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Confused and lost

Hi.
There is no minimum number of carbs needed by the human body so the amount is up to you based on what you want to do and how fast you want to do it!
If you're pre diabetic eating less grains (pasta, rice, cereal, bread and the sweet stuff) will reduce insulin resistance.
If you test your blood glucose (buy a cheap meter as your GP is unlkiely to oblige) you will understand the impact ot those foods upon your blood glucose.
If you combine this with exercise after meals (walk, cycle, gentle jog) this could be all you need to do to get back into the normal range of blood sugars.
You may also lose some weight and improve blood pressure too.
Low carb can mean very low (keto) at 20g or anything up to 130g daily (average of a normal diet is 240g).
A good mantra IMO is Prioritise protein, fill up on fat and careful on carbs but I'd hate to suggest a number because everyone is different!
 
hello and welcome,

As @NicoleC1971 said there isn't a one size fits all answer to that.

The best way to work out how many carbs your body can tolerate is to get a meter and test. you are in a fortunate position if you are still prediabetic as it may mean that you don't need to decrease your carb intake as much.

Even with a meter it is still a very individual choice. For me I am an all or nothing person. I find it easier to go very low carb than moderate carb level. But that is just my choice. It is always some sort of balancing act- what food choices you can sustain and what levels you are wanting to achieve.

The only choice that really matters is yours- what we try to do here is to give you information to allow you to make an educated choice and to support you whatever your choice.

Once you have a meter and start testing you will have more information which will allow you to make choices based on that information.

Good luck and welcome.
 
In Response said:
I am probably misunderstanding terminology but I have read that low carb can increase insulin resistance
https://www.marksdailyapple.com/does-eating-low-carb-cause-insulin-resistance/

I am not disagreeing with the advice to reduce carbs but that is to reduce the affect of carbs but does not necessarily reduce insulin resistance.
Click to expand...
I don't think that article says that at all. It recommends low-carb and says only:

It appears that weight loss is the deciding factor, and since low carb diets tend to be more effective at inducing weight loss in subjects, they also tend to be better at reducing insulin resistance in insulin-resistant, overweight people. Once you’re lean and weight stable, though, very low carb diets (less than 10% of calories from carbs) can reduce insulin sensitivity. This is normal and totally necessary in the context of a very low carb diet.

 
Hi. Reducing carbs will reduce your insulin resistance. The re is no fixed number but start with 150gm/day max and see what your weight and blood sugar does (with a meter) and tweak from there.
 
In Response said:
I am probably misunderstanding terminology but I have read that low carb can increase insulin resistance
https://www.marksdailyapple.com/does-eating-low-carb-cause-insulin-resistance/

I am not disagreeing with the advice to reduce carbs but that is to reduce the affect of carbs but does not necessarily reduce insulin resistance.
Click to expand...
2 reasons to reduce low carb can be 1) to lower blood glucose (turn off the tap) as you suggest 2) reduce insulin needs by dropping carbs and hence increase insulin sensitivity/reduce insulin resistance which happens when the liver/pancreas then muscles can't store any more glycogen/triglycerides which then means more 'force' (insulin) is needed and less of it is effective at the cellular level. Eventually the energy/glucose/triglycerides show up in the blood stream because they haven't been stored. Imagine packing your suitcase and trying to shove in more and more clothes until you have to sit on it to force them in but the last tee shirt just won't go in.
Mark is a a Paleo/low carb guy so I suspect that he is myth busting here against the vegan view that a low carb/higher fat diet (Paleo) causes excess fat and resistance in the body.
Its not uncontroversial but this is my understanding of how insulin works, or doesn't work.
As type 1 I mainly do it for reason 1 and because I want to avoid 2.
 
In Response said:
I am probably misunderstanding terminology but I have read that low carb can increase insulin resistance
https://www.marksdailyapple.com/does-eating-low-carb-cause-insulin-resistance/

I am not disagreeing with the advice to reduce carbs but that is to reduce the affect of carbs but does not necessarily reduce insulin resistance.
Click to expand...
I think you’ll find that’s short term physiological resistance (removable with increasing carbs for a few days but if you don’t eat them you don’t need to) now also being termed adaptive glucose sparing as opposed to pathological disease related resistance. A misunderstanding a little like people confusing ketones in dka and nutritional ketosis and believing it all the same thing.
 
In Response said:
I am probably misunderstanding terminology but I have read that low carb can increase insulin resistance
https://www.marksdailyapple.com/does-eating-low-carb-cause-insulin-resistance/

I am not disagreeing with the advice to reduce carbs but that is to reduce the affect of carbs but does not necessarily reduce insulin resistance.
Click to expand...
It is using the same term for two different things.
If you use a low carb diet to control your diabetes and get back into normal numbers your body will adapt to using fat as fuel perfectly happily.
If you suddenly increase your intake of carbs you will not deal with it well. If you gradually increase your intake of carbs then - like me, you should find that you happily gain weight smoothly and swiftly and wish that you'd not bothered to try out new things when your old diet was coping so well.
 
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