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Is their a certain diet or a better word lifestyle ? Keto lhfc?

S

sarahm723

Well-Known Member
Messages
76
Type of diabetes
Type 1
What is Keto diet or lfhc or something I read on here ? Not sure if that’s right letters .. do most type 1s do these ? Are they safe or which one is for type 1 .. thankyou .. 27 have 3 Stone to lose.. but need to reduce levels very slowly as Iv problematic eyes and just had vitrectomy . Thanks
 
Eating fewer carbs can mean that a type 2 diabetic requires no medication to maintain normal readings. Levels of carbs 30 to 50 gm per day are fairly common amongst forum members.
For a type one it seems to be much more of a balancing act, from what I have read on the forum - I have no experience of using insulin.
Eating fewer carbs is one way to lose weight, many have found, but for a type one that presumably means injecting less insulin.
I imagine if you need to purchase insulins it could mean a big saving
 

Hi Sarah - There are T1s who follow those ways if eating, and do well on them, but they're not for everyone, and for T1s who can cover, within reason, whatever they eat, with insulin, many prefer to stay on a "normal" diet. I use the "" on normal only because normal is a very personal thing.

Clearly you have been told not to make rapid, stark changes, bearing in mind you have some pre-existing issues with your eyes. If your vitrectomy is recent, have you mentioned your intentions to your Doc or DSN?

To be honest, with your quite natural concerns about your eyes, I wouldn't like to make any specific suggestions.

My colleague @Jaylee uses a reduced carb way of eating, although to be honest, I don't know how low carb he has gone, but he also has met with the Opthalmologists more than he'd hoped over the years. He might be able to comment a bit further for you.

You might have missed the heavy forum footfall for the evening, but I'm sure others will respond when they're next online.

Good luck with it all.
 
I've been eating LFHC foods since January and although my weight loss has been tiddly (1k) I've been able to reduce my basal insulin dose. @bulkbiker is really knowledgeable about keto.... I think
 
Some T1's do low carb. I personally dislike it, and prefer a moderate carb diet (100ish grams per day). It's up to you to find a number of carbs that works for your own body, and keeps you satisfied. My endo told me that very low carb diets are not safe for T1 - she recommended at least 15g per meal. The reasoning is that your body needs to have stored glucose to help you recover from lows. If you don't have enough it can take you longer to recover when you are given glucagon.
 
Hi.. I know a fair bit about a ketogenic way of eating.. (it's not really a "diet" in the weight loss sense). However I know very little about Type 1 and insulin as I currently don't take any medication. Happy to help on any diet stuff but no way will I get involved in insulin questions. I think that @JoeT1 is also trying very low carb as a way of reducing overall insulin usage with some success.
 
Hi @sarahm723

I follow Keto and have been since January. I have lost 7lbs slowly and have taken my number of fast acting insulin injections down dramatically along with reducing the dosage for my Basal. Now, with that in mind, I have E-Mailed my DSN to discuss this a little further and she has made an appointment for me next week, hopefully to carry out a HBA1C Test and discuss this further. She may be annoyed I dropped my Basal dose, but to be honest, I simply don't care because if I didn't then I'd be constantly going low.

I would however discuss this with your doctor/dsn and weigh up the benefits and find what is working for you. This keto works for me as I have managed to lose some weight with extra exercise and I enjoy not having as many injections. My main task is to add in a little more food such as a breakfast without putting any weight on.

Keto probably isn't for everyone, but would 100% recommend everybody gives it a go past an initial week, to see how it works out for them health wise and how they are feeling.
 

Hi @sarahm723 ,

I do limit the amount of carbs I eat. Though not for weight loss purpose. (It's more a practicality in a hectic lifestyle.)
I certainly cut the "usual suspects" in most my dishes or at least keep it to a bare minimum to flatten out any wild peaks.
Reducing levels gradually, thus improving managment is a good idea, drastic quick change can cause its own issues, so acclimatising is key. however you decide what works for you..

In my opinion. Basal dosage setting is what it is (when it's right.) for the individual concerned?
Some notice they need less when starting on a LC for instance because prior to the diet change, they may have been snacking to feed the basal prior to the diet change..? Possibly underestimating the bolus too. Thus on a roller coaster treating hypos & corecting.

Changing any diet without reassessment of the meds has risk. So please keep in touch with your HCPs on this.
So, start with the foundation of your insulin regime. (The basal.) Here is a link to basal testing https://mysugr.com/basal-rate-testing/

Hope this helps!
 
Hi
How was your vitrectomy? I think you posted before so am glad to hear you got through this so far...
Re Keto, you might be interested to see Dr Ian Lake on You Tube. He is a type 1 GP and points out that only 3% of us type 1s ever hit the gold standard of 6.5% HBA1c because it is nearly impossible to match up bolus with food even with cgms/pumps and education!
So in theory if you get your basal right you then need only bolus for the effects of hormones (female plus the stress ones) and protein. Be aware that you may need to adjust the basal dose (reduce) so perhaps try to cut carbs from a meal at a time rather than going in at the deep end.
Basically it takes out another variable and helps with not developing insulin resistance.
The issue is that this diet is not supported by dieticians though there's lots of stuff on this site and sites like Diet Doctor do a great online guide to LCHF for beginners.
 
Hi @JoeT1 You say your DSN maybe annoyed you have dropped your basal dose!!!! Whose diabetes is this? My consultant has total faith, in my management, of my disease. He will make suggestions and give support when I need it. However, he always says that the patient knows their own body.
 


Oh, don't get me wrong, I actually have no idea what her views are on it. It's just when I sent a mail with the details and my update, she said she would arrange an appointment for next week. Just by going what people have mentioned here in the past, a lot of DSN's will not support a low carb diet due to a lack of understanding etc. But I will go into it with an open mind, she's been nothing but fantastic for me and helped me so much.

Low carb is working out a whole lot better for me on the whole, so either way, this will be the way forward for me unless my bloods come back and show me otherwise.
 
Good work on the weight loss and on reducing basal. I did the same and think the same as you. I don't care what DN says, I know what's right for me. I'd also agree @sarahm723 that it's useful to discuss with the relevant people
 
I'm another type one who follows low carb diet. It works well for me. My bs is normally between 4.5 to 6.5 I rarely have hypo. The beauty of low carb diet for me is not having to worry about hypo (almost at all) or future diabetic complications. Low carb diet is not for everyone but is is an option for type one
 

Hello - what sites do you use to help plan low carb meals etc? I need inspiration!!
 
Hi, I’ve been doing keto for a couple of months now. I’ve halved my basal (lots of hypos to start with) and rarely need more than a couple of units of bolus in a day. My sugars are in range for the first time in 15 years, and I feel great. I’ve lost about half a stone too, but normalising my sugars was the reason I started.

www.dietdoctor.com has great stuff to get you started
www.ruled.me and
www.ibreatheimhungry have some great recipes

And I’ve found that just googling “keto” with whatever food you fancy usually comes up with some useable results. So,emof the ingredients you’ll need seem a bit weird and expensive, like almond flour (expensive but goes a fair way) and psyllium husk powder (for added fibre), but most can be bought in shops like Holland & Barrett or eBay and Amazon. There’s a keto forum within the low carb forum on here too.
 
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