low carb eating

finno46

Newbie
Messages
2
Type of diabetes
Type 2
its getting a bit frustrating trying to change to low carbs as I am unsure how it works, my doctor advised to change diets, I have just started to inject insulin and take meds also, the insulin doesn't seem to make any difference as my sugar readings are still up to 15, it seems to make no difference what I eat, can anyone advise on what meals I can eat as in low carb, thanks in advance for any help received.
 

urbanracer

Expert
Retired Moderator
Messages
5,186
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Not being able to eat as many chocolate digestives as I used to.
Hi @finno46 ,

Welcome to the forums. Hopefully @daisy1 will send you some useful information.

In the meantime have a look around the forums - especially the food and nutrition areas http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/#food-and-nutrition.28 . Don't forget that there's also a wealth of information on the front of the website too.

As a general rule though, T2's usually benefit by cutting down on carbohydrate intake. This is because all carbohydrates turn into glucose in the body. So when you're looking at food labels, ignore the of which sugars bit, it's irrelevant to us.

Things that are known to cause us problems are rice, potato, bread and pasta. Now you don't have to go mad cutting all these out of your diet immediately, but take a critical look at what you're eating and see if you can cut down on portion sizes as a starting point.

Keep a food diary and test your blood glucose levels (strongly recommend that you buy a test meter if don't already have one) before and after meals so that you can evaluate what the food is doing to you.

Ask more questions - we love to help :)
 

Brunneria

Guru
Retired Moderator
Messages
21,889
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Have a look at the low carb section of the forum. Lots of threads there discussing food, recipes, meal plans and fine tuning a LC way of eating.

And if you want a really quick, easy to understand overview of LC and what is, and isn't included, click the link at the bottom of my signature, which will take you to the dietdoc website.
 

Daibell

Master
Messages
12,642
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi. Do follow the diet advice already given. When on insulin you should be able to adjust the shots to get your blood sugar right even if not low-carbing (but you may gain weight). Can you let us know a bit more about your BMI and what insulin regime you are on e.g. mixed twice a day or Basal/Bolus (two insulins 4/5 times a day)?
 

daisy1

Legend
Messages
26,457
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Cruelty towards animals.
@finno46

Hello and welcome to the forum :) Here is the basic information we give to new members. This will, amongst other things, give you a lot of info about low carb eating. In addition it includes a link to the Low Carb Program. Ask as many questions as you need to and someone will be able to help.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 150,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

  • Reduce your carbohydrate intake
  • Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program


Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

  • structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
  • self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.