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Atkins for type 1?

Emmotha

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,123
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi all

Need some (non-judgemental) advice.

I keep falling off my low carb band wagon at work because so busy not getting much time to make good choices.


What are your thoughts on the low carb protein shakes? I'd Atkins or similar(?) as a convenient breakfast or whatever?
 
No idea about Atkins, but post-gym (or just when I want a low-carb treat) I have one scoop of MyProtein's impact whey protein vanilla blended with Alpro soya light milk. It is delicious - literally tastes like a rich, full-fat, sugar-loaded milkshake but has just 1.3g of carbs for the powder and about 0.2g carbs for 200ml of the milk. It's super filling, delivers 21g of protein and has no effect whatsoever on my blood sugar. I'd recommend it!
 
I think Atkins is good if you have the willpower. I did paleo but I couldn't do it for too long because of willpower and because of cravings but it works for weight loss
 
Whey powder comes in a variety of tastes and flavours and I would recommend in preference to an Atkins shake..
I'm T1 and if exceptionally run off my feet will have a protein drink.
I used to sometimes just have a complan drink if I needed calories...and extra vitamins. As I'm lean my purpose is to actually try to have extra calories. I'm
A low carber anyway, and I only eat once a day anyway so this was purely to try and give me extra without stopping and because I never have hunger to make me want to eat.

I don't lose or gain weight by having a protein shake.... It is just purely something to keep weight on me and was convenient at times to have.
 
I agree with @donnellysdogs - during the training programme I've been doing on and off for the last nine months, there have been times when I've not really wanted to eat much, so I've turned to protein shakes.

It's worth looking at the Bulk Powders Complete Range. Both their Chocolate Cookie and Strawberry flavours are very drinkable, especially when mixed with unsweetened Almond milk, both are very low carb, and neither is pure whey, which means they take longer to absorb. One note of caution is that you will definitely need insulin with them, as I've noted in posts before. Protein shakes (especially pure whey) do cause a glucagon reaction in type 1s.

Otherwise, I'd say there is no issue at all with them. The other thing you can do, if you have a blender is add unsweetened smooth peanut butter to them to slow down the protein uptake and (if using a chocolate shake) make a very filling, chocolate peanut meal replacement.
 
I use bulk powders...
 
I'd also add that using a blender to mix protein shakes is also a very good idea, if possible, because it makes a much smoother shake with fewer lumps.

Second point to note is always try and wash cups/mixing implements immediately after they are used. Protein shake leftovers start to really pong if left for a few hours. And when I say pong I mean it will make your eyes water if you leave a plastic cup with the lid on in an office over the weekend. It's really hard to get the smell out of the plastic if you forget and usually needs a number of runs through the dishwasher!
 
I find Atkins products to be generally unappealing; the milk shakes are ok but really expensive. The low-carb snacks they do don't seem to me to be particularly low-carb as they tend to spike my blood sugars.

Give the shakes a go and see how you like them and how they affect your blood sugars but the Bulk Powders idea seems good as you could premix them and tart them up a bit with other things.

These Quest Bars claim to have only 4 grams of carb per bar but there seems to be some dispute as to how true that is

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...sfl_title_5?&ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AKRBDGJN4LXWJ

Best

Dillinger
 
I'm coming to the conclusion that protein bars lie on their carb content. I've tried multiple different ones, and I think my initial reaction that they spiked due to glucagon (as whey shakes do) may be incorrect.

Having read the ingredients, many contain things like Isomalto-oligosaccharide, which are considered to be digestion resistant carbohydrates and are not shown in the carbohydrate line, however, the total calories don't stack up from the macros they show in the nutritional information.

There is therefore something else not being shown that is making up calories, and I suspect it is these supposedly "empty" bulking carbohydrates that do affect diabetic bg levels.

Incidentally, these aren't present in the whey protein shakes!
 
No Idea about Atkins - but I have used just regular protein powder purchased on bodybuilding.com blended with various other foods (fruits, oats, etc.) and they have always been fine.

There are many brands of protein powder that are made of whey isolate, casien or whey composite that taste fantastic with <5g of carbs per scoop (each scoop is usually ~20g of protein, plus a hefty amount of vitamins and nutrients)

I have never seen anything crazy from my BS afterwards, and if you make them properly they can be fairly filling.
 
What's sugar alcohol and how come it's listed not under net carbs (American product)
 
Sugar alcohol is a no carb sweetner used to replace sugar in products. Its should not be counted when bolusing as it does not affect blood sugars.
 
Diamattic said:
Sugar alcohol is a no carb sweetner used to replace sugar in products. Its should not be counted when bolusing as it does not affect blood sugars.
Click to expand...
Things like malitol, sorbitol, etc are sugar alcohols. There is disagreement over whether they raise blood sugars. Some find they do. They have laxative effects though.
 
tim2000s said:
Things like malitol, sorbitol, etc are sugar alcohols. There is disagreement over whether they raise blood sugars. Some find they do. They have laxative effects though.
Click to expand...

Don' go scaring people lol The laxative effects are only if you eat a lot of it, a single protein bar or a couple scoops of whey each day shouldn't be noticeable ... At least I have never had any negative side effects from sugar substitutes.

But perhaps read through these Amazon reviews of Sugar Free ***** Bears if you want a good laugh lol

http://www.amazon.com/Haribo-Sugar-Free-*****-Bears/product-reviews/B008JELLCA
 
I've experienced the side effects of two bars. My stomach inflates and my guts are very uncomfortable for five or six hours.
 
I've had really bad unconfortable distention in my stomach (I do have slow colonic transit though-so thought it was another food for me to avoid!!)... And felt like trapped wind. Could actually feel the bar travelling and digesting in my stomach...

Thought it was just me though. Thankfully didn't solidify in my stomach though!!
 
I am so glad I found this thread. My problem is insulin sensitivity which is at its worst during the afternoon. My pump is set to give 0.02 units/hour for 4 hours each afternoon. It gets worse in cold weather - I need more insulin in the summer, which makes things easier. I have to take more care to avoid hypos in the winter, so I am going to try protein drinks, which had never occurred to me before. Maybe I will have a glucagon effect? I'm quite looking forward to some cold weather now, so I can try it out!
 

Try peanuts, and peanut butter as well as other carby nuts - like cashews. They will raise your BS a little bit and keep it there for a while because they are low glycemic index. So in that respect - try any low GI food.

Also - eating to many peanuts will raise your BS a lot and keep it there as well, so i'd say start with about a small palm size, and go up from there until you find an amount that keeps you stable.
 
I use the Atkins pre packed shakes for breakfast, they keep me going better than most shakes however they do raise my blood sugars quite considerably which I can never understand as they claim to contain 1.3g of carbs. For eg. this morning waking BS of 7.1, drink a shake then two hours later 12.5, this is quite typical. I found a similar shake in Holland and Barratt called Uslim, which is cheaper, contains 5g of carbs and doesn't raise levels to any degree as high as the Atkins shake.
 
Thanks for that tip Diamattic. I love cashew nuts, so sticking to just the right amount might be a problem!
 
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