Daily Carbs

Hi @Suze A

There is no one size fits all for the ideal grams of carbs to have daily.

There's a few things to consider though. The ideal amount is low enough to keep your levels in the normal range. It's also a level that you can sustain long term- not a diet but a way of eating.

For ME= I go very low carb- less than 20 grams a day. I find that generally I crave carbs less the fewer I eat. I tend to stick to things with no or very low carbs so I don't have to measure. That makes it easier for me. These are things like fish, meat, cream in coffee, cheese (hard mostly) and diet jelly. But this is what works for me.

I will be honest and say that I do find a keto diet challenging at times. Before my diagnosis I would eat red meat about 2- 3 times a year. I find it generally very dense. However, I am very motivated to keep my levels in the normal range. I can sustain it and have done for some years.

Suze A said:

After being diagnosed as type 2 Diabetes last week I have decided to try to reverse it before it gets worse. I am doing carb counting. What is the ideal grams of carbs to have daily?

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Hi @Suze A ,

Seconding @VashtiB here: no clear-cut answer on the amount of grams, sorry. We're all different, with different levels of insulin resistance/sensitivity and output. Not to mention varying lifestyles, rhythms, stress factors and whatnot. So you will have to find out what works for you. One way to do that: get yourself a blood glucose meter. Test before a meal and two hours after the first bite. If your blood sugars go up 2.0 mmol/l or less, your body could cope with the amount of carbs in that meal. So you basically start with an arbitrary number like 120 grams per day total, and work your way down from there, for instance.

Personally I do best on 20 grams per day or thereabouts, but that might not be true for you. You might be fine on 80 grams, or 100. No telling without a meter, really.

Hang in there eh.
Hugs,
Jo

Hello, I have an HbA1c value of 5.9. Here in Germany, this value is considered prediabetes. I measured my blood sugar levels after having a rice dish. One hour after the meal, it was 145, and two hours after the meal, it was 125. Which value is more important to consider?

My understanding is that 250 mg of carbs is about the middle of the range of the recommended amount. It could vary somewhat depending on your total calorie intake.

Personally I aim for about 125 mg. I just can't get by on the very low levels some on here seem to do well on.

@Inchindown you probably mean 125 g, right?

Suze A said:

After. I am doing carb counting. What is the ideal grams of carbs to have daily?

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- as the other posters have suggested it really does depend on the kind of person you are

When I was diagnosed about 8 years ago I dived into low carb. Lots of above ground veg , no bread no beer no pasta etc.

Gradually I changed to keto , higher fat so more meat, lots of nuts….

….and now I’m happy with an almost totally meat , fish eggs and occasional cream and cheese .

Testing every day has been crucial. As has keeping a food / activity diary.

I wish you all the best

There’s lots to be enjoyed. It’s just different

This is the way I thought about it -

Cards on the table, there were definitely foods (well, things I would eat) that I was addicted to. No question. The idea of reducing them was a problem. How much is enough, how much is too much? - I was also totally in the mindset of measuring macros.

But - T2DM is a hormonal imbalance at heart - it's much more like being an alcoholic, you have developed a need for too much of a thing - that's why we talk about remission rather than cure. (and of course, that inevitably sounds judgemental, but I really don't mean it to be - I was at my ideal weight and addicted to grapes and honey, so anyone can fall into this trap).

But - then consider the alcoholic - how much wine should he cut down, how much beer? what is the safe limit?

We just don't think in the same way - of course you have to cut out all alcohol, otherwise you're back on the slippery slope.

However - we still need to eat, so it isn't that simple.

...
So, for me it was a question of just getting better at making binary choices - really around sugar and starch to begin with, and then finding that I was starting to question the ingredient list a bit more closely, and then really understanding fats better, so not cooking with unstable vegetable oils, and then finding Avocado oils, and re-discovering butter.

But - essentially - does it have lots of sugar, starch or seed oils - if so; then sorry, not having any. If not, fine.
There is still a problem with the word "lots" - but you refine what you mean by that over time. It's really difficult to avoid these completely, but any starch is out, anything made with seed oils is out, stuff in seed oils (like Olives) - well, you can't throw out the baby, so to speak - and anything with more than about 3% sugar is out.

Not saying that's a perfect recommendation - only for me, with my current level of insulin sensitivity and metabolic situation right now, but it's the simplest framework to build your own set of guidelines.

Sorry slightly OT, but seeing the value @KennyA posted I had to comment.

KennyA said:

The "official" recommnendation on how many carbs you should eat is much higher. The UK (via the Eatwell Plate) officially advises everyone to eat around 250-350g carb a day, and other countries seem to be in the same ballpark.

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Wow, that's a lot of carbs in the recommendation! I've never looked at the advice I must admit, but I'm surprised it's so high.

My Tidepool data tells me I average ~270g of carbs per day (over the past 90 days - I may be miscounting, but probably not vastly) but I've also ridden ~600km over the same period (with stable bodyweight.) Over ~3 months in the summer I apparently ate a bit more (292g per day on average) but I also rode a bit more (~2000km)

For the avoidance of any doubt, it's not that I didn't believe you, I was just surprised that the powers that be recommend what appears to be quite a lot of carbs.

Suze A said:

I am vegan so hard work, but thx

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Vegan and low carb is very hard. You need to get your calories from somewhere to sustain yourself, and they have to come from carbs, protein or fat. It's much easier to find fats and proteins in animal products than in plant products.

Do you use a glucose meter before and after meals to see how you are doing with different meals? This can be very helpful.

Nuts, avocados, olives, olive oil are low carb and filling, foods like these can come in very handy if you want to reduce carbs but don't want animal products.