Dear All
This is one of the main concerns for me.
We are told we should be aiming at 30g, (GDA is lower at 24g) of non digestable carbs a day, otherwise known as fibre, or non starch polysaccharide(NSP) below 20g is considered to be dangerous for extended periods of time; This amount of fibre(30g) has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease; and i read elsewhere diabetes also!!!
Frequently NSP and digestible carbs are linked in a food and it is only our digestive system that seperates them.
for example 100g of white bread would come in at about 70g carbohydrate whereas wholemeal/seeded breads come in as low as 37g carbs per 100g; the difference is a combination of other nutrients including fibre and fats. Also the GI of wholemeal/seeded bread is lower.
So it is healthier to change from white bread to wholemeal/seeded bread as yes you are reducing your carb intake but also adding fibre-which is essential to a healthy gut, and reducing GI also.
Many people have been converted to wholemeal bread/seeded bread without or before being diabetic so if bread is cut out completely(in an attempt to lower carb intake) and sufficient care is not taken about eating other foods then fibre is also greatly reduced.
very low non digestable carbohydrate(fibre) diets are dangerous for more than a short period of time because they upset the digestive system, people either become constipated putting great pressure of the movement of faeces through the intestines or they get diarrhoea and possible pain as the intestines pump fluid or nothing through. One possible result, diverticulitis, a very painful disease and on sufficient increase for my local GP to have a dedicated nurse specialist for it as well as diabetes!
Although I have used bread as an example it also applies to other starch foods such as rice, pasta (a wheat product), potatoes-(best eaten with their skins), etc. as so many of these have had fibre removed before they are packaged and sold for consumption.
Any extreme diet can be effective for a short period of time to reach a desired effect, but should not be sustained, it is nearly always important to aim for a healthy balanced maintenance diet, Coping with diabetes is hard enough without increasing the risks of other diet related illnesses.
So yes I do have a suitably sized jacket potato with a low fat, carb free topping. I do have a sandwich with similar type of filling I do have a small portion of new potatoes with their skin on but I rarely eat white rice or pasta; and seem to tolerate noodles better than pasta, not worked out why yet.
We know we need to get our Blood Glucose levels under control, because of the long term side effects uncontrolled diabetes has, however this should not be at the risk of increasing our chances of developing other equally devastating illnesses.
I hope this goes some way to explaining why I do not 'Low Carb' and do not recommend it for extended periods of time. I want to take care of 'ALL OF ME' . Currently I am aiming at 120g of digestible carbs a day- though some days it probably comes in at 150g. Although not considered 'LOW' as advocated by 'Low Carbers' it is between 80g and 110g lower than GDA of 230g
I have written this to aid understanding of ME, as it is what I know best, some of it may be useful to others but is by now ways meant as prescriptive.
Julia
This is one of the main concerns for me.
We are told we should be aiming at 30g, (GDA is lower at 24g) of non digestable carbs a day, otherwise known as fibre, or non starch polysaccharide(NSP) below 20g is considered to be dangerous for extended periods of time; This amount of fibre(30g) has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease; and i read elsewhere diabetes also!!!
Frequently NSP and digestible carbs are linked in a food and it is only our digestive system that seperates them.
for example 100g of white bread would come in at about 70g carbohydrate whereas wholemeal/seeded breads come in as low as 37g carbs per 100g; the difference is a combination of other nutrients including fibre and fats. Also the GI of wholemeal/seeded bread is lower.
So it is healthier to change from white bread to wholemeal/seeded bread as yes you are reducing your carb intake but also adding fibre-which is essential to a healthy gut, and reducing GI also.
Many people have been converted to wholemeal bread/seeded bread without or before being diabetic so if bread is cut out completely(in an attempt to lower carb intake) and sufficient care is not taken about eating other foods then fibre is also greatly reduced.
very low non digestable carbohydrate(fibre) diets are dangerous for more than a short period of time because they upset the digestive system, people either become constipated putting great pressure of the movement of faeces through the intestines or they get diarrhoea and possible pain as the intestines pump fluid or nothing through. One possible result, diverticulitis, a very painful disease and on sufficient increase for my local GP to have a dedicated nurse specialist for it as well as diabetes!
Although I have used bread as an example it also applies to other starch foods such as rice, pasta (a wheat product), potatoes-(best eaten with their skins), etc. as so many of these have had fibre removed before they are packaged and sold for consumption.
Any extreme diet can be effective for a short period of time to reach a desired effect, but should not be sustained, it is nearly always important to aim for a healthy balanced maintenance diet, Coping with diabetes is hard enough without increasing the risks of other diet related illnesses.
So yes I do have a suitably sized jacket potato with a low fat, carb free topping. I do have a sandwich with similar type of filling I do have a small portion of new potatoes with their skin on but I rarely eat white rice or pasta; and seem to tolerate noodles better than pasta, not worked out why yet.
We know we need to get our Blood Glucose levels under control, because of the long term side effects uncontrolled diabetes has, however this should not be at the risk of increasing our chances of developing other equally devastating illnesses.
I hope this goes some way to explaining why I do not 'Low Carb' and do not recommend it for extended periods of time. I want to take care of 'ALL OF ME' . Currently I am aiming at 120g of digestible carbs a day- though some days it probably comes in at 150g. Although not considered 'LOW' as advocated by 'Low Carbers' it is between 80g and 110g lower than GDA of 230g
I have written this to aid understanding of ME, as it is what I know best, some of it may be useful to others but is by now ways meant as prescriptive.
Julia
