• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Background Retinopathy

It is a complete myth that the human body needs a certain amount of carbs to function properly. There are essential fatty acids, essential proteins but there is no such thing as an essential carbohydrate.
 
The first thing to focus on is that background retinopathy does not affect your eyesight and does not need treatment. It takes time to develop so if you do have it (no screening test is 100% accurate), it suggests you have been diabetic for a few years during which time you haven't been able to focus on good diabetic control as you weren't aware you had diabetes. To reduce the risk of progression to more serious retinopathy, work on keeping good control of blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol. it may be a good idea not to improve your blood sugar control too rapidly as this may cause progression. http://www.diabeticretinopathy.org.uk/retinopathyprogression.htm

As you are only 32, if you do choose to follow a low carb/high fat diet, you may need to be more careful about which fats/sources of fats you choose than someone who develops diabetes at 60 as you have a greater life expectancy and so would have longer to be exposed to whatever diet you choose. Regarding the need for '140g carbohydrate', although some organs have an absolute requirement for glucose, this can be manufactured within the body by a process known as gluconeogenesis so people can eat less than this.
 
Back
Top