does the lchf diet lower your tolerance for carbs?

[clairegra]

Hi

From some of the threads I've been reading, it seems as if people are saying that by going on a LCHF diet (ie, restricting carbs) it makes your tolerance for carbs - when you do have them - less. In other words, more sensitive to carbs and bs spikes...

Is that right, or am I misreading/misunderstanding what people say? I've tried searching for info, but can't seem to get a hit on it on search the forums...

sorry if it's a silly question, or one of those being asked all the time.

thanks...

 

[NoCrbs4Me]

This is an interesting question. For people with no diabetes symptoms a low carb diet seems to result in a higher spike in blood sugar after a high carb meal, but I think it is a temporary affect that goes away as more carbs are eaten.

As a type 2 diabetic, I found that a LCHF diet has increased my tolerance of carbs. I'm guessing that's due to reduction of fatty liver disease.

 

[douglas99]

My BG are back into normal range, after losing weight on a low GI/GL diet.
And when I tried LCHF, i did notice an increased intolerance to carbs when I occasionally had then.
So I switched back to low GI/GL, and the intolerance improved again.

So I would say 'yes' to your question, for a T2 diabetic such as myself.

 

[Dillinger]

As a Type 1 I find I need more insulin for carbs than I did before low carbing.

So, yes, it would appear for me to be the case.

I don't find this a problem as I don't eat many carbs and in the great ledger of pros and cons for low carbing it doesn't weigh very heavily against the obvious and continuing benefit of avoiding carbs.

Best

Dillinger

 

[Totto]

Hi

From some of the threads I've been reading, it seems as if people are saying that by going on a LCHF diet (ie, restricting carbs) it makes your tolerance for carbs - when you do have them - less. In other words, more sensitive to carbs and bs spikes...

Is that right, or am I misreading/misunderstanding what people say? I've tried searching for info, but can't seem to get a hit on it on search the forums...

sorry if it's a silly question, or one of those being asked all the time.

thanks...

Can't say I have noticed much of a difference. High carb spike me but so it did before going LCHF. What actually has had a large impact on my ability to tolerate carbs is quitting the fags.

 

[jack412]

yes, thats right..to have a 'glucose tolerance test', you need to eat 150+g of carbs a day for 3 days, to have your best insulin response back again


this is THE SAME healthy person's response on both a high fat and a high carb diet glucose tolerance test GTT
there was no 3 day change over

 

[AndBreathe]

Hi

From some of the threads I've been reading, it seems as if people are saying that by going on a LCHF diet (ie, restricting carbs) it makes your tolerance for carbs - when you do have them - less. In other words, more sensitive to carbs and bs spikes...

Is that right, or am I misreading/misunderstanding what people say? I've tried searching for info, but can't seem to get a hit on it on search the forums...

sorry if it's a silly question, or one of those being asked all the time.

thanks...

In my experience, it does short term, but less so in the longer term.

One's body sort of gets into a routine, when it comes to some of the enzymes we need to metabolise our food, so if we give certain stuff (including carbs) up, or reduce the quantities consumed by a significant amount, we will notice higher than expected blood results if we increase again. If we increase, and keep the increase up, our bodies should recover (where it can) its ability to deal with carbs - either fully or to an extent.

Many T2s have found that over time, especially where weight loss has occurred, and insulin resistance has improved, that notwithstanding the interim period when "enzyme lag" is at play, their bodies can actually deal with carbs better.

So, it's not a binary yes or no - like anything else vaguely involving diabetes. But, if you have been low carbing and revisit a food, you need to view your initial score with an open mind.

 

[clairegra]

wow, these are such helpful replies. Thank you! Going to stick to the low carbing since it is having such beneficial effects on my weight loss and cravings, but it would explain why when I have slipped a bit the result is a bigger spike than I expected!

Am in the prediabetes zone myself (though fbs is pretty close to the line) so low carb seems like the logical way to go! But I didn't want to find myself in a perpetual downward spiral of what I 'could' tolerate. Of course, it may be that I am in that phase of prediabetes that is sliding towards type 2 - another good reason to get a handle on this thing!

But whatever happens, I'm learning all the time, and finding all the info on here invaluable. Thanks again.

 

[Brunneria]

No, don't worry, it isn't a downward spiral.

Once your body gets out of the habit of dealing with carbs, you may get exaggerated BG spikes for a few days, when you reintroduce them. It takes me about 5 days, but I imagine it can vary from person to person.

Then you are back to your pre-low carbing capacity (whatever it was).

Having thought about this a bit (with Xmas round the corner), I am planning ahead.

If I have a day where I intend to go off the rails, I will prepare for it, by gradually and gently upping my carb intake in the preceding 5 days. It will be much kinder to my pancreas and liver, insulin resistance and mood swings, because I will avoid The Mega-Spike that a one-off high carb meal would cause.

So I looks like Xmas will last for 6 days, this year, not one.

 

[A new man]

I have noticed that a day off the rails leads to about 3-4 days of higher than normal results even though I am back low carbing - unfortunately we have lots of xmas parties on at weekends so my average results are going up even though 6 days out of 7 I am being good