Low- Carb What should I aim for?

JimG

Member
Messages
9
D Day approaches with my visit to the Practice Nurse tomorrow. Since the diagnosis in December I have done nothing in the way of changing my diet(not quite head in the sands) but have read various threads on here and articles about low carb diets. I currently take several medications for other problem areas, omperazole for stomach problems, simvastatin for cholestrol although last test in December has this at 4.3, cardioplen for heart and asprin.
Add to this the four Metaformin that I now haveto take and trying to lose a fair old amount of weight as I am nearly 19st, I am looking to kick start the change as from tomorrow onwards. I picked up from the net the SIGN(NICE) guidelines so I can go armed with reqests to test and change my diet accordingly and have sent off for the books, Dr Bernstein and the carb counter. What should I aim for in regards to carbs given that I need to be careful in regards to fats as well?
 

sixfoot

Well-Known Member
Messages
989
Jim almost a year ago when i was 19st 12lbs my GP wanted to put me on Insulin. True i dont have your other problems but i said i dont thinks so and there must be another way to go. i was offered Byetta which has the added bonus of helping with weight loss and also i discoverd the Carb restriction approach. You appear to have already made some of the important choices with your reading material, the other is that you will need a certain amount of will power until you start to see the benefits as due to their nature carbs can be addictive. How far you go will only be determined by testing as you will have read on here.
It is difficult to avoid carbs completely even in some green veg but by avoiding the Rice Potatoes Bread Pasta Groups you will reduce your intake considerably.

I would recomend reading postings by Fergus as they seem to have made it an art form
At the moment on this regim i am now down to 17st 7 and looking to dump another 1.5st .

Good luck to you with your efforts
Dave P
 

fergus

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,439
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Hi Jim, and thanks Dave!

I can't give you a precise number of grams per day because professional advice varies (from Bernstein at 30g, Clark at 60g and Allan/Lutz at 74g.) From a standing start I'd suggest you should make gradual reductions and test your BG regularly to see how your numbers improve. I'd anticipate a big improvement if you can make an impact on the usual suspects - bread, pasta, rice & potatoes.

As a rough guide, I eat ~30g carbs per day as that works well for me. I got there gradually though and would probably have run off screaming rather than drop to 30g in one go. The level that works for you may be different depending on what you hope to achieve.

Keep us posted though. All the best,

fergus
 

sixfoot

Well-Known Member
Messages
989
another small piece of advice if your GP will agree get your lipid profile done before starting, you will almost certainly be surprised at the added bonus of the numbers for them which should come into line as well.

Dave P