carbs

[kazlincs]

i keep reading about people lowering their carb intake etc, but ive never seen anything about how much carbs we should be consuming...
what should i look for on the labels while im out shopping? should i look for carbs per 100g? or how many carbs in the portion that is recommended on their packaging?
i really want to start to reduce carbs a little, but i dont know what im looking for on labels! Help!

 

[Yehaw]

Hi, carbs are effectively sugar, the less sugar the better if you can't deal with sugar too well ie. Type 2, look for foods with less than 10g carbs per 100g as a rule of thumb, if you eat plenty of above ground veg and salad (which we all should be) then they will give you enough carbs, everywhere else, eat as little carb as your comfortable with, giving you an actual number is difficult as everyone can eat different levels of carbs and maintain good blood sugar levels, eat test eat test.....

30g to 50g per day is a nice target, download myfitnesspal app and do a food diary, it will calculate everything for you

All just an opinion

Good luck

 

[kazlincs]

ah thank you thats really helpful! its just good to have an actual idea of what im looking at!

 

[honeydog]

I'm with Yehaw on the Carb intake. I am trying to keep my carb intake to 40grams or less each day. It's not easy but if you make sure of reading all the labels you will soon get the hang of it.

 

[kazlincs]

thanks you very much! my problem is, that i LOVE carbs!! pasta and rice are my favourite foods! (apart from chocolate!)
i have downloaded the LCHF recipe book. i struggle alot as im not a fan of many veg! so i know this will be reeeally hard to do, but im determined to find something i like, and way of cooking it that i like! i have an actifry, so i do use that alot, (butternut squash and sweet potatoes are lovely cooked in there!) so, i have decided to try alsorts of things! i found brown rice was much nicer than i expected, which surprised me!
My other problem is IBS... so this and diabetes combined is a pain in the butt combination! lol

 

[Yehaw]

IBS can be cured by lchf (mine has been)

Hard? Lol

Is it easier to lose your feet and eyes?

Sorry if that's harsh, but it is the simple truth, be glad you have been dealt a condition you can improve by putting yourself out a little, and not one you have no control over (I won't list them)

Yes it's hard to abstain but you do have a choice ......

 

[kazlincs]

yes i know i do.. and i often say to friends that im sometimes happy i got diabetes, as it stops me binge eating! i get regular check ups, (i have bowel cancer and heart disease in my family as well as diabetes!)
im gradually (very very gradually!) losing weight.. which i wouldnt do, if i could eat what i wanted to eat!! do it isnt always a case of diabetes being a bad thing! it can just be hard to be so strict sometimes! for years i thought carbs were a good thing! never got any info from the docs, and i have learnt little things from friends and from this website's newsletters! its a long learning curve, which most of the time im doing ok at.. just now and then, i have a hissy fit!! haha!!

 

[Daks]

Hi Kaz,

Most of us vary slightly, some are hardcore because they either have to be or choose to be. The general consensus is low carb overall. Personally I don't count, I did at first but now I have a basic idea of the carb content of what I'm eating. Now I just eat to my meter.

I miss the foods I used to eat, but if you gave me a choice of going back to the way I used to eat without diabetes, Id stay where I am.

Some of us replace lost carbs with fat for energy, including myself, this way my meals are satisfying and keep the old engine burning for ages.

Have a little nosey at this link:

http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

 

[kazlincs]

ooh lovely thanks! ill have a read of that now before i get to bed! although im 13.2 at the moment.. scares me to go to bed sometimes :-( sometimes my job doesnt help with the random hours i work, which means eating at odd hours sometimes too! :-(
but if i can find a filling meal, that is low on carbs i guess that would help me alot...

 

[Robbity]

@kazlincs
if you are going to eat less carbs, then a glucose meter is a fairly vital tool as testing before and after meals will tell you how your body is responding to various foods. Different people can cope with or choose to eat different amounts so there's no one figure that suits everyone. The book "Eat Fat" By Trudy Deakin is a worthwhile purchase to help you get started.

You need to look at your food labels for the carbs per 100 grams weight to check for suitable food for a lower carb diet,. but you also need to calculate (or estmate!) the number of grams of carbs you are eating according to the weight of the portion you're actually going to eat. And watch for sneaky tiny portion sizes quoted on some packaging as they can be completely unrealistic!

If you go very low carb - i.e. under 50g carbs a cay - your body will start burning fat for energy instead of the carbs you're no longer eating - so you are probably going to need to increase your consumption of fatty and oily foods at some point to make up any shortfall - unless you have a fair amount of weight to lose, in which case you've already got a nice larder full sitting around your tummy.

Robbity

 

[kazlincs]

oh yes i have plenty of fat around my tummy area!! haha!! this is the smallest ive been for around 18 yrs! and i still have another 2 stone 8lb to lose to get to the 'ideal' weight range for my height! i have a dog now, and have been doing some walking after our evening meals, but sometimes, it isnt realistic to go walking late at night, after a late meal (work late!) so, tonight i had to dog walk before my dinner.. my choice of meal wasnt the best, but now ive had a look at a few meal ideas, i will be more careful what i eat .. especially on my later shift days!
ive already bought greek yoghurt, and i got some frozen berries, as i can choose how many i want and i dont have to waste any, by throwing unused fruit away! this will be my breakfast in the morning with a few oats, and seeds (never had them before!) quite looking forward to it!
ive bought lots of eggs, some sausages and bacon.. not something i would have very often... but i will try out new things and see how i go! wish me luck!!

