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Type 1 How much Carb, is a low Carb diet ?

Alberti

Active Member
Messages
26
Location
Helsinki. Finland
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Diabetes & Ex wife
Coming this month to my first anniversary as Type 1. Throughout this year my HbA1C around 5.8 %. Been on low carb diet since month 4 and having pretty good control since then. Yesterday nurse told me to increase my daily carb intake to at least 150 gram a day, due me being underweight. Pre Diabetes was always around 76 kilo. Nowadays around 68 kilo .Skin and bones, but would like to put on some more weight. Daily carb intake now around 60 /70 . Is increasing carb the only option to gain the weight I lost due to Type 1 ? Worried about levels when taking more carbs daily. Back to pasta & bread ? Is 150 carb a day, still considered a low carb diet ?
 
I would say 150g a day is more of a lower/moderate carb diet (but still half the RDA for a man), earlier this week there was a thread on the forum which was discussing a Dr who had lowered his carb intake to 150g of carbs a day and he said it was a low-carb diet but admitted it was at the 'high-end' of one.

Have a look at the community pages of DCUK to see what it says:

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diet/low-carb-diabetes-diet.html
 
Why not let your blood glucose levels guide you?

I eat very low carb, but if my body tolerated more, then I would eat more. I'm not into needless deprivation!

If you can comfortably and easily maintain your target bg adding in a few more carbs, then go for it. You will soon discover whether it works for you, or not.
 
The alternative approach is increase your protein intake. You haven't mentioned what your macro splits are at the moment.
 
Yes, go for protein. Dr Bernstein gets his patients who want to put on weight to eat more protein.

I really wouldn't increase the carbs, myself.

Also, are you eating enough fat? Without that you will lose weight.


Edited by a mod to clarify
 
Last edited by a moderator:
All products I eat are full fat(like yoghurt). Love my eggs & bacon. Live in Finland, where Salmon is a common part of a meal/lunch(so lot of protein) Eat it a lot. But simply can t gain weight.
 
You could try eating lots of double cream. Make sauces for your salmon, stir it into coffee, eat it heaped onto berries for desert. You could even eat it straight from the pot
 
Alberti said:
All products I eat are full fat(like yoghurt). Love my eggs & bacon. Live in Finland, where Salmon is a common part of a meal/lunch(so lot of protein) Eat it a lot. But simply can t gain weight.
Click to expand...

I'm very slim too, even though I eat lots. I've found that I lose weight without carbs even though I eat a fairly large amount of fats. I think we can all deal with various levels of carbs - you have to find what works for you Different diets work for different people.

I normally eat around 180g of carbs a day. I'm female and weigh less than you. I don't count obsessively or limit them, but equally I don't eat vast amounts at a single meal. I spread them through the day, including snacks. My last HbA1C was 5.2.

Could you try a slight increase maybe as an experiment to see if it works for you? You could also try the protein suggestion too. Give yourself a set period to see how it goes and to give you a chance to get your insulin nicely adjusted, and then see what you think.
 
13lizanne said:
You could try eating lots of double cream. Make sauces for your salmon, stir it into coffee, eat it heaped onto berries for desert. You could even eat it straight from the pot
Click to expand...
Will surely try the double cream sauce for Salmon, sounds great !
 
As a type 2, if I wanted to put on more weight I'd be adding a little more protein but mainly extra oily/fatty foods to my diet. Do you like nuts? They are quite calorific, contain plenty of protein and fats/oils, and generally contain all sorts of other good-for-you stuff too, but keep an eye on their carb content too.

Robbity
 
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