Hi
@Cocosilk,
Just from my reading and experience as a T1D on low carb diet, not as professional advice or opinion:
With TID, once past the first year or so, I assume I had not endogenous, pancreas-produced insulin left.
So I was totally reliant on exogenous insulin by injection.
I have to gauge how much insulin to inject to keep BSLs after meals in check, and between meals as well,
including overnight.
Sometimes that delicate applecart tips too far and my BSL can be higher than desirable, say, before a meal,
or after , or overnight etc; or too low.
If my BSLs are high my injected insulin is less effective but usually it is only if at very high BSLs and I do
not increase my insulin enough that the fats start breaking down more quickly and the ketones level reach
a dangerous level.
That level with high BSLs and ketones, where the blood becomes too acidic = diabetic ketoacidosis.
But first thing in the morning having not eaten overnight my BSL can be in range but the body has started to
burn a little fat (--> mild ketone level) to make up for not sufficient coming from glucose.
Of course my liver can chime in with releasing some stored glucose but if I have sufficient insulin there and
my BSL is not too low it usually does not interfere !!
My insulin pump can help do that with its programmed release of insulin whilst i sleep!!
By having little in the way of carbs to affect my BSL in the first 2 hours or so after a meal, I do receive glucose
from my liver as it does a neat trick and converts some the the protein from my meal over into the glucose.
That glucose tends to come out into the bloodstream in less of a rush at about the 3 to 4 hour mark.
This timing fits in much better with the effect of my short-acting insulin.
Rather than eating lots of carb food and trying to take enough insulin at the right time to catch up with that
meal's effect on my BSL, I eat low carb/moderate protein/fat which best matches my insulin effect.
There is only so much I can do 'tweak' what my insulin does, I can do much more to tweak my diet.
It only took 50 + years on insulin to fully realise that but there were and are some organisations and people
who have a lot to answer for in keeping such revelations form me and others for so long. (another story)!!
When I go low carb (say less than 50 g) my body turns to burning fat more readily - but it takes about
4 to 5 days for me to note ketones regularly appearing on a blood test once I started on very low carb,
typically about less than 40 g carb - where 50% of protein is counted into the total figure.
I do not find I get higher than about 1.4 mmol/l in ketones.
For T1Ds we are advised to start worrying if ketones go to greater than 2 mmol/l but for others who have
endogenous insulin and appear to have no apparent danger of that changing rapidly, higher ketone levels
seem to be tolerated. You need to check whether there is a limit for you !!
I am guessing that with baby on board your body's supply of glucose is in high demand, so that with less
carbs in one's diet, your body might turn to burning fat more readily - you would need to check if this is
right, with your nurse and doctor.
And such demands on sugars require one's pancreas gland to work harder.
Maybe if you are born with a pancreas gland that does not function as well as others during the stress and
strain of pregnancy, insulin resistance results.
Once baby is born all may settle back but not always!!
For a lady who has T1D and is pregnant the demands of baby mean that her insulin dose and BSLs have to
be watched very carefully.
I do not have any proof to hand that ketones are good or bad for baby.
All I can think of is that Inuit and Laplander women on traditional zero carb diets have managed to survive
pregnancy and produce healthy babies for centuries.
Not that I am recommending that you join them to find out !!
But whatever diet one is on, there seem to be some minerals and vitamins which are important and I gather
supplements are recommended during pregnancy and breast feeding.
People used to wonder how Inuit and Laplander peoples having no fruit and little in the way of vegetables
could survive.
From my reading it appears that there is Vitamin C in some whale meat and that eating that uncooked
(perish the thought) gave those indigenous people their vitamin C.
I imagine that knowing that you do not have to eat uncooked whale meat could make everything in
pregnancy tolerable!!
Best Wishes
And why on earth would you keep eating something if it means you have to inject more and more insulin to manage it? Unless your doctors had convinced you that it was vital for your survival of course...
. I do enjoy lamb's fry though so if I was to go very low carb, I'd surely be eating that semi-regularly.
