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Is low-carb actually working?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Luna21
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Luna21

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I have been low-carbing since I was diagnosed almost 3 months ago. I have lost weight, though that has probably been due to eating less, rather than the low-carbing, as my diet wasn't particularly bad.

The problem is this.....Every time I have a very low carb meal, my blood sugars are far higher afterwards then if I eat a few small new potatoes, a slice of Burgen bread or a small portion of pasta! I only ever eat (apart from the naughty one or two very small potatoes) healthy carbs ie low GI.

I had lean chicken for tea, lettuce, tomato, slivers of red pepper and red onion, and two hours later my BS is 6.9, one of the highest I've ever had. I've tried this a few times and each time it's the same, so can anyone out there offer up any explanations?
My BS was 5.4 this afternoon, so I'm totally stumped. I hadn't eaten anything for two hours before my meal or two hours afterwards.
I'm type 2 and not presently on any meds for my diabetes though I am on meds for High Blood Pressure, hypothyroidism, and also for cholesterol. I also have to take an injected med for my arthritis, but I'm not due to take that until tonight.

Any suggestions?
 
As far as I'm aware your blood sugars are normal; the guidelines I was told were that your readings should be between 4 to 5.9 before food and under 7.8 two hrs after - so I'm pretty sure you're in a completely healthy range - can anyone else advise if that's correct?

I know I'd be chuffed if that's what mine were showing... :-)


Diagnosed Type 2, 22nd Feb 2013
Hba1c 7.5
Three month trial of managing through diet & exercise.
Low carb, pescatarian
Trying various supplements!
 
Thanks for answering my post.

I know my blood sugars aren't too bad now, although I was firstly diagnosed with pre-diabetes, then it was changed to diabetes after more tests, and I have been very careful with my diet ever since.

I'm just curious as to why they go higher after a low-carb meal, and stay lower if I have some carbs? Seems like it ought to be the other way round somehow. :crazy:

Good luck with your readings, stick at the diet and exercise and it will make a big difference I'm sure. 8)
 
Thank you :-)

Just a hunch, but could be the rate you're digesting some meals v's others cause your 'spike' to be at different times? Ie carbs digested quicker, therefore you've had your spike and returned to 'normal' two hrs later, but protein takes longer to digest so you're catching it at its 'spike' at around two hrs..? If you're processing well, which your readings suggest you are, this would make even more sense... Though as I said, totally just a hunch :-)


Diagnosed Type 2, 22nd Feb 2013
Hba1c 7.5
Three month trial of managing through diet & exercise.
Low carb, pescatarian
Trying various supplements!
 
lettuce, tomato, slivers of red pepper and red onion
Click to expand...
most of the calories in those are from carbs, so it's not the lowest carb meal.

I don't know precisely what the effect of hypothyroidism is, but the symptoms you describe point to an imbalance in the actions of glucagon and insulin in response to the meal. Perhaps your liver kicks out too much glucose in response to the glucagon response to the food and the insulin action is inadequate so the blood sugar rises. If you add more carbs you get more insulin and it pulls the blood sugar down ?

Be interesting to test it with a cheese omelette or similar zero carb meal.
 
I mean slivers! Hardly even a slice of the vegetable itself, so I really don't think that's the problem. I can't eat an omelette, eating more than one egg really upsets my tummy, :)

I thought salad and chicken was a very healthy low-carb option? No dressings just lean chicken etc. If that was the case, then I will starve to death as there are carbs in everything, and surely salad is a very low carb option. :? Thanks for replying though.

I can have a meal of pork fillet, with roasted mixed vegetables, a couple of small roast potatoes and bingo, my BS's are back to near normal after 2 hours. Perhaps it does have something to do with the fat content after all.

Hypothyroidism can cause your whole metabolism to slow down if your meds aren't perfectly balanced, so you can have tiredness and weight gain with an increased appetite....not conducive to trying to lose weight and diabetes. :thumbdown:
 
Sunshine_Kisses said:
Thank you :-)

Just a hunch, but could be the rate you're digesting some meals v's others cause your 'spike' to be at different times? Ie carbs digested quicker, therefore you've had your spike and returned to 'normal' two hrs later, but protein takes longer to digest so you're catching it at its 'spike' at around two hrs..? If you're processing well, which your readings suggest you are, this would make even more sense... Though as I said, totally just a hunch :-)
Click to expand...
Good point - "they" advise measuring BG 2 hours after a meal. From time to time, for research purposes, I test at 1 hour intervals. The results normally show a 1 hour peak that falls away.

Results are 1, 2, 3, 4 hours after the meal. Before meal readings around 6.

Low carb nut "porridge" 7.4, 5.5, 5.7, 5.4

Porridge oats with milk: 13.7, 9.1, 4.5, 4.6

Fruit & fibre with milk: 14.3, 5.1, 4.1, 4.7

My nut porridge - low carb, high fat, doesn't spike, is sustaining for the whole morning, with no desire of need for 11ses.

Porridge spikes quickly, lasts 2 hours & then BG slumps

F/F spikes quickly & slumps, leaving me hungry mid-morning.

