Gaining weight

[MuhammadII]

Hi every1.

New to this forum.

After reading tonnes of complaints from individuals about loosing weight whilest being diabetic, my question is: How do you gian weight whilest managing your diabetes as well as your daily routine?

I will be starting my first year of university this year and am a type 1 diabetic. I have been a type 1 for over 16 years now and my weight has never bothered me, despite my BMI being just over the "underweight limit."

I am currently on the lantus-novorapid combination and am conttrolling it quite well on most days. I also enjoy sport and try to play football on most days.

Despite my good overall control I find it difficult to gain weight-even trying a high carb diet has not helped.

Could you offer me any advice?

Thanks

 

[jenrose]

You most definitely do not want to eat a high carbohydrate diet to gain weight, you will actually lose more weight. For some people with type 1 (and even some type 2) diabetes their bodies cannot use glucose properly and the unused glucose builds up in the bloodstream and overflows in to the urine and then is lost therefore losing calories. Can you go and see a doctor or nurse to explain this to you? The best food for gaining weight is protein (cheese, nuts and meat) and fat.

All the best at university. Universities have doctors there for students and it would be a good idea to go and see a university doctor as he or she willd be able to make suggestions of how to cope with your diabetes. Best of luck with your diabetes and studies.

 

[MuhammadII]

Thanks a lot for your reply and advice.

Guess i'll be changing my diet and reducing the amount of carbs I eat.

Hope it's easy to control the sugars whilest adding more protien and fat to my diet. I reckon I'll be injecting a bit less due to this chnage.

Will definately make the most out of my uni experience and will have a chat to my doctor.

Thanks agian

 

[fergus]

Hi Muhammad,

You'll find that most type 1's are pretty slim, and this is largely due to their chronic lack of insulin. Insulin after all is an anabolic hormone and the single most important fat building hormone. All overweight people, for example, show elevated levels of insulin.
Sorry jenrose, but fat on its own requires negligable insulin so is not responsible for gaining body fat. Protein can build fat, but to a far lesser degree than carbohydrate.
If you want to gain weight safely, Muhammad, without disrupting your blood sugars the best bet is to eat more protein.
All the best,

fergus