Low carb diet and Type 1 Diabetes
- Thread starter Diabolical
- Start Date
Hi derraileurs,
I've been low-carbing for 8 years now and the result has been HbA1c's constantly in the 4's, fewer hypos,much less insulin, much more energy and a return to my teenage weight. I'll happily PM you some typical day's diets, although you will find some on Katherine's Nutritional thread.
I started out by experimenting on myself, but subsequently found a great deal of research to back up the idea.
Chapeau!
fergus
I've been low-carbing for 8 years now and the result has been HbA1c's constantly in the 4's, fewer hypos,much less insulin, much more energy and a return to my teenage weight. I'll happily PM you some typical day's diets, although you will find some on Katherine's Nutritional thread.
I started out by experimenting on myself, but subsequently found a great deal of research to back up the idea.
Chapeau!
fergus
Can I *please* say something. Diabetes.co.uk felt it necessary to email all members announcing there had been such a hoo-ha over all this that it now has its own space on this site. So what is this thread doing here. Please, please, to the people who just can't let it go, and you are almost all the same ones posting on here as in other of these type of threads, will you just post in the correct place? It's so easy to do. You've all told each other the same things a hundred times already anyway from what I've read. Can this entire thread be moved there by the magical power of computers? And there would have been nothing at all wrong or disrespectful if the first reply to the first post on this thread had been "If you wish to know more about the low-carb approach to diabetes please check out our spangly new section on this site for lots of information from many different and well-informed people". Job done!
I only got diagnosed this year and this is *not* what I or many other people in my position need to be battered with every single time we dare look on here. And that's how it really feels - daring to look on this site. Please think of others. We are not so stupid that we can't see the low-carb forum if we want to learn about it and it's a bit of an insult to our intelligence to have it constantly rammed down our throats. Diabetes.co.uk has provided the solution to the low-carb thread issue, so please can it be implemented here. I clicked on the type 1 section tonight hoping to *finally* be able to read / join in with something other than the low-carb thing and yet here it is again, top of the list, unbelievable. I need to hear from and about others in my situation not about every last carb someone ate and what it did or didn't do for them - type 1 diabetes cuts way deeper than that particularly if you're newly diagnosed like me. What about, when do you call the ambulance when you live alone and your hypo won't go away? What about the friends who don't answer my emails when I tell them what's happened to me? How should I feel about that? Has that happened to anyone else? What about the people who ask me not to inject in front of them and go to the toilet instead, which I hate? Am I right to think they're ignorant? How is restricting my carb count going to help me then? What about when I think about my single life alone in London with this dreadful disease and no-one to hug me all better cos my mum lives in Lincs and is being treated for cancer and can't come down to help me? And what about when the twit at work spends 5 minutes talking at great length right next to me about the marvellous organic chocolate drink she had and how many sugars she put in each cup of it to maximise the flavour and oh, the smell, the smell!! It's the quaaaaality you know!! So when I want to kill her (metaphorically of course), is a low-carb approach going to help me then? What about when everyone I tell says oh yeah my aunty got diabetes too, so she just goes for lots of walks and watches what she eats and like she's ok, what's the problem or alternatively sends me web links to treatments for type 2 diabetes or gushes about types of meditation or plants that cure type 2. Etc. Except for the one who said oh yeah my brother's type 1 so please watch your sugars cos I spent my entire childhood holding him down while the doctor injected him and he'd smash the place up and mess his pants, so don't do that at work. So that was a great help. Will a low-carb approach help me on those occasions? Seriously, guys. If I want to know, I'll read it in the dedicated forum, because I can a) see and b) read. I really hope I haven't upset anyone but she cannae tek it any more captain, she's gonna blow.
