LOW CARB DIET - A NEWBIES GUIDE

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ditzeeblonde

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Polyols have a no affect as carbs... the only thing you have to watch out for with them is if you eat too much you can get the polytrots!! :shock:
 

bbigH

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Hi
I have been type2 for 10 years now and try to follow the advice on here having previously followed my doctors starch diet.I was put on pioglitazone 6months ago having been on the maximum metformin and gliclazide plus felodapine lisinaprol and statins for high bp.On thusday 4/3/2010 i am having an angiogram because of chd.I came off the pioglitazone a month ago(it put 2 stone on me in a month i also had irregular heartbeat and angina.Following the advice on diet from this forum ie low carb blood sugars are much better.Wish I had this information earlier.This is my first post and hope I will be around to post others.Thank you for a great forum .BBigH
 

Dennis

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ditzeeblonde said:
Polyols have a no affect as carbs... the only thing you have to watch out for with them is if you eat too much you can get the polytrots!! :shock:

Sorry ditzeeblonde but you have been misinformed about polyols. All but two of them convert to glucose in your blood. Some are worse than others, but the only ones that don’t increase your blood sugar are the two that have a GI of zero. This is a list of the most commonly found ones and their GIs:
Maltitol (in syrup form) 52
Polyglycitol 39
Maltitol 36
Xylitol 13
Isomalt 9
Sorbitol 9
Lactitol 6
Erythritol 0
Mannitol 0

But you are absolutely right about the side effects - many of the commonly used Polyols were originally developed as laxatives and it was only later realised that they could be used as sweeteners!
 

lowthian20

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Comments on Low carb diet - a newbies guide

Hi
It is either my age, too much insulin or a combination of both. Although I get the basics of low carbs I cannot grasp what a good diet is for insulin used. I have been type 1 for about 40 years and have an average reading of around the 8% mark. I take 8u Actrapid am 10u Actrapid lunch 10u Actrapid 6pm and 26u Lantus 9pm. Pretty much healthy diet breakfast 2 toast or porridge, lunch either salad or 2 sandwhiches dinner is meat & veg or the occasional fry up. I want to get my insulin intake down and also reduce my average blood readings - so what sort of food intake should I be having on a low carb regime.

Thanks in advance
 
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cugila

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Re: Comments on Low carb diet - a newbies guide

We have done a 'Spring Clean' on this thread after splitting it from
'Low Carb Diet - a Newbies Guide.'

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lowthian20

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Re: Comments on Low carb diet - a newbies guide

Hi
I think that I am getting my head around the principles of a low card diet and the benefits which it should bring. However I am somewhat of a traditionist when it comes to food, i.e. breakfast, lunch and supper
I quite possibly could live on vegtables and salads with no problem. I do however like bread and potatoes.
I have just looked at the content of a loaf of bread which says the carbs are 15.1 per slice of which sugers represent 1.7 per slice. So therefore does this mean if I am going to go on a low carb diet of between 50 to 90 carbs a day I could have 6 slices of bread, or the eqivilant a day and then just bulk up with salad vegtables poultry fish etc

Cheers

Andy
 

daisy1

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Re: Comments on Low carb diet - a newbies guide

I started reading this from page 1. It seems that we are missing the key post from Fergus which is mentioned in the first three posts on page 1 and others further along. Would it be possible to include it?
 

maddiemo

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Re: Comments on Low carb diet - a newbies guide

H Hi. I have desided to go low carb I feel better not eating lots of carbs. I am not a diabetic but I am pre-diabetic and a kidney transplant patient so really have to be so careful what I eat. The Dr said I should do my sugar level ever day then make an appointment at the Dr with the diabetic nurse. I am finding it so confusing trying to work out how to go about this. My blood this morning was 6-3 and last night two hours after chinese it was 11.4 is this high. Its mostly 5.7 before breakfast and two hours after eating my diner its about 8.5 does that look good or bad?

I have ordered low carb book should get it this week.

Any advice will be welcome.
 

sugarless sue

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Re: Comments on Low carb diet - a newbies guide

Because of your transplant you MUST discuss this with your transplant team and a dietician. Certain aspects of low carbing may not be suitable for you such as eating more protein and higher levels of fats. If you can work out a reduced carb diet with help from your team it may help you. Below is the advice we give to newly diagnosed Type 2's . Some of it may be of help but you MUST get professional input before using any of it.

Here is the advice we usually give to newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics.This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different.

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

The main carbs to avoid or reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, starchy root veg and also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

The way to find out how different foods effect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating then two hours after eating you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels. Some foods, which are slow acting carbohydrates, are absorbed more slowly so you may need to test three or even four hours later to see the affect that these have on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.

As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try !!

As a Type 2 the latest 2010 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l.
2 hrs after meals......no more than 8.5 mmol/l.
If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do 30 minutes moderate exercise a day. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

Sue/Ken.
 

nikkihc

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Re: Comments on Low carb diet - a newbies guide

Hello, I'm a newbie too.. 2 weeks in!

