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How many grams of carbs is recommended?

  • Thread starter Thread starter CelalDari
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CelalDari

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Apparently around 50% of your insulin should be from basal and the remaining from bolus.

I take 16u Lantus and adjust my NovoRapid to my meals.

When using a 1:10 ratio, I am recommended 160g of carbs a day. Is this not too high?

I’m thinking of going lower, doing 120g, 20g breakfast, 60g lunch, 40g dinner

Also some negligible amounts of carbs from snacks (nuts and seeds) which I don’t count into the daily allowance because there is no effect on blood glucose (personally)
 
The 50:50 split isn’t necessarily set in stone, it was a guideline a long time ago. I’m about 90% basal as I eat very low carb.

Basal should be just enough to keep your levels steady through the day and night; bolus for whatever carbs you choose to eat. google basal testing and once you get the foundation right, you can eat what you like and it’s easier to get the bolus right.
 
The whole basal/bolus ratio has never made any sense to me anyways, the whole point of MDI is so that you're not stuck to the same amount of carbs each day so the bolus amount will differ if you vary your carbs.

For myself the ratio goes anywhere between 40 basal:60 bolus (lower carb days) to 30:70 (higher carb days) to 25:75 (ok maybe those are pigging out days :)). Obviously these numbers are personal to me, everyone is different.
At the moment my basal is up slightly form normal as well due to lockdown and having a cold for the last few weeks that I cant shift (great time for a cold that involves a cough - I'll get the evil eye if I step outside!)

One time (about 15 years ago ago where I didn't know nearly so much) the DN at the hospital was insisting that it should be closer to 50:50, so said I should try increasing my basal by 2 units every other night until i got to that 50/50 mark, well after the first two nights I was waking up in a monster hypo each morning so then went and ignored that 50/50 advice and went back to what I was on before (I think it was 30/70 given what I was eating at the time)
 
I would say work out whatever is right for YOU instead of adhering to some 'average' ratio. I understand that at first they have to give you a guideline ratio because we all have to start somewhere. However when you are happy and able to work out your own response then as LooperCat says, once you get your basal right the bolus is a lot more flexible and can be adjusted depending on what you eat, etc. As for the amount of carbs?, please yourself, some find fewer carbs are better for them and some find higher carbs can be coped with. Additionally, I find it's best to keep an eye on fasting levels as you go along just in case your basal needs change because of taking fewer bolus units to accommodate lower carbs. x
 
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