I only got diagnosed this year and this is *not* what I or many other people in my position need to be battered with every single time we dare look on here. And that's how it really feels - daring to look on this site. Please think of others. We are not so stupid that we can't see the low-carb forum if we want to learn about it and it's a bit of an insult to our intelligence to have it constantly rammed down our throats. Diabetes.co.uk has provided the solution to the low-carb thread issue, so please can it be implemented here. I clicked on the type 1 section tonight hoping to *finally* be able to read / join in with something other than the low-carb thing and yet here it is again, top of the list, unbelievable. I need to hear from and about others in my situation not about every last carb someone ate and what it did or didn't do for them - type 1 diabetes cuts way deeper than that particularly if you're newly diagnosed like me. What about, when do you call the ambulance when you live alone and your hypo won't go away? What about the friends who don't answer my emails when I tell them what's happened to me? How should I feel about that? Has that happened to anyone else? What about the people who ask me not to inject in front of them and go to the toilet instead, which I hate? Am I right to think they're ignorant? How is restricting my carb count going to help me then? What about when I think about my single life alone in London with this dreadful disease and no-one to hug me all better cos my mum lives in Lincs and is being treated for cancer and can't come down to help me? And what about when the twit at work spends 5 minutes talking at great length right next to me about the marvellous organic chocolate drink she had and how many sugars she put in each cup of it to maximise the flavour and oh, the smell, the smell!! It's the quaaaaality you know!! So when I want to kill her (metaphorically of course), is a low-carb approach going to help me then? What about when everyone I tell says oh yeah my aunty got diabetes too, so she just goes for lots of walks and watches what she eats and like she's ok, what's the problem or alternatively sends me web links to treatments for type 2 diabetes or gushes about types of meditation or plants that cure type 2. Etc. Except for the one who said oh yeah my brother's type 1 so please watch your sugars cos I spent my entire childhood holding him down while the doctor injected him and he'd smash the place up and mess his pants, so don't do that at work. So that was a great help. Will a low-carb approach help me on those occasions? Seriously, guys. If I want to know, I'll read it in the dedicated forum, because I can a) see and b) read. I really hope I haven't upset anyone but she cannae tek it any more captain, she's gonna blow.
No problem with that. It is a 'Low carb diet and Type 1 diabetes' thread after all, so it's equally at home on either forum.
fergus
fergus
jopar
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I can appreciate that not every diabetic is interested in a very low restricted carbohydrate diet but there are some who are or could be considering this option to aid or help there control. Which one must assume that the author of this post is considering as an option.
So opinions from insulin users who follow a carb restricted diet is required as are those from insulin users who handle there diets and control in a different manner to give he post author a overview of opinions to consider, it would be unfair to edit or delete posts from members who are expressing there achievements/merits of a low carb diet. Doing this would unfairly change the context of the thread unfairly.
If on the other hand the author was asking a question based on how to handle a problem such as keeping levels stable after eating pizza and the thread was littered with ‘you’ve got to cut out these types of carbs, you got to go extreme low carbing’ etc which wasn’t the authors question/query yes I would intervene appropriately.
So opinions from insulin users who follow a carb restricted diet is required as are those from insulin users who handle there diets and control in a different manner to give he post author a overview of opinions to consider, it would be unfair to edit or delete posts from members who are expressing there achievements/merits of a low carb diet. Doing this would unfairly change the context of the thread unfairly.
If on the other hand the author was asking a question based on how to handle a problem such as keeping levels stable after eating pizza and the thread was littered with ‘you’ve got to cut out these types of carbs, you got to go extreme low carbing’ etc which wasn’t the authors question/query yes I would intervene appropriately.
Hi jopar,
I think there is more to moonstone's post than the low carb issue. She is obviously feeling very low at the moment and is having difficulty dealing with the ill informed at the work place and does not seem to have any support around her. Perhaps other type 1's could tell her their experiences of how they have dealt with the issues she has highlighted. Having to use the toilet to inject herself seems a bit old hat for the 21st century.
Regards, Catherine.
I think there is more to moonstone's post than the low carb issue. She is obviously feeling very low at the moment and is having difficulty dealing with the ill informed at the work place and does not seem to have any support around her. Perhaps other type 1's could tell her their experiences of how they have dealt with the issues she has highlighted. Having to use the toilet to inject herself seems a bit old hat for the 21st century.
Regards, Catherine.
jopar
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chatherinecherub
I did realise that there is a bit more in what moonstone is saying, and hoping that she might start a thread or two of her own so we might be able to give her more inforamtion and support more suitable to her needs, rather than distracting from this thread too much where it would get mixed in and not be easily found by others to help....