I found a great website that is, so far, is the only one thats giving me the info I need i.e. how many carbs in a cup of tea, goats cheese v cheddar etc. Plus it also gives fats incl Monunsaturated, Polyunsaturated per 100g and per portion, even vitamins (I've had to learn what these fats are v quickly!)

http://www.carb-counter.org

I have been trying to be "low GI" without actually carb counting and whilst I've been ok I'm averaging bloods of 7.5 So today I started counting carbs and so far ok... fingers crossed....

This forum is a great read... thanks everyone for your comments, I'm an avid reader of this site now.
 

sugarless sue

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Re: Comments on Low carb diet - a newbies guide

http://www.carb-counter.org

This is an American site and they calculate their carbs differently to the UK.

 It is therefore the ECC number on their carb calculations that you need to be equivalent to the total carbs on UK packaging.
 

nikkihc

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Re: Comments on Low carb diet - a newbies guide

Ahhh, thanks Sugarless Sue... I looked everywhere to see if it was US or UK site.

Do you know any good UK sites?
 

sugarless sue

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Re: Comments on Low carb diet - a newbies guide

The Collins Gem carb or calorie counter book is good, pocket-sized so you can take it with you, costs about £3.99.

The Calorie, Carb, and Fat Bible 2010 which is NOT pocket-sized and more expensive is better.
 

papercup85

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Re: Comments on Low carb diet - a newbies guide

If someone has a lactose intolerance, they avoid dairy, if someone has ceoliacs, they avoid wheat and gluten. Diabetes, (I am mainly speaking about type 1 as that is what I have lived with for 20yrs,) is essentially an intolerance to sugar. Break the most complex carbohydrates down and they are made up of simple sugars. so it makes sense to limit the amount of carbohydrate diabetics consume.
The following link explains calorie restricted diets leading to a longer life which although not directly linked to low carb diets may still be of interest to some readers.

http://www.crsociety.org/
 

gjpitt

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Re: Comments on Low carb diet - a newbies guide

Firstly, thanks to fergus for this guide.

I was diagnosed two and a half years ago after a fasting test of BG 17. I quickly went through to the maximum of metformin and glycazide and got down to those 3 monthly checks at 9. I requested insulin and went onto Lantus which I took up to 108 units per day in two bits. Then I got them to add Apidra which has now got my metered average down to around BG 5.5-5.7. I never thought I'd ever see those figures. Now to the problem....

I am disabled and in a wheelchair and not able to exercise. I am overweight at 18 stone and both want and need to lose weight. When I was first diagnosed they said you mustn't have anything with sugar in it - fine but it made no difference to anything. When I went onto insulin they said I'd put on weight and watch those carbs. I count the carbs to guage the fast acting insulin I need but it is extremely difficult to reduce the weight. Looking at the low carb type diet - I think I can do it but what about eating fruit. I thought fruit was very bad for us, full of sugar etc.

Anyone else lost weight without exercise?
 

demiswan

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Re: Comments on Low carb diet - a newbies guide

I followed low carb for about four years, since becoming type 2 and felt great after many years of not feeling well much of time, very thirsty, but not able to have medical attention or help (not sure if that's so bad now). I found out I was type 2 officially when I returned to live in the UK and had a medical. Anyway, NHS dietician advised less rigid diet and started intaking about 150 carbs a day as opposed to 75 self-imposed diet carbs. My bloods went through the sky for a season and I had difficulty staying under 13 and was regularly 16. I have returned to my former low-carb and my bloods came back down to between 8-9 now. Still, my goal is 6-7. Anyone any ideas to get to my goal? Herbs, supplements? Not taking anything except 3 metformins right now.

I thought I was on my own in this, but then discovered your site. Great encouragement to be in touch with your diabetes and take total responsibility for yourself, diet, exercise, and more I think.
I took off 42 lbs (19.2Kilos) over two years and started to exercise by cycling regularly. What a difference. Bikes are great, especially when you get older. I'm in my sixties.
 

cinnamon

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Re: Comments on Low carb diet - a newbies guide

Thank you Fergus, Sugarless Sue, for all the brilliant advices.

One thing puzzles me though, on the question of 'fat':

Fergus (and other entries/articles) seems to suggest that we should eat fat. Breakfast menu I read somewhere in this community also seemed to glorify the virtue of 'fat'.

Fergus wrote:

"What about cholesterol?
…..
Insulin and glucose combine to raise triglycerides and lower HDL, which is why a low fat, high carbohydrate diet may actually increase heart disease risk..."

My doctor has banned me from eating fat, from chicken skin, bacon fat, red meat fat, pork crackling.

What shall I do about 'fat'? I actually rather like eating them as they are tasty and they give flavour.

Thank you for your help.
cinnamon (had bland marrow in clear LEAN beef soup for dinner, BG 6.9 2 hours after)
 

CollieBoy

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Re: Comments on Low carb diet - a newbies guide

Cinamon,
I don't want to disillusion you but doctors are not always right.Their opinions can be coloured by training, dogma, or prejudice! :cry:
 
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