Is low/no carb possible

[lrw60]

Is a low carb, or even a no carb, diet possible? I 'lost' my diabetes last year after losing 5 stones in weight on a WeightWatchers diet. Now I am realising that it might return if I don't watch my carbs. So, how far can we go? I am a vegitarian, almost a vegan but I drink milk, so a meat rich diet is out. My breakfast has been for years 60grms porage and 1/2 pint semi-skimmed milk and a WW yoghurt. Lunch is usually a banana with a kiwi and grapes and some Elmlea single light cream. I always had either 2 slices of bread and butter or 2 slices of bread with my evening meal, with the same fruit and cream as before. If I had a lowish calorie meal then I would spoil myself with 1/2 a tin of Morrisons cheap rice pud with a dollop of strawberry jam. I haven't tried to count the carbs of an avarage day, just the WW 'points' I lost the weight and the diabetes, but could I have done more? I now have 30 g porage with 1/4p semi, and only one slice of bread. A small start so any advice would be appreciated.
Lee :thumbup:

 

[MARTLONDON]

I have been low carbing since October last year and its working for me so far i have lost 22lbs I manage on 30g ish of carbs a day which i have for bfast and some but very little in lunch

bfast 2x slices burgeon bread with sliced cheese and slice beef BG reading after bfast this morning was 5.7

Lunch home-made chicken and veg curry ( no rice or pasta) BG readings after lunch between 5.7 and 6.4

Dinner chicken/or other meat with veg BG reading after dinner 5.7
so yes i think its possible but does depend on the individual

Mart

 

[hanadr]

IRW 60
It's perfectly possible to be well on a zero carb diet, but not easy as all processed foods and many natural ones contain starches or sugars.
We have NO dietary requirement for either sugars or starches. If anyone tells you otherwist ask them to show you the evidence. I've seqarched for years and found NONE and I'm good at searching and I know how to read scientific jounals.
Protein is essential, without it you develop Kwashiokor!
Vitamin D and Vitamin B group is essential Vitamin A is essentilal Lack of any of these produces specifc symptoms. There are no symptoms described for starch or sugar deficiencies.
It's a pity they taste nice!
Hana

 

[lrw60]

I might start another post labelled 'Good carb/bad carb'. My porridge that I used to have 60grms of had a carb value per 100g of 60.4g of which sugar was 1.5g. Is all that carb bad carb? I also sprinked it with sweetner which as far as I know is zero carb. It might be ok for me to have a reasonable amount of carbs now, and it didn't hurt as I was losing weight, but I am thinking to the future. Any help with deciding what to do about carbs would be greatly appreciated.
Lee

 

[hanadr]

IRW 60
I hate/loathe porridge, but also there's no way I could handle 60g of it at one meal without lots of medicine.
I don't know what good or bad carbs are: Porridge is a cereal which contains starch. Starch is a carb. There's a lot of imprecission in the use of language on this subject. Sugars and starches are carbohydrates. So is dietary fibre, which, being indigestible, may be a good carb. Vegetables are vegetables, fruits are fruits. They contain either sugars or starches.
To undrstand nutrition properly, you need to know precisely what you mean and the safest way to do so is to use terms scientifically.
Hana
Potatoes are vegetables which contain starch. They are NOT carbs.
Hana

 

[lrw60]

Thanks for that Hana. I find the carb thing a bit of a minefield. I am now left wondering if perhaps I was doing the wrong thing having 60g of porridge in the morning, perhaps it was the porridge making me feel so weak! I thought it was an ideal food because it was high in 'good' carbs and low in 'bad' sugar. Your comments make me want to look into this some more.
Lee

 

[PhilT]

Thanks for that Hana. I find the carb thing a bit of a minefield. I am now left wondering if perhaps I was doing the wrong thing having 60g of porridge in the morning
Lee

I had 25g of oat bran as porridge this morning and it took my blood sugar to 9,3 so I won't be doing that again.

 

[elviscole]

I find that if I have cereals for breakfast, my sugar level goes high 7s to 8s but if I stay with porridge with the tablespoon of cinnamon I vary rarely go past 6,


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[lrw60]

I have started to re-adjust my thinking. I still don't understand fully what is good and what isn't, so for the moment I am reducing my overall carb intake per day. I calculated that up until a week ago my carbs were about 200grms per day. That might be ok for a 'normal' person, but not for me! I have now reduced that to between 125 and 150g per day. Still high I know but as a vegitarian I can't just eat veg, I have to eat some processed foods which have a high-ish carb value. Still making sence of all the help available on this forum, and reading of others who have the same fight helps too. I looked up some high protein veg last night in my calorie, fat and carb bible to find out which has a good balance of protein against carbs. I also looked at the the carb values for beef, not that I intend eating any, it was zero. Meat eaters must find it much easier to keep their carb count down. I try to grow as much veg as I can each year. I was looking forward to a bumper crop of spuds, is that still a good idea? I will now go out and buy the seeds I need to grow 'good' veg. I did raise my porridge intake back up to 60g until I could find better ways of getting through the day. I am slowly reducing the amount now by about 5 or 10g per week until I find a better breakfast food. I used to have a banana, kiwi and handfull of grapes with elmlea single cream for lunch and sometimes after my evening meal. I now know that the banana and grapes were not a good idea, the kiwi and cream were ok though. I switched to a slice of bread with peanut butter and either beetroot (try it before you scream NO!!!) or peanut butter and vegi cheese. I will look for an alternative to bread, some sort of cracker? Any suggestions would be appreciated. I intend to get my carbs under 100g per day, and then work my way lower if I can.
Lee.

 

[Vern]

Hi Lee!

I keep my carbs under 50g a day by doing the following. Eliminate all breads, rice, white starch. For eg. Breakfast for me is a small Apple and a piece of Fish, you could use nuts or Cheese. Lunch I have a "free veggie" and Chicken Soup, you could add Chickpeas instead of Chicken? Supper is Fish and a big Salad. You could once gain use Soya Protein/Beans. As you can see its really easy once you KNOW good carbs and bad ones. This way of living is not for everybody but I find it keeps me really stable, under 7.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[goose64]

I love these no carb ideas but the cost is prohibitive for anyone on a limited income. a small portion of my muesli cost around 30p - & have you tried spag bol without the spag? it's a bowl of mince!!

So I'm sticking to my reduced carb diet & trying so hard to ignore those hot cross buns in the cupboard - hubby cough wholemeal ones so I could have one - bless

 

[timps]

Potatoes.

HALF a CUP diced raw =12 GRAM ( effective net carbohydrate) + 2 grams fiber = 58 cals.

hope that helps