Hi all
I hope all is well,
I am on (NovoRapid before meals and Lantus in the morning)
I’m fairly new to this so would appreciate the help.
I have read online and in books that meat and proteins boost (over approximately 3-5hours) the release of glucagon to break down glycogen. My diabetes nurse told me not to inject for proteins and anything that has too low carbs like most vegetables salads and stuff.
But in a book I have read that it is a good idea to have insulin for the meats that will increase glucose in the blood a few hours later.
Are the two contradicting each other? Do people inject for meat? And in the case where they are not contradicting opinions, is this because my Lantus in the morning is enough to absorb any glucose from the meat?
Thank you!
I am 18 years old and have been diagnosed for a month and a half now. I haven’t spoken to my dietician once because I don’t know why but I’ve never met her even though I stayed in hospital for 4 days and she has failed to call me several times despite my diabetes consultant always saying she will.
As a result I have self-taught everything regarding carb-count, bolusing and so forth. I have used an online tool from Diabetes UK:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1...size_e0d41266-5921-48ba-9945-2f4053e89398.pdf
It is a bit long but it should clear any questions you have. However I want to help with the questions you are asking.
The first thing you should know is that it is important you eat adequate carbohydrates while bolusing with a mixture of rapid, intermediate and long acting carbohydrates. Your NovoRapid peaks in an hour so if you had a bean burger for dinner with no bun and some vegetables then your blood sugar is likely to go low. It is all about matching the glucose peak with insulin peak. That’s why you may want to add a rapid acting carbohydrate to your meal e.g. an apple, some potatoes etc. The whole purpose is to increase your blood sugar while the intermediate and long acting carbs release their glucose so you don’t go hypo.
I am studying biology next year at university so I don’t want to bore you too much of the science but... there’s a process in your body know as gluconeogenesis which is the production of glucose from alternative energy sources like proteins and fats. The process is long which is why many people on ketogenic diets feel low in energy. If you are eating a protein-only meal then do not bolus because you will go low. Instead wait for the next meal and if it is too high then bolus for the meal and give a correction dose. Your body only burns fat and proteins for energy if you don’t eat enough carbohydrates which is rare unless you are on some sort of very low carb diet. The recommendation is that 50% of your calories should come from carbohydrates. But as a diabetic I recognise the need we need for reduce our carbs so I’d say anywhere between 30-50% of calories should come from carbs.
In terms of your Lantus. The long acting insulin is there to cover the basal or basic glucose released from the liver on a daily basis. Many people are unsure what affects the basal but it’s usually to do with body weight and activity level. I take 16u Lantus while a 11 year old girl in my family takes 26u so it’s different for everyone. Your basal does not cover anything you eat. You may need to adjust your basal depending on your activity level on that day or things such as illness, stress etc.
I wouldn’t worry about contradictions too much. It is about what works for you not what the recommendations are. Diabetes is not a one size fits all disease. However in most cases I don’t recommend ketogenic diets or protein-heavy diet, the reason being is that with carbs you can predict how much insulin you will need but with proteins and fats it’s unpredictable. Like another user pointed out, it is trial and error but make sure your errors are not too great that you end up in hospital.
