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Prediabetes Do I need to further reduce my carb intake?

Hooty

Well-Known Member
Messages
83
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
My first HbA1c blood test result was 42 in March, and a repeat test in April came out at 43. My recent 6 month check-up gave a result of 40 which I am pleased about, but I know it’s only just below the prediabetic range. Ideally I’d like to reduce it further (apologies, I hope this isn’t insensitive to those who would be over the moon to have this result, I know I was lucky to find out I needed to modify my diet at that point, before my blood sugar level climbed higher).

What I’m wondering is do I need to cut back my carb intake further to keep my HbA1c readings on the decline, or can I carry on with how I’m currently eating? I’m not counting carbs but feel my intake is pretty low now. I did have a lapse in August while on holiday in France (baguettes, croissants....) but have been much more strict with myself since.
 
I'm guessing it will depend on what you are happy with.
If you want much lower numbers well out of the pre diabetic range then you probably need to cut back a bit more. If you are happy "on the edge" then carry on.
Where do most of your carbs come from at the moment do you think? Maybe try keeping a detailed food diary for a week just so you can see exactly what your consumption is then you could tweak from there?
 
I would like to be further away from the prediabetic range really, as I do feel borderline at the moment!

A food diary is a good idea, thank you. I’m not eating any cereals, pasta or rice. Bread maybe a small slice once a week, if that. Potatoes - a few chips less than once a week. Mostly leafy above-ground veg but some carrots, beetroot, sweet corn, legumes. Almost no sweet baked foods (probably a “taster” sized portion once a fortnight or less frequently) but 1 fruit portion a day; generally berries but sometimes a plum or satsuma. I do have 1 or 2 seeded Ryvita type crackers a few days a week (6g carbs each), and a couple of squares of 85% chocolate most days. Keeping an exact record and adding everything up would mean I could actually put a number on the carbs and see where I could trim it down.
 
I agree with Bulkbiker, keeping a record (carb counting) for a while will help you to understand.
I carb counted every day for the first six months, then again any day when I ate a different meal than usual. And I still measure any food with more than a trace of carbs because it is too easy for me to slowly creep up.

I found by blood testing that I could get down into the normal range by keeping under 100g a day and less than 30g in any single meal, although I went below 85 to conquer the dawn phenomenon.

While the HbA1c is useful, I wanted to track the swings before and after meals to fully understand what I should eat. Testing really helped, so I was glad I paid for a meter.
 
I would probably just stick with what you know for now and see where the journey takes you.

I am now effectively zero-carbing. The only carbohydrates I ingest come from eating organs. I don't count, but I reckon I've probably had less than 10g all week. Obviously very few people will choose that lifestyle, and in fact many will do better on more, but there is no minimum requirement to support life, so you're free to experiment and choose the path that best suits you.
 
I do have a meter but am testing inconsistently at the moment. I test every morning but only sporadically before/after meals. My fasting readings from the last 14 readings have all been between 4.6 and 5.3. I need to step up my pre- and post- meals and get back to recording them along with what I’ve eaten (which I did in the earlier days), thank you @TriciaWs for the reminder!
 
Thank you @Jim Lahey for replying, I think I would find it very difficult to zero carb. Do you still find you get pleasure from eating?
 
Incidentally I didn’t mention in my original question that I’m not aiming to lose weight, my BMI is 19.
 
Hooty said:
Thank you @Jim Lahey for replying, I think I would find it very difficult to zero carb. Do you still find you get pleasure from eating?
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Sure thing, it's definitely not for everyone. I don't do it out of necessity, I just prefer the way it makes me feel. And yeah I enjoy my food more so now than ever.
 
I do not eat grains, so the sweetcorn would not be on the menu, and legumes always seem to spike me higher than the carb content would suggest, then you reveal that there's crackers and a few this and a small that - I suspect that they all add up - though the chocolate should be OK.
Even with all my avoidance, however, I am at 42 and seem stuck there, but I suspect that I was glucose intolerant for a very long time and my 'glucostat' is set rather high after decades of being undiagnosed.
 

Yes, I may find once I start calculating that my carb intake is higher than I think from the “incidentals”. I will start weighing what I eat and working out the precise carb amounts.

If I make something from scratch, will the carb content of the finished dish be equal to the sum of the carb of the ingredients I use? For example I make sourdough bread, which I then slice and freeze to have the very occasional piece, so can I work out the carb content of the total loaf and therefore each slice by using the carb content of the flour?
 
There is no other way to do it unless you have access to a laboratory with a calorimeter. Bread has few ingredients, so the calculation is simple, if you were making say a shepherd's pie which included peas and carrots and had a swede topping then you might gestimate the carbs but really it's the effect on your BG you need to measure.
 
Thank you, just checking!
 
Oh dear - bread as well - I think that if you add up your carb intake you will see why your levels are what they are - I have Livlife bread at 4 gm of carbs per slice. I used to make my own bread, adding in psyllium husk, milled seeds, and other low carb ingredients to reduce the impact, but it was too delicious - any bread made with wheat flour alone is going to be - firstly, tempting, and secondly very high in carbs.
 

You mean 43? I know that the poster is talking about how low carb to go but you make it sound as if they are somehow extreme. I doubt very much that they are eating above 130 carbs a day so by definition they are low carb anyway and not actually diabetic either.
 
No no - just pointing out - I hope non too harshly, that the intake of carbs could very well be higher than estimated.
Personally I need to keep under 40gm of carbs a day to keep my Hba1c at about the same level - I hope there was not some jealousy creeping in.
I suspect - hope - that Hooty can reduce down into the normal range with just a few alterations or reductions. I'd feel far safer myself if I could do that, but normal blood glucose readings after meals, and eating just twice a day do not seem to work on my Hba1c test.
 
I use a rough reckoning approach. I give myself a maximum of 130grams of carbs per day. In practise it is less. I don’t count every single gram. The idea is to avoid the whole thing “weighing me down”, if you see what I mean. I found it harder to do at the beginning but once in the swing of it I have found it works for me. My last two results have been 36 and 35 respectively.

To be perfectly accurate, I believe that some days my carb levels are significantly less than 130 grams per day with the bulk of the numbers of carbs being sourced from full fat milk, low carb bread and an apple or satsuma. I stick pretty tightly to the less than 10grams per hundred guideline, in many cases sticking to around 5 to 8 grams per hundred maximum. This way I don’t have to count 97, 98, 99.... or draw up a spreadsheet for the day, for example. It could be said, well how do you know it isn’t greater than 130 grams per day. Well I do as I err on the side of caution.
 
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KK123 said:
I know that the poster is talking about how low carb to go but you make it sound as if they are somehow extreme. I doubt very much that they are eating above 130 carbs a day so by definition they are low carb anyway and not actually diabetic either.
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Definitely. To the ultra low carbers, 130grams per day seems to them not to be low carbing. But compared to more commonly established carb intake levels, 130 grams of carbs per day is indeed low carbing.
 
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