I did realise that there is a bit more in what moonstone is saying, and hoping that she might start a thread or two of her own so we might be able to give her more inforamtion and support more suitable to her needs, rather than distracting from this thread too much where it would get mixed in and not be easily found by others to help....
To return to the original point of this post, I as a T1 think it's a very worthwhile discussion to have here in the T1 Diabetes section, because much of the low carb discussion on the site tends to be between T2s and the issues are different, as are the treatment of them, the training and advice patients are given. Obviously there is some overlap, but honestly without reading about Fergus's success, I would NEVER have considered it an option for me.
I cut down my carbs as an experiment a couple of months ago and I am really happy with the results. I typically ate about 150g per day before, and have cut down first to 90g, then to 75 and am now aiming for about 60g. But I'm not totally strict about this. What I have achieved with this and an insulin pump (loving the dual wave bolus!) are BGs between 4 - 7 all day. This was totally unheard of for me on MDI, and even on a pump. I can also have a pre meal BG of 5 and a 1 hour post meal one the same. I was told this wasn't possible by my (lovely) DSN and dietician when I did a carb counting course! I believed them, so didn't try.
Carb counting courses like DAFNE etc emphasise "normal" eating - training people in how to eat just an apple or an enormous pizza and bolus for them accordingly. This knowledge was really enlightening, and has helped me cut down on carbs very safely and easily. But the problem with the advice on those courses is that "normal" eating and "normal" BGs don't equate, even with a lot of insulin and a lot of know-how. I felt i was being trained to accept unacceptable control.
I have found it easy and enjoyable and having stable BGs for the fist time in 25 years - something I had accepted I would never have - has started to feel like it's changed my life. I'm not evangelical about it - just sharing my experience for those consideriung their options.
Sorry to go on... 8)
Miss E
I cut down my carbs as an experiment a couple of months ago and I am really happy with the results. I typically ate about 150g per day before, and have cut down first to 90g, then to 75 and am now aiming for about 60g. But I'm not totally strict about this. What I have achieved with this and an insulin pump (loving the dual wave bolus!) are BGs between 4 - 7 all day. This was totally unheard of for me on MDI, and even on a pump. I can also have a pre meal BG of 5 and a 1 hour post meal one the same. I was told this wasn't possible by my (lovely) DSN and dietician when I did a carb counting course! I believed them, so didn't try.
Carb counting courses like DAFNE etc emphasise "normal" eating - training people in how to eat just an apple or an enormous pizza and bolus for them accordingly. This knowledge was really enlightening, and has helped me cut down on carbs very safely and easily. But the problem with the advice on those courses is that "normal" eating and "normal" BGs don't equate, even with a lot of insulin and a lot of know-how. I felt i was being trained to accept unacceptable control.
I have found it easy and enjoyable and having stable BGs for the fist time in 25 years - something I had accepted I would never have - has started to feel like it's changed my life. I'm not evangelical about it - just sharing my experience for those consideriung their options.
Sorry to go on... 8)
Miss E
Catherine, jopar and Miss E, I completely agree with all of you.
I'm certain everyone can find support on the forum for their specific needs simply by asking the right questions in the right place. I and others are often accused of being overly evangelical about the virtues of low carb diets but in all honesty the sole motivation for me is that others have the opportunity and support to consider all options open to them.
Miss E, you demonstated that quite beautifully, thank you.
fergus
I'm certain everyone can find support on the forum for their specific needs simply by asking the right questions in the right place. I and others are often accused of being overly evangelical about the virtues of low carb diets but in all honesty the sole motivation for me is that others have the opportunity and support to consider all options open to them.
Miss E, you demonstated that quite beautifully, thank you.
fergus
Hi moonstone,
I've got type 1 diabetes too (diagnosed 29 years ago) and live in London, if you want to chat about how to deal with it at work and elsewhere, please feel free to send me a PM. I don't actually know anybody else who has type 1, and I live on my own too...and sometimes it is hard.
I know this is off-topic but I wanted to put this here so you would see it. I am sorry you are feeling so down about it but can fully understand why it is as you are newly diagnosed and still getting used to it.
