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Dec 2014 update: New research on the Low Carb Diet in general practice

Totto said:
I still don't get the thing with portion control. How is it done? Is it about eating less than you want and starve for the rest of the day?
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This is the problem. Portion control and moderation. There is NO SET SIZE!! Basically have smaller helpings of food. Eat less. But less/smaller helpings than what/who? My idea of a small portion will be different to anyone else so it makes NO SENSE! I think portion control is at best delusional and at worst dangerous. When will people realise that as a diabetic you do have to change unless you want serious complications and a shorter life span. You can't just eat what you want! Most people have enough common sense to go low fat , low GI or low carb. But to go with portion control and carry on is just insanity!
 
What great responses..

Doesnt this all say... One size DOESNT fit all?

I dont exactly know what portion control is... However I do know thst a cyclist does it, an olympian triathalon does it, I do it. Everything that goes in to my body suits me, my food on my plate is portion controlled so that I am not getting bigger than a size 10 in 30 years. I had a lapse in Wales when I was in a bad way and went up to a 12 for a few months, but that went when I realised that my hubby was feeding me more of his food that he likes in his larger portions.

Undoubtedly to me carb control is there.

But who can possibly say how much carb is high or low? High to me is above 100g a day. But high to someone else is 70g or 150g.

As much as it is brilliant that gp's may suggest less carb as soon as they bring in a suggested amount they have to realise it is still individual to the person.


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Surely portion control (as I talk about it) is moderating what you put in your mouth so that what goes in, comes out and doesnt sit as fat on our bodies?

Portion control isnt about the size of your plate, but more on controlling what selection of foods that you eat, as you are then controlling the size of portion... Whether its low fat, low carb whatever...you are controlling your portions of food.

Thats what everybody needs to do, not just diabetics... Look at all the fat, obese kids around. Why?

We have to be aware that as much as we are diabetic and celebrating that a gp and more are studying low carbs... There is an epidemic of obesity and they should be looking at the whole populations intake of food.

Look at cookery classes in school.. Our local schools had cookery classes removed... So there is very little for children to actually learn how to cook and health mattrs at school now...


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donnellysdogs said:
I dont exactly know what portion control is... However I do know thst a cyclist does it, an olympian triathalon does it, I do it.
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donnellysdogs said:
Portion control isnt about the size of your plate, but more on controlling what selection of foods that you eat, as you are then controlling the size of portion... Whether its low fat, low carb whatever...you are controlling your portions of food.
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No. Portion control IS about consciously managing the amount of food on your plate. That's how the NHS describes it, and how most of us understand it. It is very successful for some people, but I don't think that it is very useful or helpful to equate low-carb with portion control. Portion control may end up being low-carb. But low-carb is NOT portion control.

But let's be absolutely clear, Low-Carb is only about reducing the quantity of carbohydrates, not about managing the amount of food on your plate. As I said above, I eat as much food as I want, when I want. The amount of food I eat is controlled only by my appetite. I don't count or measure anything other than carbohydrates. That's the way it should be.

I certainly don't think that my calorific intake should be determined by the size of my hands. My hands don't get any bigger when I get back from a 10 mile run for example.


Oh look. 3000 posts.
 
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Alanp35 said:
For me 120 or below. That is way lower than in the past.



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How can you safely measure the carbs? Am still new at all this & just getting used to the LowCarbsDiet by
trying to avoid my glutenfree bread&biscuits - surely I havent got to start measuring and weighing everything!
I'd never get out in my garden at all.
 
My thoughts on low carb is probably below 70....

We all are going to have different thoughts on this which will prove one size doesnt fit all...


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It's clear that one size does not fit all, but there is one strategy that should fit all. For a diabetic, good blood sugar control should be the first thing to focus on. So if your control is not as good as it should be, start testing your blood sugars lots. To get enough information, I have been testing on average 12 times a day for the past 6 weeks. (If your healthcare team objects to prescribing lots of strips, point out you are stopping a decline in health that will cost the NHS far more in the long run. T1 or T2, don't take no for an answer. These people work on your tax money, and strips are essential for your health. Ok rant over). If you are going high or low at certain times, look at changing something. Having a hypo at 2pm? Have a bigger lunch. Blood sugars 18.6 mid morning? Reduce the size of your breakfast or up your insulin (or other blood sugar lowering medication). Note everything down. What you ate, what medication you took, what your blood sugars were, what exercise you did. After a few days you might start to notice a pattern. Once you are aware of the problem, you can start looking for a solution. This might be lower carbohydrate, changing to a different kind of food to what you normally eat, or restricting the size of your portions. It may be upping or lowering your medication. Make changes gradually and in small, measurable ways. If a change in routine works, keep it. If it doesn't, throw it out. Hopefully, your blood sugars will get a lot better.
Once you have a grip on your blood sugars, that's when to look at if your diet is sustainable in other ways. By cutting out some foods you may be missing out on vital nutrients and vitamins. I am personally against taking long term supplements. You may not be. Work out how to address potential deficiencies, again in small gradual ways. Again, be the squeaky wheel and get the doctors to perform blood tests every few months. The more info you have, the better you will know if your strategy is working.
 
Charles Robin said:
I feel sick thinking about how the NHS deprives type 2s of test strips.
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Once you get used to the fact that what politicians and civil servants claim on the TV and radio is completely different to what happens in practice, it ceases to bother you. It's just a joke.

You may remember a few days ago the Prime Minister was saying that families should make time to eat together. Yet, the politicans have created a so called flexible working society which involves people getting up very early, dropping kids off at pre school nurseries, making long commutes to work, grabbing snatched lunches, rushing back through traffic to get the kids back from the after school nursery and then still drive home.