 

[jack412]

no one wants to stop eating bread, pasta, rice, potato, it's just that sometimes it's a choice between that and bad complication stuff.
also a blood meter will be your best friend
blood testing
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045524.php
http://www.homehealth-uk.com/medical/blood_glucose_monitor_testing.htm

From the Southport gp who posts here
http://www.practicaldiabetes.com/SpringboardWebApp/userfiles/espdi/file/March 2014/PP Unwin final proofs revised.pdf

 

[Ruth B]

I believe the 'official' guidelines for normal people are about 250 - 300g of carbs a day which is far too many for us diabetics.

I am far more lienient with myself than some here as I love the carby foods and I know myself well enough to know that if I try and cut them out too much I have a habit of binging afterwards, which gets me depressed and comfort eating, normally on chocolate. So allowing myself a little of what I like works best and seems to be enough to keep my BS levels under control. I allow myself about 100 - 120g of carbs a day spread over 3 meals and snacks. I can still eat bread, pasta, potatoes etc but not in the quantities that I used to. While some people may vilify them, I find ready meals can be a useful option as they are a set size and as long as I check the total carbs on the packet and test before and after, there are several I can have, and after a day at work something that takes 4 minutes in the microwave can be nice.

My best advise is to read packet labels, look for the total carbs not the sugar levels and then test before and 2 hours after a meal (to start with you might want to test at 1, 2, and 3 hours after the meal to make sure you know what that meal peaks at). Try and keep the peak below 2mmol, if the peak is too high then try and cut down on the carb section of the meal.

 

[Nuthead]

I go for 5g per 100g of carbohydrates as a guide. I also try to keep my intake at around 100g per day. I do eat out quite often so when eating at home I tend to be tight on the carb watch. All you can eat Chinese restaurants and fish and chips are my biggest problem. Fresh fish driven from Grimsby every Wednesday to some of the pubs in my area is hard to resist.. And yes you do need to eat to your meter.

 

[pmtbrew]

There is no single answer, I would suggest testing after meals and seeing how the meal had affected blood sugars, then alter the meal until you are happy with the results. I do notice that the identical meal eaten on two identical days can have significant different affects on blood sugar.

 

[mikej1973]

Do you have a meter? If you do. See what foods affect you and what don't. some Carbs may not spike your blood sugar, some may. Don't give up things you love without making sure they screw you up first!

 

[Nuthead]

There is a porkpie in the fridge. I can hear it whispering ' eat me eat me ".

 

[kazlincs]

wow.. thats alot to take in!! thank you everyone for your comments! i will try things out, and see how i go!
i do have a meter, (i had to buy my own and my friend and her husband give me their excess boxes of strips!)
i have found, if im hungry at night, i can eat babybel.. creamy coleslaw, celery and carrots with a bit of salad cream to dip in, seems to be perfect!! it doesnt seem to affect my BS at all! its a great way to get rid of the hunger pangs!!
i went out for a meal tonight with my cousin, and i had steak pie, chips and peas, then had cheesecake and ice cream.. we then went home and took the dogs out for nearly an hours good steady walk.. and my sugar was actually good after that! I was gobsmacked!! i do however, know that pasta doesnt bode well with me.. but im going to try pre cooking the warming up the pasta as i have read recently that this reduces the amount of carbs in it!
seeing as everyone is different, and we all lead different lives, and our bodies react differently to all things in life.. i guess it worth trying anything out!!

ive decided if i have lunch out with friends.. i will have jacket potato or pasta.. as i will have all day (and at least one dog walk!) to burn it off!! i am going to avoid these things for my evening meal from now on.
ive downloaded the recipe book from this website, and im going to try a few tings out that ive never had before.. and see what happens!!

 

[kazlincs]

my god im soooo confused!!
ate food approx 6 ish, left the pub (only had half a diet coke) at around 6.55pm. went for a long dog walk, and my sugar was 8.7 at 8.34pm, then at 9.11pm it was 7.8.. very with that! i have drunk nearly 500ml of water and at 11.42pm i am now 10.1...!!!!!
im baffled by these numbers!! i just dont know what to think now!

 

[mikej1973]

my god im soooo confused!!
ate food approx 6 ish, left the pub (only had half a diet coke) at around 6.55pm. went for a long dog walk, and my sugar was 8.7 at 8.34pm, then at 9.11pm it was 7.8.. very with that! i have drunk nearly 500ml of water and at 11.42pm i am now 10.1...!!!!!
im baffled by these numbers!! i just dont know what to think now!

You've eaten steak pie chips peas Ice cream and cheesecake!! You shouldn't be baffled! Diabetics can peak many hours after they eat! Especially which a meal like yours! I'm not a low carb evangelist at the moment But that meal couldn't have been much more inappropriate for lowering blood sugar! Bet it was awesome though!