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Carb amounts

Bluetit1802

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Messages
25,215
Location
Lancashire
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Please can anyone tell me what the recommended range of grams of carbs are for a 66 year old female (moderate exercise) in the following situations?:

Non-diabetic, normal circumstances
Diabetic high carbs
Diabetic medium carbs
Diabetic low carbs

Thanks!
 
Hi Bluetit, this is a helluva question. Non diabetic carbs, personal choice. Diabetic carbs literally range from 30g-300g per day. Each will advocate their own particular diet. I fear you are looking for The Holy Grail ! If you are inadvertantly asking how many carbs you should have, that may be a little easier to help with. Sorry I can't be more help.


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Oooops didn't realise it was a helluva question!

I have read that the recommended daily intake for healthy women is approx. 230g for moderate exercise, but then I read different amounts. If diabetics don't know what is "normal" how can they say what is "medium" or "low"? This is confusing me.

My personal situation is that 2013 was a bad year for me, having undergone chemotherapy for over 4 months, during which time I ate a lot of comfort food, and a lot of Lucozade as part of trying to get some energy back. Food is a problem on chemo for several reasons. I put on a lot of weight and due to chemo fatigue my normal forms of exercise went by the board. I still struggle with exercise to an extent and am still on active treatment, unfortunately a drug that causes weight gain. This will end in 2 months time.

Prior to my breast cancer diagnosis my glucose levels weren't even pre-diabetic. They were normal. 3 weeks ago an HbA1c test showed me as 53 (7%) so I was given the type 2 diagnosis. So this has happened recently and likely to be a result of my diet etc during 2013. What I want to do is get rid of my excess weight, 2 stones in total, and have already started an exercise regime that I can cope with. I am hoping this will bring my levels down naturally. I have lost half a stone so far by calorie counting and reducing portions, and am happy with my home made diet. However, my carbs are averaging about 135 to 140, maybe a bit more. I was really wondering how high or low this is compared to a non-diabetic recommended range. I really do not want to go down the high fat road, not at this stage anyway, as I know for sure that high fat makes me gain weight.

Does that make sense?
 
Hi Bluetit
You are happy with your diet and you are losing weight with it so I would stick with it if I were you. With one proviso. Get yourself a blood glucose meter and start self testing your glucose levels before and after each meal. Aim for your after reading to be within 2 mmol/l of your before. If not reduce the amount of carbs or substitute carbs for better carbs i.e. Ones with lower glycemic index values. Do this and you should see your before readings develop a downward trend.


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Cancer cells love glucose. Go as low on carbs as you feel is fine for you. There is no "normal" amount of carbs. When I was young diabetes and obesity was rare and we ate lots of fat, a thick layer of butter on very sandwich for example and there were very few low-fat products around. It was after the low-fat rage the problems started.

We are farmers, mostly sheep, grain and vegetables, but we keep a few pigs as well over the summer. If we want the pigs to get fat (and we do) we feed them lots of carbs. That is how it works, carbs turns to sugar and insulin steps in to convert glucose to fat while stopping the body from using already stored fat as energy. That is why a low carb diet high in fat often is so successful for loosing weight. The key is the low carb content.

So do as you feel suits you. There is no normal level.

About cancer and glucose:
http://stke.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/sigtrans;7/310/ec29
 
Thank you Totto. I did know about the relationship between high glucose and breast cancer risk, although this is mainly with younger pre-menopausal ladies and not with oldies like me! Thankfully I no longer have breast cancer. My tumour is in a jar in the path lab and there was no spread according to my Oncologist. I have just been left with blasted diabetes now! Before my cancer diagnosis my glucose levels were normal. It is only since my treatment that they have risen. Being an oldie meant I was able to have HbA1c tests annually from the age of 60. This is how I know.

I take on board your comments about eating lots of fat, but whilst my current diet is working weight-wise I am sticking to it until my first review HbA1c test. If there is little or no improvement I will try something else.
 

As you say, below 230g is low. Anything below is low carb, it's just how low you want to go. You need about 130g a day to fuel your brain, if you don't eat that, your body will produce it for you. Really you should eat at least 20 to 30g a day, and even if you zero carb, you still get that from veg and other foods.
I calorie count though, low fat, carbs that don't spike me, without counting carbs, just calories, and I've lost 4 stone that way, and got my bs to a normal level.
 
Good luck Bluetit! It is trial and error, I know. You do have a bg monitor, don't you? If not, get one. They are immensely helpful.
 


I am calorie counting by lowering my fat from what it was, plus reduced portions. I have kept a food diary with the carbs/cals/protein/fats and fibre counted up. Just by doing this it seems I am eating approx 140g of carbs daily although this isn't deliberate. I am keeping an eye on the GI index too. This is really why I was asking what is considered low or medium.

Totto, I haven't got a meter yet, although one will be on my shopping list after my appointment with my nurse at the end of the month. I can see from reading everything on this forum how important they are.

Thanks everyone for your responses.
 
Just a comment on the lucozade front. Last year I was feeling really run down. When I was a kid we were always given lucozade when were were ill, so I started drinking the stuff in the hope of feeling better. A month later I was at the docs, diagnosed with type 2 with a Hba1c of 94. Immediately stopped drinking the stuff, dieted lost a stone and my Hba1c readings since have been 42, 47, 47. Clearly the lucozade was a major contributor (as everyone would agree).

I echo get a meter, it s amazing how different foods cause varying results in people.


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Last year I had 4 months of chemotherapy, with the progressive fatigue that brings. Lucozade helped me through that - at least 1 bottle a day if not 2. No wonder I was later diagnosed with type 2!
 
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