food industry want to sell us carbs as they are low-cost and addictive. The brain does need glucose but it can get all it needs from Proteins and Fats unless you exercise a lot. Anyway you are having some carbs. Fibre is important of course but carbs aren't and veg provides a lot of fibre.

 

[sally and james]

Just tell them that you eat a normal, healthy-for-humans, as-nature-intended diet. After all, it's everyone else who is wrong.
Sally

Who called me "smug"?

 

[britishpub]

Not sure why you would want the conversation.

It's not our job to educate the NHS, and I doubt whether they would listen to a "mere" patient anyway.

I just let them talk, and then leave.

 

[DCUKMod]

Personally, I have never denied the way I eat. When asked by my GP how I was doing and what I had done to achieve it, my answer was that I chose, right up front to monitor my blood glucose readings and used those to guide how I ate. From that it became clear I should trim up on the carbs, and did that until I got the numbers I wanted. When I wanted to stop losing weight, I upped what I ate, although only minimally on carbs, choosing to balance the caloric deficit by eating decent fats.

If pressed for a label on the eating style, I refer to it as reduced carbs, with balancing fat.

I wholeheartedly resist the terms "low carb" and/or "high fat". Those labels conjour up different things to different people and to many it means just a plate with a ginagerous slab of fatty meat hanging over the edges. That's not usually how my meals appear.

I also ensure when explaining it, I am speaking in an upbeat manner, not sounding like I'm just waiting for the objections they might have.

 

[KK123]

Oh dear, you are all much more polite than I am. I simply do not enter into a conversation about 'lifestyle or diet'. I will discuss any abnormal results and that is it. If a Doctor/DN starts mentioning anything about diet (and as long as my results are fine) I cut the conversation dead by saying something along the lines of 'Never mind that, are my results ok'.

 

[LooperCat]

When I’m at my GP surgery and am asked about what I eat, I just tell them the truth. Fish, eggs, a little sheep/goat dairy, plenty of vegetables and fruit (avocados, olives, cucumber, tomatoes and peppers are fruits, right?), some nuts and bread (made on demand with almond flour at 3g carbs a slice). No processed food, except a small amount of Quorn.

My hospital diabetes consultant and specialist dietician know I eat keto and are perfectly happy with my using that way of eating to manage things. They say to avoid ketosis because they have to, while bunging me a prescription for blood ketone test strips under the desk

 

[Sani Thomas]

Reading your comments in this thread and some others I get really angry. The number of disparaging remarks about your doctors and nurses is astonishing. Talking about educating them?!?!? Who the hell do you think you are? If you are so sure of your ways, why are you going to your doctor, nurse, etc. Go and treat yourselves and don't waste the professionals time which could be spent on other patients.
This forum has turned to a forum for low carbing. And in my experience if you dare to express different opinion, they jump on you and make you feel tiny. Well No. I'm a nurse and I completely support the nurses, dieticians and doctors who are helping me. They try their best and their advice helps me live as normally as possible. So I control the diabetes, not it me! They help me live with minimal restrictions and feel good. And they are succeeding. My sugars are normalising, I feel better and feel human again.
So go on, make your choices. Either you treat yourselves or let professionals do it.

 

[DCUKMod]

Oh dear, you are all much more polite than I am. I simply do not enter into a conversation about 'lifestyle or diet'. I will discuss any abnormal results and that is it. If a Doctor/DN starts mentioning anything about diet (and as long as my results are fine) I cut the conversation dead by saying something along the lines of 'Never mind that, are my results ok'.

KK123 - Things may be different for you, but as T2s, many see their way of eating (ideally alongside blood sugar testing) as their treatment, so it is, in my view, fair that the medics enquire how the treatment is going. Very, very few T2s are seen in specialist clinics.