I've got type 1 diabetes too (diagnosed 29 years ago) and live in London, if you want to chat about how to deal with it at work and elsewhere, please feel free to send me a PM. I don't actually know anybody else who has type 1, and I live on my own too...and sometimes it is hard.
I know this is off-topic but I wanted to put this here so you would see it. I am sorry you are feeling so down about it but can fully understand why it is as you are newly diagnosed and still getting used to it.
Likewise, derailleurs. 
You know where to find me if you need to discuss Mont Ventoux or anything else!
fergus
You know where to find me if you need to discuss Mont Ventoux or anything else!fergus
Well, that’ll teach me to attempt communication with blood sugars at 14. I swear I didn’t know until I went to bed. Those digestives had been looking at me for hours and that’s my only defence. Anyway, I would like to say thank you very much to the two people who have been so kind as to offer to talk to me privately and yes I will talk to you, very soon, I thought I’d better do this first though.
I didn’t want the low-carb information to be unavailable to anyone, it’s frighteningly important information for those who have bad control and bad results. Someone replied that they would have been lost without it so they’d rather it stayed here, but if it’s already proved so helpful to them, then they can’t possibly have found out about it on this T1 forum, which has only just been set up. Yes, of course, absolutely, it’s important that is it discussed - in a reasonable manner, in the right place. I don’t want anyone’s posts to be edited or deleted either, as I think someone else has perhaps suggested, if I read it right. I actually asked for this thread to go to the proper forum for it, where it could be easily found in the right place, and for anyone on this forum asking about the issue to be respectfully pointed in the right direction. The title of this thread speaks for itself and if the moderators are able to keep it near the top then T1s won’t have to wade through hundreds of posts relating to T2 just to find something useful, as someone has raised as an issue for us. And then when I want to find out more, I can go and look in the obvious place. It just seems so simple. But it’s ok if you all think it’s best to have it here too. But will you promise to keep it on this thread? Pleeeaaase?
Although I didn’t put it very well (and I hope I sound a lot more reasonable tonight minus the - er - carbs) I was trying to illustrate that what’s been happening with the low-carb issue on this site is the same as when someone’s shouting at you – they could be telling you the most important thing in your life but their message is lost because all you hear is that you’re being shouted at. And maybe this truly is the most important thing I’ll ever hear, but I’ve been going “la-la-la can’t hear you” because the hundreds of argumentative posts about this subject across this site recently have blinded me to the potentially life-saving information contained within and truly upset me, given everything else I’m trying to get my head around. I know I can't be alone in feeling like this. I’ve seen completely unrelated threads being turned into personal infighting about low-carbing. I’ve seen others who have said the same as me, elsewhere, shockingly insulted. I just snapped when I saw this thread here and should have had the foresight to hold my tongue and test my sugars as I only get narky when they're raised. But there’s no point drawing one person to the right conclusion and losing two more – it’s much more important for the low-carb message to be heard by all the people who could potentially benefit from it. I really would like to learn more about it from the knowledgeable people on this site, at the right time, in the right place. In the meantime, I just need to learn how to be a type 1 diabetic, with very little support, surrounded by stupid and insensitive people :evil: and hang the hba1c – I’m honeymooning anyway. For what it’s worth, it was 7.2% last month, down from 12.6% at diagnosis, and I had barely let a refined carb (or many carbs at all) pass my lips since September 2005 anyway as I have PCOS and was trying to sort my hormones out (it worked) and also avoid getting T2. But I got T1 out of the blue instead :roll: and them's the outrageous breaks.
Have a good day.
I didn’t want the low-carb information to be unavailable to anyone, it’s frighteningly important information for those who have bad control and bad results. Someone replied that they would have been lost without it so they’d rather it stayed here, but if it’s already proved so helpful to them, then they can’t possibly have found out about it on this T1 forum, which has only just been set up. Yes, of course, absolutely, it’s important that is it discussed - in a reasonable manner, in the right place. I don’t want anyone’s posts to be edited or deleted either, as I think someone else has perhaps suggested, if I read it right. I actually asked for this thread to go to the proper forum for it, where it could be easily found in the right place, and for anyone on this forum asking about the issue to be respectfully pointed in the right direction. The title of this thread speaks for itself and if the moderators are able to keep it near the top then T1s won’t have to wade through hundreds of posts relating to T2 just to find something useful, as someone has raised as an issue for us. And then when I want to find out more, I can go and look in the obvious place. It just seems so simple. But it’s ok if you all think it’s best to have it here too. But will you promise to keep it on this thread? Pleeeaaase?
