How many carbs should one have per day?

Sue.
How long is that piece of string.......... :wink:

It is all down to an individual choice which takes into account ALL your dietary needs, your Bg targets, your weight target and anything else you can throw in to the equation.

Personally my carb level is reduced and I consume no more than about 60g carbs per day, however at the moment because of some spectacular eating ! on holiday I am on a stricter diet to shift a few excess pounds......so the carb level will have to drop to below 60g, more like around 40g per day. I don't have a problem with that level and Bg levels are all on target.....no higher than 7 mmol/l throughout the day.

Do what YOU need to do, not what others do. That is what you need to look at. Check how many carbs a day you are consuming....everything ! Then see if you can trim here and there to reduce any further. Just make sure you are comfortable with what you are doing. You may have to stick to it for life !

Hi Sue. I'm the same as you really. I keep to very low carbs and have lost 6 stone to date, but I'm not too sure about the labelling on food. What amount of carbs should I be looking for? Total carbs or total sugars? I eat no starchy carbs at all - no bread, pasta, rice, flour, no starchy veg either. But I definitely don't know the ins and outs of the food labels. Anyone help???? :? :?

sue32 said:

Hi Sue. I'm the same as you really. I keep to very low carbs and have lost 6 stone to date, but I'm not too sure about the labelling on food. What amount of carbs should I be looking for? Total carbs or total sugars? I eat no starchy carbs at all - no bread, pasta, rice, flour, no starchy veg either. But I definitely don't know the ins and outs of the food labels. Anyone help???? :? :?

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Sue32
It is the TOTAL carb content you need to look at. That figure INCLUDES added sugars. If you only count sugars it is very misleading for a Diabetic.

OK, so what figure should I look at? Total carb content?? What figure?? No more than?? per 100grm??

sue32 said:

OK, so what figure should I look at? Total carb content?? What figure?? No more than?? per 100grm??

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Sorry.....I cannot put this any simpler. It is the TOTAL CARB content on the label that you must look at. That figure is usually per 100 g of the product. So, if you are planning to eat more than 100g of a product then you will have to calculate the carb content of the portion size.

Example: 18g carbs per 100g weight. Portion size......150g weight.
18/100 = 0.18 x 150 = 27. therefore your portion consists of a total of 27g of carbs.

YOU have to decide what amount of carbs YOU want to consume.

Thanks Cugila. I'm sorry if you think I'm a bit thick, but I need to get this right. And what is the RDA of carbs please?

Sorry Sue....no I don't think you are thick. It can be difficult to get your head round things sometimes.

As for RDA.........most of the levels on various non Diabetic sites have it as around 300g carbs without much variation for Men or Women. However that is a massive daily amount as far as I am concerned.
:shock: I wouldn't advise ANYBODY to eat that many.

To put it into perspective my normal daily carb intake was around 60 - 80g. Now at the minute because I need to lose some weight I put on over a Holiday I am restricting it to around 40g per day.
That helps me retain good Bg control and lose weight.

Anybody who is Diabetic eating the supposed RDA as above would be in serious trouble with Bg levels unless covering it with a 'shedload' of Medication/Insulin etc.

Again YOU have to work out what suits your diet and what targets you want to achieve. There is no 'one size fits all' where diabetes is concerned. Sorry !

Got a question regarding carbs....

When on pumps, Health Professionals all seem to want you to be on a 50 Basal / 50 Bolus ratio.

So, if your basal works out to be 13 units, you have to have 13 units of carb bolus during the day.....to give the hospital 'good control'.....depending on carb ratio's this could work out to be anywhere between 90 and 170 grams of CHO a day....so I was wondering is there a low carber out there on a pump??? If so, how do you manage it?????

Thanks soooo much Cugila. You have helped me soooo much, sorry if I've been a pain, that's my Virgo attributes coming out; very pedantic I'm afraid, but you have set my mind at rest. Luv ya loads!!!