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How many carbs to aim for?

T

toastlover

Active Member
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Hi everyone, my story is long so I'll try to keep it brief...

For the last 10 years or so I have been a T2 diabetic firstly on diet management, then tablets, then insulin, both background and rapid. Control was poor - HBA1c of around the 10 mark. September 2008 was hospitalised with constant vomiting. After being a medical mystery for a week it was decided I had gastro flu. May 2010 was hospitalised with constant vomiting. This time a brilliant diabetic consultant took notice and considered i could be a T1 and possibly had DKA, though sugard rarely went above 14. After a week was discharged and appointment would follow. Two weeks later went to ,y GP with constant vomiting again. GP prescribed anti sickness tablets and sent me home. An hour later I collapsed - hospitalised again for another week with DKA, but again sugars below 14. Consultant this time confirmed T1 status.

Since being diagnosed T1 in June, my background insulin was changed and that alone plus regular testing etc reduced my HBA1c from 10.9 to 8.2 by December. Brilliant, but still chasing that elusive 'below 7'.

I'm currently on the EDWARD course and fine tuning my carb counting. So far so good - however we have been told not to reduce or restrict carbs just to insulin match for it which is ok except I want and need to lose weight so I'm guessing I also need to restrict carbs to do so.

Counted my carbs for today and I've had around 100g. Today is probably a typical day so I would say on average I have between 100 - 150g per day. How much should I aim to reduce this by and what else do i need to consider?

All advice greatly received :)

Thanks
 
Hi - I'm a recently diagnosed T1 - nearly 4 weeks ago now - and have been told by my dietician that I ought to be aiming for 230g of carbs a day. No possibility of me managing that as I had a daily intake of around 110g a day pre-diagnosis! I have managed to up it to around 140g a day but I guess anywhere up to 230g would be fine - according to my dietician anyway! I'm getting the feeling that there is a lot of different advice out there 'though?
Tracy
 
I'm hoping to try and reduce my carb intake - not increase it! My guess is that you're possibly not trying to lose weight like me :(
 
You're dead right - having lost two stone in the 5 weeks prior to diagnosis I would quite like to stop losing weight now thanks! However the dietician didn't initially know about my weight loss and irritatingly stuck to her 230g recommendation despite me telling her about my recent history. She 'reassured' me that it would all 'even out' in the end. I have tried to increase my carb intake - now up to around 140g a day - have lost 4 pounds so far this week. Trying not to worry. Tracy
 
toastlover said:
Hi everyone, my story is long so I'll try to keep it brief...

For the last 10 years or so I have been a T2 diabetic firstly on diet management, then tablets, then insulin, both background and rapid. Control was poor - HBA1c of around the 10 mark. September 2008 was hospitalised with constant vomiting. After being a medical mystery for a week it was decided I had gastro flu. May 2010 was hospitalised with constant vomiting. This time a brilliant diabetic consultant took notice and considered i could be a T1 and possibly had DKA, though sugard rarely went above 14. After a week was discharged and appointment would follow. Two weeks later went to ,y GP with constant vomiting again. GP prescribed anti sickness tablets and sent me home. An hour later I collapsed - hospitalised again for another week with DKA, but again sugars below 14. Consultant this time confirmed T1 status.

Since being diagnosed T1 in June, my background insulin was changed and that alone plus regular testing etc reduced my HBA1c from 10.9 to 8.2 by December. Brilliant, but still chasing that elusive 'below 7'.

I'm currently on the EDWARD course and fine tuning my carb counting. So far so good - however we have been told not to reduce or restrict carbs just to insulin match for it which is ok except I want and need to lose weight so I'm guessing I also need to restrict carbs to do so.

Counted my carbs for today and I've had around 100g. Today is probably a typical day so I would say on average I have between 100 - 150g per day. How much should I aim to reduce this by and what else do i need to consider?

All advice greatly received :)

Thanks
Click to expand...

Hi,

Everyone is different so someone may have 100g of carbs a day, exercise a little each day and they might steadily shift some weight, or someone may have the same amount of carbs and find it hard to shift the pounds. Its all about you.

If i were you id stick to what you doing now, exercise regularly and see what happens. If you dont seem to be losing any then reduce your carb intake by say 10g and try that for a few weeks.

Try it slow and steady, you still need carbs in your diet to give your body fuel for the day, and i think youll find it easier to slowly reduce carbs rather than cut right back all at once.

Remember too that you should be looking at the fat content in your food aswell as the carbohydrates.

You should also remember if you decide to increase your daily exercise you should take this into account with your insulin doses too.

oh and well done on your HBA1C drop and i hope you make the 7 or below on your next one :) which i'm sure your course will help you to acheive :)
 
toastlover said:
Counted my carbs for today and I've had around 100g. Today is probably a typical day so I would say on average I have between 100 - 150g per day. How much should I aim to reduce this by and what else do i need to consider?Thanks
Click to expand...

Provided you keep carb counting and get your insulin ratios right then 100-150g of carbs a day should be fine, I eat anywhere between 90-130g a day and occasionally a little more on special occasions! :wink:

Nigel
 
Hi Toastlover

With regards to getting your hba1c a bit lower, do it very gradually not quickly. If you have had a high a1c for some time dropping bg levels abruptly can sometimes open up a 'can of worms'.

The hba1c to aim for is one that your D consultant tells you to aim for. Most consultants now are in agreement that too low an a1c is not good as it can lead very quickly after a couple or so years to variable hypo awareness. Also things like minor blood vessel leaks at the back of the eye can occur unfortunately as the change in bg levels alter things as bg gets much lower.

Unless a consultant tells you to get your a1c below 7, I would stay somewhere between 6.9 and 7.1. and not aim to go much lower.
 
How many carbs a day?

It depends on several factors, involving, age, sex, activity levels, height and weight..

230g of carbohydrates a day is actually the suggested daily adverage required for an adverage female which is pretty misleading indeed...

As there is several factors involved, as we all have different needs, I adverage roughly 100g of carbs a day or less very rarely do I go above, but in my case I do eat all sorts of types of carbs but in the main I'm not i dont' eat a large meals never have done..

So your normal food intake should be taken into consideration, as if like me when I was first dignosed with diabetes 20+ years ago, and they started me on 210g a day which was adjusted down to 130g a day (they wouldn't allow me to go lower) it created a eating disorder in me, because I was eating food/carbs because if I didn't I would end up suffering a hypo, this would make me gag as I struggled to consume food...

If you need to lose weight it's not only the carbs quanities that need looking at, but also your actual calorie intake per day, as it's very easy with other types of food such as fats, dairy products and protien to end up eat more than the body needs to remain healthy and maintain an healthy weight...

So perhaps your answer to your wieght issue, might be looking how you can reduce the over-all calorie content not just cutting out carbs per sa...
 
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