Try the same test for yourself. The observation is that that lowcarb, high fat, does not cause a BG spike, & is slower to digest, so maintaining BG at a modest level for a long time. Energy levels are maintained also. I can play tennis for 3 hours without energy drinks. Just water.

Carb rich foods cause a quick spike followed by low blood sugar - & resultant fall in energy levels, so if you are active, you need to keep adding carbs.
 
Would love to know what's in your nut porridge :-)
Still struggling with breakfast options...


Diagnosed Type 2, 22nd Feb 2013
Hba1c 7.5
Three month trial of managing through diet & exercise.
Low carb, pescatarian
Trying various supplements!
 
Sunshine_Kisses said:
Would love to know what's in your nut porridge :-)
Still struggling with breakfast options...


Diagnosed Type 2, 22nd Feb 2013
Hba1c 7.5
Three month trial of managing through diet & exercise.
Low carb, pescatarian
Trying various supplements!
Click to expand...

Variations on:
2-3 dspoons - ground almonds & coconut flour;
1-2 dspoons - milled flax seed
Optional:
a few sultanas; tsp low cal choc drink; tsp cinnamon; sweetener; sunflower, pumpkin & other seeds, no added sugar squash
mix to a paste with boiling water - I normally allow to stand for a minute & m/wave for a minute as it thickens further, & then add cream
 
Wow! That sounds amazing! Hmm... You've given me an idea to make some sort of coconut & chocolate mouse... :-)


Diagnosed Type 2, 22nd Feb 2013
Hba1c 7.5
Three month trial of managing through diet & exercise.
Low carb, pescatarian
Trying various supplements!
 
Luna21 said:
I mean slivers! Hardly even a slice of the vegetable itself, so I really don't think that's the problem. I can't eat an omelette, eating more than one egg really upsets my tummy, :)

I thought salad and chicken was a very healthy low-carb option? No dressings just lean chicken etc. If that was the case, then I will starve to death as there are carbs in everything, and surely salad is a very low carb option. :? Thanks for replying though.

I can have a meal of pork fillet, with roasted mixed vegetables, a couple of small roast potatoes and bingo, my BS's are back to near normal after 2 hours. Perhaps it does have something to do with the fat content after all.

Hypothyroidism can cause your whole metabolism to slow down if your meds aren't perfectly balanced, so you can have tiredness and weight gain with an increased appetite....not conducive to trying to lose weight and diabetes. :thumbdown:
Click to expand...

You can have a teaspoon of salad dressing - not salad cream or mayo - but extra virgin olive oil, that has zero carbohydrates per 100mls. but you literally just need a teaspoon, as the other values per 100 mls are: 822cals, protein nil, fat 91.3g satruates 15.5g, Mono - unsaturates 66.1g Polyunsaturates 9.7g, Cholesterol Nil; Fibre nil; Sodium Nil.

I can't have egg either, as I have an egg allergy so I avoid eggs altogether. I have to be in the mood to eat altogether though. I have lost quite a bit of weight with low carbing and being fussy,and having M.E just complicates things as well. I am on a mission to get rid of the diabetes and then to get rid of the M.E, but something is going wrong, and I know it isn't the diabetes - but the M.E.
 
Luna21 said:
I mean slivers! Hardly even a slice of the vegetable itself, so I really don't think that's the problem. I can't eat an omelette, eating more than one egg really upsets my tummy, :)

I thought salad and chicken was a very healthy low-carb option? No dressings just lean chicken etc.
Click to expand...

I'm not a fan of either TBH, my low carb diet is high in fats. Lean chicken without the skin is just protein and adding a few salad things with little calories in doesn't really work as it's out of balance - too much protein, not a lot else.

As an example I had zero blood sugar response to a sirloin steak with fried green beans and steamed broccoli, there are a few carbs in that but overall a lot more balanced.

Onion - 90% of calories from carbs, Tomato - 79%, Lettuce - 76%, Red pepper - 78% and quite a high proportion of those carbs are sugars (rather than starch etc). I'm not saying you shouldn't eat these at all, but they are not on the Atkins diet list for the initial induction phase for a reason.

It's an interesting area, with a bit of published research..
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/conten ... 9.full.pdf
www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/endocrj195 ... 5_745/_pdf

the second one shows that the lowest glucose response is to precisely the sort of meal you ate (high protein) and although individual responses varied nobody got a lower response to high carb than to high protein. None of the meals were very low carb - high fat and high protein were still about 25 % calories from carbs.

In the end you should do what works best for you of course :D
 
Thanks for the links.

As you all say, I guess we have to find what suits us best as individuals. 8)

I don't think cutting down carbs will harm my health in any way, but I'm afraid I'm still unconvinced that too much fat in your diet is good for you.
I know many on here disagree, but coming from a family which has had both bowel cancer and heart disease, I don't think I'm prepared to go down the high fat route permanently.

I think I'm just going to eat healthily, lots of veg and fish, a small amount of fruit and keep the high fat foods to a minimum, as I am still controlling my calories too. I have never been able to eat steak, I'm desperately ill afterwards, so that's a no-go for me too, I'm afraid.

Thanks for all the replies, it's all certainly 'food for thought'!
 
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