Although I didn’t put it very well (and I hope I sound a lot more reasonable tonight minus the - er - carbs) I was trying to illustrate that what’s been happening with the low-carb issue on this site is the same as when someone’s shouting at you – they could be telling you the most important thing in your life but their message is lost because all you hear is that you’re being shouted at. And maybe this truly is the most important thing I’ll ever hear, but I’ve been going “la-la-la can’t hear you” because the hundreds of argumentative posts about this subject across this site recently have blinded me to the potentially life-saving information contained within and truly upset me, given everything else I’m trying to get my head around. I know I can't be alone in feeling like this. I’ve seen completely unrelated threads being turned into personal infighting about low-carbing. I’ve seen others who have said the same as me, elsewhere, shockingly insulted. I just snapped when I saw this thread here and should have had the foresight to hold my tongue and test my sugars as I only get narky when they're raised. But there’s no point drawing one person to the right conclusion and losing two more – it’s much more important for the low-carb message to be heard by all the people who could potentially benefit from it. I really would like to learn more about it from the knowledgeable people on this site, at the right time, in the right place. In the meantime, I just need to learn how to be a type 1 diabetic, with very little support, surrounded by stupid and insensitive people :evil: and hang the hba1c – I’m honeymooning anyway. For what it’s worth, it was 7.2% last month, down from 12.6% at diagnosis, and I had barely let a refined carb (or many carbs at all) pass my lips since September 2005 anyway as I have PCOS and was trying to sort my hormones out (it worked) and also avoid getting T2. But I got T1 out of the blue instead :roll: and them's the outrageous breaks.
Have a good day.
shedges
Well-Known Member
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- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
- Treatment type
- Pump
Hi Moonstone,
I've only just got into the diabetic forums and feel overwhelmed sometimes by all the advice/opinions. When I feel myself going that way I just switch off from them and go and think about something else... get out of the house or whatever.
If you ever want someone to talk to online - about anything... doesn't have to be about diabetes, drop me a line.
I'm looking into low-carb and am very unsure about it all. I see the benefits and the potential pitfalls.
Look forward to getting to know all you type 1's out there,
Sam.
I've only just got into the diabetic forums and feel overwhelmed sometimes by all the advice/opinions. When I feel myself going that way I just switch off from them and go and think about something else... get out of the house or whatever.
If you ever want someone to talk to online - about anything... doesn't have to be about diabetes, drop me a line.
I'm looking into low-carb and am very unsure about it all. I see the benefits and the potential pitfalls.
Look forward to getting to know all you type 1's out there,
Sam.
Hi Sam, welcome to the forum.
Type 1 here too and I hope the forum helps to shed some light on the low carb issue for you.
All the best,
fergus
Type 1 here too and I hope the forum helps to shed some light on the low carb issue for you.
All the best,
fergus
Hey Sam,
I'm also type one and I have taken the low-carb route. Working well for me.
Looking forward to getting to know you better!
Katie.
I'm also type one and I have taken the low-carb route. Working well for me.
Looking forward to getting to know you better!
Katie.
the whole of Bernstein's treatment plqn for his patients is low carb basedAnd he's a T1 Atkins also has a low carb diabetes plan, but that is aimed at T2.
Bernstein has been usinf low carb treatment long enough to make it quite clear that as a strategy it works. It's been decades for himself and a lot of years for others. Mendosa has also gone low carb and off medication. Reducin carbs and insulin has made life less of a roller coaster for my T1 husband too and he's not 100% compliant. Especially if I'm not around.
Bernstein has been usinf low carb treatment long enough to make it quite clear that as a strategy it works. It's been decades for himself and a lot of years for others. Mendosa has also gone low carb and off medication. Reducin carbs and insulin has made life less of a roller coaster for my T1 husband too and he's not 100% compliant. Especially if I'm not around.
