Curious

Low carbing is eating less carbohydrates. Being diabetic, our bodies can't process carbs. Sugar is a carb, but so are starches... So we lower our intake. Little or no potatoes and other rootveggies, cereal, corn, rice, bread and pasta. No fruit, save for berries. That leaves (unsweetened) dairy, meats, veggies, fish, what have you. There are 3 macronutrients our body uses for fuel; carbs, fats and proteine. As you need something to burn, in lieu of carbs, the preferred one to up the intake of is fat. Proteine's good, but it does raise bloodsugars a little, whereas fat doesn't. And if cholesterol worries you; I was on statins before I started this journey... Now I'm not. My usual meals are eggs, bacon, cherrytomatoes, cheese and mushroom fried up. Salads with a can of tuna or fried bacon with walnuts, capers and olives. In the evening I go for cauliflower rice and meat or fish. I currently eat twice a day (I added Intermittent Fasting to my Keto diet; Keto simplufied is eating 20 grams if carbs or less a day.). I'm dropping weight, and my bloodsugars hover between 4.2 and 5.5, and I'm a type 2, 100% diet controlled. I'm on the app so I can't see whether you're a T1 or T2 (Or MODY, or LADA, or...). But far as I understood it, a T1 can do low carb if their basal/bolus get adjusted, for better control. (Anyone reading this, please correct me if I'm wrong!) For a T2, it could mean coming off insulin or other meds. But basically, it is a bit of trial and error. I lost some weight and got into a non-diabetic HbA1c-zone on 75 grams of carbs a day. But I wanted to address my fatty liver, so I kept going lower until I hit Keto. For you it could be 150 grams a day, or 60, you won't know unless you use a meter and check what certain foods do. Everyone's different. And in the end, a lifestyle change isn't for everyone; some people prefer medication-only. @daisy1 has a nice infosheet that will tell you more, and this site has a plan you can get into. And dietdoctor.com has good info too. Good luck!

JoKalsbeek said:

But far as I understood it, a T1 can do low carb if their basal/bolus get adjusted, for better control. (Anyone reading this, please correct me if I'm wrong!)

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Yes they can, as long as they get the doses right. But most T1s do go hypo on occasion (maybe less insulin and less carb means that hypos happen less often?) and if you're hypo you have to have glucose. Not sure whether an occasional extra 10g of carbs is an issue or not as regards LCHF????

EllieM said:

Yes they can, as long as they get the doses right. But most T1s do go hypo on occasion (maybe less insulin and less carb means that hypos happen less often?) and if you're hypo you have to have glucose. Not sure whether an occasional extra 10g of carbs is an issue or not as regards LCHF????

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Not a problem for LCHF, at all. If you're following a keto diet it *might* get you out of ketosis for a few days, (I had to up my carbintake for a little while and remained in ketosis though) but really... Treating a hypo will always take priority over keeping bloodsugars moderately low. Mess up your numbers for a few hours, or possibly kicking the bucket? Keep the Dextro around.

@Bridie9408

Hello Bridie and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you like and someone will 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 well over 235,000 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

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.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

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 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.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

• Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
  
  
• Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
  

Bridie9408 said:

Hi everyone that is low carbing. You may think this is a silly question but I am just wondering how can you keep your blood sugars the lowest without going to low between meals. I know most of you are on different injections than me and to be honest some of the things you talk about I have never heard tell of. I am sorry if this sounds a very silly question.

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You’re on a mixed insulin, aren’t you?

If you’re on a basal/bolus regime, as long as you have the basal set right, you can go as long as you like between meals with relatively steady BG levels. I didn’t eat until 8pm yesterday, and mine were pretty steady in the low 5s all day. Dipped below 5 at one pint (we were at the beach) so I had a single 3g dextrose tab late afternoon to nudge it up. But apart from that, nothing but coffee and water.

I get the odd hypo, so try to keep my treatment within the 30g carb limit I set myself, but I won’t hesitate to go over if it’s needed. Ketones the next day are usually 1mmol or less, but bounce back to around 2 the following day.

Bridie9408 said:

Yes I am on humalog mix 25 it is a set dose of 30 units morning 20 units evening . This is to be given same time every day and meals r snacks are to be taken same time every day. I have never been told about adjusting insulin r any diet information r anything. I am on this for quite a while now and before that I was on slow acting and fast acting insulin. I should not complain because when seen at clinic everything is very good but I can't help thinking there is a world of information I know nothing about.

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Hi. With mixed insulin you can't adjust the insulin for specific meals but can adjust to get the overall average right. If you are T1, Basal/Bolus is the best insulin regime as long as the 4 to 5 injections per day is OK. The Bolus can be adjusted for each meal thru 'carb-counting' the amount to inject. Any reason why you went from Basal/Bolus to mixed?

Bridie9408 said:

I was never on Basal /Bolus. Never heard the name before.

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That’s the medical name for the fast and slow acting you were on before. Was there a reason for changing you to a mixed one? I was put on one for a while as I wasn’t taking my fast insulin (I’ve had some real issues with burnout) properly, but I couldn’t handle the strictness of the routine and times of meals and snacks, so went back to using the two.