Low carb & type 1

[Bradsparky]

I feel compelled to write a little about the guides and advice given by Diabetes specialists in the Uk notably South Wales. I have been type 1 diabetic for over 39 years and during that time I have ALWAYS been told by the specialists to eat carbohydrates and administer insulin to keep the blood glucose in check. I have piled the pounds on over the last 10 years and have tried several diets and go to the gym or swim at least 4-5 times a week. I have been told that I have developed insulin resistance and therefore I am administering a huge amount of insulin to keep my sugar levels (80-100 units a day.)
I have recently asked the diabetic department about low carb eating and they have no plan to follow and put me in touch with the hospital dietician who was extremely unhelpful and had nothing to offer either.
It seems logical that if I don't eat carbs and sugars then I won't need to administer as much insulin and therefore may start to loose weight?
I am now convinced that low carb is the only way forward especially having read so many success stories on here.
I need to reduce the insulin intake!!
The NHS is killing us with their advice and when I offered an alternative that might work I got a shrug of the shoulders.
I was told that there was a medical experiment being done with diabetics and low carb eating and that results were due soon.
Has anyone heard of this?
Can Ketosis be achieved by diabetics on the low carb diet? (NOT KETOACIDOSIS)
I tried low carb before and could never get to the ketosis stage where the ketones start to use the fat as an energy source.
I know I am babbling on but could do with some reassurance that the low carb diet might well work for me.
Thanks in advance for any help and guidance.

 

[donnellysdogs]

I can tell you 100% that low carb for type 1 works. I also lived in South Wales and know that the nurses telling me to eat porridge or toast for a breakfast were wrong....and double my size as well!!!
I was under Carmarthen CCG. It was the only time in my life that I have gone above a size 10.

I've been a lower carber for best part of 50 years and T1 30+ years.

(I did have exceptionally good care though and no problems getting a pump within 2 weeks due to a hypo incident!).

I never test to see if I'm in ketosis as I have problems keeping weight on....

I have added more fat in to my diet from advice on this forum but this is purely in the form of olives, avocado, oily fish and large qtys of olive oil dressing. I did try adding heavier creams and cheese but I wasn't happy with the cholesterol results.

When I was eating more carbs my insulin usage was more.... Both with basal and bolus.

I was brought up with minimal bread, potatoes etc and never ate pasta but rice occasionaly with a takeaway. I now have slow colonic transit and any bread etc gives me huge problems but as I never used to eat it I'm not bothered. The only thing I think I miss is that I used to have time off and enjoy Xmas pud and Xmas cake but I daren't eat that now as I know it won't process through my stomach...

So yes.. Low carbing is possible. My nurse at my current hospital in England also low carbs and is 100% behind me for eating the food that I do... So it was lovely to get a change in attitude last coupl months when for the first real time ever I was asked how I keep myself slim and healthy!!! She was horrified that diabetes nurse and others could suggest that carbs were necessary!!!

Hope this helps....

 

[Dillinger]

You're doing the right thing; many Type 1's use low-carbing to sort out their blood sugars and control. I've not seen any evidence anywhere that this is anything other than a solution to our problems.

Ketosis is quite difficult to maintain at deep levels; don't worry about it too much. Once you start metabolising fat for fuel as opposed to glucose then things will start improving; I don't often see ketones in my urine (I don't look that much either though) because like many things one's body will adapt to the new situation. Normally, you might expect to get moderate ketones as you enter the low-carbing phase and then they drop once you are on a maintenance diet unless you 'fat fast' or the like.

The key thing is dropping your insulin requirements, balancing your blood sugars and thereby improving outcomes.

Buy The Diabetes Solution by Dr Bernstein for a step by step guide. Follow what he suggests and then adapt to suit your lifestyle.

Always ignore dieticians.

We have to take responsibility for our blood sugars and our management. You'll see that the annual diabetic audit released by the NHS shows that something like 93% of Type 1 diabetics fail to get HbA1c's below 6.5% in old money. That is appalling. Don't take advice from people whose advice leads to those sorts of results...

Best

Dillinger

 

[mrspuddleduck]

You know that saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks". Well its 2015 and the NHS are just saying that sugar is bad for children's teeth! Give them another 20 years and they will declare there is a relationship between carbs and high blood sugars!! Sue xxx

 

[Dillinger]

What's interesting about this sudden 'doh! Sugar is bad' advice is how un-joined up the thinking is.

Table sugar gets broken down into fructose and glucose.

Which of those is the problem? Can't be fructose can it? That fruit sugar? Which comes from all those healthy fruits that we we are advised to eat daily?

So, it must be the glucose. The same molecule that every single digestible bit of all those 'heart healthy' grains is broken down into in our guts...

Our bodies don't distinguish between glucose from Coca Cola and glucose from porridge.

If glucose is the problem then carbohydrates are the problem; you can't have it both ways!

By the way; fructose is a problem too however 'healthy' the idea of fruit is. Fructose may even be more a problem than glucose as it is metabolised in a different way; essentially it gets turned straight to fat in the liver.

Best

Dillinger

 

[Bradsparky]

Thank you Dillinger for the Dr Bernstein info.
I have just viewed some very informative youtube videos of him and ordered his books as you suggested.
He mentions a treatment using Victosa that suppresses the appetite for carbs for his patients and that he has seen fantastic results using this treatment. I am pretty sure however that this wouldn't be available for us in the UK!
Again thanks for the info
Regards

 

[smag3]

I have been type 1 for 50 years and low carbing for about 3months now. Best decision I ever made. My bg levels are brilliant, pretty much a straight line 5.5 with the odd glitch obviously! I am never hungry, I never ate much sugar stuff before so don't crave that. Occasionally crave pasta or bread but hey! Am losing a nice steady 1lb a week at the moment.
Diabetic nurse says it won't last and I am doing long term damage. SERIOUSLY?
Best book I have bought is Eat Fat by Dr Trudi Deakin. Found the others a bit over informative!
Just do it! You will be so glad.