Who is going to start peeling spuds, washing and preparing the veg and generally start going about the business of creating a meal fit for a family dinner?

Which family members, who are tired and hungry, would be prepared to wait even if you were willing to do it?
 
"How can you safely measure the carbs? Am still new at all this & just getting used to the LowCarbsDiet by
trying to avoid my glutenfree bread&biscuits - surely I havent got to start measuring and weighing everything!
I'd never get out in my garden at all."

Liitlin
Majority of prepared meals and food have carbs on the packaging.
There ate good weighing scales that will convert your food to carb values if making your own food
There are books on carb values.

Personally, I have weighed and calculated most of my main meals... Yes and I admit to weighing and calculating even cucumber and lettuce!! Now I know what my food plates are, then I haven't reweighed since.



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donnellysdogs said:
"How can you safely measure the carbs? Am still new at all this & just getting used to the LowCarbsDiet by
trying to avoid my glutenfree bread&biscuits - surely I havent got to start measuring and weighing everything!
I'd never get out in my garden at all."

Liitlin
Majority of prepared meals and food have carbs on the packaging.
There ate good weighing scales that will convert your food to carb values if making your own food
There are books on carb values.

Personally, I have weighed and calculated most of my main meals... Yes and I admit to weighing and calculating even cucumber and lettuce!! Now I know what my food plates are, then I haven't reweighed since.



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Thank you - that helps. Have never heard of scales that convert to carbs. I'm not a techie person either so havent spent ages on www.
I never eat any ready food as they usually have gluten in & hadn'd thought of weighing salad things -
off to the booksite I go. :) Onwards & upwards......
 
When I get home this pm I will look to see the name of my weighing scales that are brilliant for telling me the carb value...


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Accu chek gave some Rosemary Conley EnerGi weighing scales when I got the pump. I just use them for weighing stuff when Im not sure what the carb value is for food and then use Collins Gem Calorie Counter or go to the web for carb values.

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Eat to your meter. Test every time you eat carbs and see how it influences you BG. That's the only measure of "low-carb" that really matters. Don't tie yourself up on definitions.

The non-metabolically deranged can handle 150g or more a day. Some of us (me included) can handle less than 50g.

Here is how Feinman, Volek, Phinney, Westman et al (probably the leading experts on low-carbohydrate) define it:

Low Carb is < 150g a day
Very Low Carb < 50g a day

Your mileage may vary.

Much of the controversy in the study of LCDs stems from a lack of a clear definition. The rationale of carbohydrate restriction is that, in response to lower glucose availability, changes in insulin and glucagon concentrations will direct the body away from fat storage and toward fat oxidation. There is a suggestion of a threshold effect, which has led to the clinical recommendation of very low concentrations of carbohydrate (<20–50 g/d) in the early stages of popular diets. This typically leads to the presence of measurable ketones in the urine and has been referred to as a very-low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet (VLCKD) or a low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet (LCKD). Potent metabolic effects are seen with such diets but, beyond the threshold response, there appears to be a continuous response to carbohydrate reduction. The nutritional intake of <200 g carbohydrate/d has been called an LCD, but most experts would not consider that to provide the metabolic changes associated with an LCKD. We suggest that LCD refers to a carbohydrate intake in the range of 50–150 g/d, which is above the level of generation of urinary ketones for most people.
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http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/86/2/276.full
 
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borofergie said:
I eat as much food as I want, when I want. The amount of food I eat is controlled only by my appetite. I don't count or measure anything other than carbohydrates.
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A few months ago I would have thought you were deranged. The only way I managed to keep my weight in check my entire life was by not eating what I wanted, when I wanted. By not letting my appetite control the amount of food I ate.

Any time I relinquished that rigid portion control, I would go up a dress size in a week or less. Blink, and you'd miss it. Having two morbidly obese parents (and on a Mediterranean diet too, no junk food at my house) makes me wonder whether I have a knack for adiposity. I don't know, and I won't speculate, least I'd be accused of trying to deflect responsibility.

However, I resent people who think it's just a matter of willpower. I gave up a 40 cigarettes a day habit, 10 years and counting. I climbed the Inca Trail with two toenails missing and bleeding nail beds. I spent days deep inside the Cambodian jungle on my own to avoid Khmer Rouge units. I got bitten by a snake, and I still remained hidden. Willpower is not something I lack, but life with an appetite incapable of being quiescent can grind you down.

One of the most amazing things that the LCHF regime has given me is an appetite that can say 'that's it, we're done'. Bliss.
 
Portion control to me means eating till I'm full, than stopping. And not eating anything just because it's there, because it's my favourite food or because it'll otherwise go to waste. That probably makes me a portion control liberal. But I make up for it by being a LCHF extremist - well under 50g a day. I don't weigh food any more, I just avoid everything my meter has told me will raise BS.

Kate
 
kesun said:
Portion control to me means eating till I'm full, than stopping. And not eating anything just because it's there, because it's my favourite food or because it'll otherwise go to waste. That probably makes me a portion control liberal. But I make up for it by being a LCHF extremist - well under 50g a day. I don't weigh food any more, I just avoid everything my meter has told me will raise BS.

Kate
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Ditto. That was my point when talking about portion control. There is no set size so the rational approach is low GI or low carb not eat what you like, just eat less! Don't know how many carbs I eat. Suspect it's very low as I mainly eat fish, eggs, dairy and veggies. I have discovered some 97% meat sausages from Asda which are rather lovely so I have one of those instead of 2 rashers of bacon. I am tempted to be a bit wild and make chocolate pots for tea!
 
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