carbs ???/

I take it you mean 49grams a day? Bear in mind that the governments reference figure is 260g and you can see that 49 is pretty low. There are a few people round here eating less but I myself eat around 120.

Hi there, I can understand why you feel confused Sometimes, we talk about eating very low carb as if all carbs were forbidden but that's not the case at all. Anyone who eats vegetables, most meats, chicken etc eats carbs- a very small amount of carbs granted but the vast majority of the forum users follow one kind of lower carb diet or another as lots of carbohydrates especially the ones found in sweets, cakes, white rice, white bread, scones, sweet drinks drive our blood sugar up too high. Soon @daisy1 will come along with lots of information which will help you decide how YOU want to look after yourself. Good luck

Not all diabetics are created equal. There are different approaches to managing diabetes and reducing carbohydrates is one that generally works well for all - but to different degrees depending on personal circumstances.

As you're a T2 on insulin, your approach will be slightly different from other T2s who only control it with diet, or with different meds. You're on NovoMix30 which is a combination insulin - which is 30% NovoRapid which is a rapid acting insulin to help deal directly with your meals and 70% of a basal slow acting or background insulin. This is a regime where you take a dose of insulin twice a day which is a best guess dose for the day ahead.

By comparison, a T1 needing both background and bolus (the rapid acting insulin for meals) insulins, will do some calculations and decide how much of each they need depending on their BG readings and what they're about to eat - and it's a delicate balancing act to keep the insulin and food in balance during the day and overnight. But your NovoMix 30 dose is the same every day, you don't adjust it depending on your meals.

Which is probably why your DN told you to eat a certain amount of carbs each day - taking that much NovoMix, if you suddenly dropped eating a lot of carbs, you'd find your BG might suddenly go too low and you'd experience a hypo. I was on NovoMix until a few days ago (now just on NovoRapid with meals) and I had to eat carbs each meal I had the insulin with, as if I didn't, I'd go hypo if the insulin worked faster than the food digested - it needed a few carbs to work on until the protein and fats were digested. So I eat a little more carbs than most T2s on here would advocate, because that was what suited my treatment and how MY body responds to both food and the medication.

So the advice from your DN might well be right for you - you can't really compare what others do, as we all work to different regimes, depending on how we respond to foods, the meds we're on and our personal circumstances.

So yes, for many diabetics, reducing carbs is an incredibly powerful tool in managing diabetes, but it might not be a suitable one for you. At least, if you did reduce your carbs, you'd also need to monitor your BGs carefully and maybe reduce your insulin dose accordingly. This might be a conversation to have with your nurse, if you feel that you want to reduce your carb intake and your dependence on meds. And I'd recommend having that conversation before you make any significant changes.

@revive@2

Hello and welcome to the forum

Here is the information we give to new members and I hope it will be useful in finding the correct way of eating for you personally. Ask as many questions as you need to and someone will be able to help.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

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 over 150,000 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

Reduce your 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-and-whole-grains.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

LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program


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

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

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 bloodglucose 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.