Hi, I am very recenty diagnosed T2 and therefore VERY new to all of this. Whilst there is lots of useful information here there is also lots of contradiction and I understand that everyone is affected differently. However, my first of many questions is regarding carb counting. First of all is there a hard and fast rule or 'maximum limit' on carb intake, and also, when counting do you include total of carbs OR just the amount that sugars as there is often a great difference between the two figure shown for carbs. Thanks in advance for you advice and guidance.
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Carb Counting
- Thread starter saintdavo
- Start Date
chubbyian
Well-Known Member
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- 134
- Location
- Monmouth, South Wales
- Type of diabetes
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
- Dislikes
- Arrogance
HI and first of all welcome to the forum , as you have already seen, there are lots of different people giving there own opinion and facts about how certain foods effect them, this is because there is no fixed rule or hard and fast diet fo us. having said that, most of us follow some sort of reduced carb diet. and yes you should count all the carbs.
I will not get to technical, (as I do not understand it myself) but essentially carbs = sugar by the time it gets to the blood, as we all break down food differently, certain carbs break down fast and others take longer, for me, any white carbs, eg white bread, white rice, white pasta etc all send my BS high. so do some fruits, but others can tolerate some of these.
A low carb diet can be as low as 38 grams, or as much as 100+ the only way to tell is to check your blood just before you eat, about 2 hours after (if you have enough strips, it is good to check 1,2,and 3 hours after)
I hope this of some use to you. You will get much more advice from many more people, it is all good.
I will not get to technical, (as I do not understand it myself) but essentially carbs = sugar by the time it gets to the blood, as we all break down food differently, certain carbs break down fast and others take longer, for me, any white carbs, eg white bread, white rice, white pasta etc all send my BS high. so do some fruits, but others can tolerate some of these.
A low carb diet can be as low as 38 grams, or as much as 100+ the only way to tell is to check your blood just before you eat, about 2 hours after (if you have enough strips, it is good to check 1,2,and 3 hours after)
I hope this of some use to you. You will get much more advice from many more people, it is all good.
daisy1
Legend
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- Location
- Switzerland
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
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- Cruelty towards animals.
Hi saintdavo and welcome to the forum 
Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many more questions as you need to and someone will help.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find well over 70,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes ... rains.html
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many more questions as you need to and someone will help.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find well over 70,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
- Reduce your carbohydrate intake
- Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes ... rains.html
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
- structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
- self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
ewelina
Well-Known Member
Welcome to the forum
When you carb count check for total carbs (if you are in US total carb minus fibre, if in UK just total carbs) and ignore sugar. Any carbohydrate (or nearly any to be precise) will rise your sugar levels so thats what you looking for.Im not sure what is recommended amount of carbs per day on low carb diet. I try to eat as low as possible which is about 50-60g per day for me. It doesnt allow any pasta,rice or flour. mostly from veggies. Maybe you should start from about 30/40 g per meal and test if your levels are ok. It will all depends on GI as well
