Lo carb or not lo carb

sally and james

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Messages
1,093
Type of diabetes
Family member
Treatment type
Diet only
Yes. In fact I would say that it was essential to your future health. Have a look at dietdoctor.com and at the low carb forum on this site and then ask all the questions you need to.
Sally
 
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Oldvatr

Expert
Messages
8,470
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Tablets (oral)
First of all it is a matter of choice. No one here will mandate Lo carb, As it happens it is also unlikely anyone in the medical or diet profession will either. The Low Carb thread is a good one to start with, and also the Success Stories thread, where those who use LC will give their stories. We do try to lead by example, but there are some advocates of certain diets that may try to persuade you. There are many variations of Low Carb to try.

Do the research, then try it out gradually. I would advise timing the start to follow a diabetes screening appointment so that you know your weight, HbA1c, lipid panel etc. Then you can guage your own success for yourself.

Personally it works for me, and there are many here who will answer any questions you care to raise in any of the threads.
 

NoCrbs4Me

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Messages
3,700
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Other
Dislikes
Vegetables
Yes, a low carb/high fat diet is a good idea. @daisy1 will provide more info on type 2 diabetes for you.
 
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bulkbiker

BANNED
Messages
19,576
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Best thing to do is try it. Get your glucose monitor and see what effect it has. It works for me I have lowered my HbA1c levels from 87 at diagnosis(end of October 2015) to 45 in December 2015... having another test tomorrow before next meeting with Diabetes Nurse. Read the advice on the Low Carb thread on this site and got for it.. what do you have to loose apart from the 2 1/2 stone I have lost so far..
 
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Enclave

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Retired Moderator
Messages
2,602
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
I went LCHF and have after 18 months lost 5st and pushed my diabetes into remission ,,, Its a no brainer .. go low carb and change all your low fats foods for full fat .. I was eating between 20 to 30g of carbs a day .. now can eat a lot more with no effect on my bs.
Give it a try ... what do you have to loose ;)
 
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4ratbags

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,334
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Well worth giving it a go. I reduced my carbs gradually and Im now under 20gr a.day and my Hb results are.in the 30's. I find if I want the odd treat that.I can tolerate it better now. It can take a bit of time to adjust but it is a great way to eat.
 
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steve_p6

Well-Known Member
Messages
418
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I haven't got my head around the specifics of LCHF yet, I'm probably LCTMP - low carb too much protein. But the maxim of less carbs = smaller spikes is one to trust.
 
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pleinster

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Messages
1,631
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Diet only
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ignorance
I am in the - it's essential camp...but only arrived at that view after experimentation, lots of testing and keeping notes to see what worked and what didn't. While many are hesitant to stray from the NHS party line...some do. I waited months to see an NHS diabetes specialist and expected the usual general rubbish advice. When I showed him a breakdown of what I was eating in an average day (in terms of carbs, fats, protein, fibre, calories...) he was delighted and told me that as far as he was concerned this was the perfect approach to take and that low carb was the way forward and that all doctors should be placing emphasis on it.
 
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Kristin251

Expert
Messages
5,334
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
I have no BS control with any carbs other than above ground green veg. As a T1 or T2, it is the best way to bring down BG. We all have different goals but it will be hard to achieve STEADY NON diabetic numbers eating carbs
 
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daisy1

Legend
Messages
26,457
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Cruelty towards animals.
@Fingers83/4

Hello and welcome to the forum :) Here is the information we give to new members which contains a lot of advice about carbs which you should find useful. Ask as many questions as you need to 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 over 150,000 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

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

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

LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program


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 bloodglucose 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.
 

Robbity

Expert
Messages
6,683
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
For me a low carb high(er) fat diet was the obvious choice once I realised that it was all carbohydrates and not just sugar I had to be wary of, as they both end up as glucose, and that's what raises glucose levels. I'd always eaten full fat food all my life (only exception ever being skimmed milk) so it was not too difficult to make the switch, and it was a n excellent reason to insist on a more healthy diet than I'd been obliged to eat for a number of years.

Robbity
 
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Daibell

Master
Messages
12,642
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi. If you have diabetes you will generally need to reduce the carbs in your diet as being diabetic means in effect you are glucose intolerant. The reduction in carbs needed will vary depending on the extent of your diabetes. A meter is essential to help you determine this.
 

Nickzzz

Member
Messages
5
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi, I was diagnosed in November 2015 with type 2 diabetes - no medication yet just diet controlled.
I have found the advice and information on this site invaluable. I started on a low carb diet, which is tricky, but I will hopefully get better at this.

Had my three month checkup and I reached most initial targets set by my diabetic nurse and my weight is slowly going down - she tells me to continue doing what I have been and says it is ok for me to do low carbs as long as it is not zero carbs.

However had my first training session and low carbs were not even an option. Also where I had changed some foods for example I now use coconut oil - was told this was full of the wrong type of fat and it is better to use olive based spread. Confusing as I have been trying to avoid processed foods.

Nov 2015
Blood Sugar level = 26; HbA1c = 104; Cholesterol = 5;
Jan 2016
Blood Sugar level = between 8 and 6; HbA1c = 57; Jan 2016 = 4.5 [ target was 4 - so missed this one]
Weight lost
11kg so far - a struggle, but avoiding future health issues gives one heck of an incentive!


Hopefully I can keep going with this and get my Blood Sugar levels down further.
Thank you
 

Mrs Vimes

Well-Known Member
Messages
673
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
@Nickzzz I weight train and do hiit on lchf. I haven't had any problems with progression. I'm type 1. My trainer asks about my diet but leaves me to it. You don't need to carb load.
 
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seadragon

Well-Known Member
Messages
316
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
i do weight training and HIITs and am planning on running a 10K race and have never felt a need for carbs. I sometimes get up and run 3 miles without having eaten anything and I still don't feel hungry. You don't need carbs for training but it is ingrained in many trainers to talk about carb loading etc. have a look at the dietdoctor.com website where there is lots of information on training on low carb high fat diets.

Also pure virgin coconut oil is wonderful stuff. Olive oil is good when used cold but should not be used at high temps as it breaks down into less good stuff. Coconut oil is great for frying. I think coconut oil has something called medium chain triglycerides which break down differently to most saturated fats. anyway it's all good!
 
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Nickzzz

Member
Messages
5
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Stuck to low carb yesterday and this morning my BS is 5.3
The lowest I have recorded so far... crumbs!
 
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