I am gradually converting to a low carb way of thinking, but I do find parts of it so confusing. I am limiting bread to one small slice a day, if any at all. Small portion of potatoes, as we dont eat rice or pasta. I was diagnosed T2 nearly 3 years ago & take 2x Metformin +1 Sitagliptin per day. BG. seem to be settling down to around 6.8 to 7.5 I shall continue to visit, & hopefully gain knowledge from you good people. I do like a banana each day, & that doesnt seem to affect my BG. too much. Other fruits I am not sure about. I have always been a fruit eater, & would hate having to give up favourites like Russet apples, when in season. Happy New Year to all!
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new to low carb
- Thread starter dollyrocker40
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jeannie3009
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Hi all I am so confused the NHS says to eat a high carb diet others say a low carb diet. So who do you go with?
My sugars are all over the place, I have been on Byetta for a week along with Metformin and Gliclazide. They are averaging out at 14.00 can't get them lower. I have Carbs and Cals for Diabetics book and have been trying to portion all my food intake.
Then I go to another diet and it says I should be eating a high carb diet.
Has anyone got a good low carb diet that I can download. I have to do something as my weight is creeping up every month.
I have never been this big before, just keep getting told to diet?
Please someone must have a good diet that I can follow.
HELP!!!!!!!
Jeannette xx
My sugars are all over the place, I have been on Byetta for a week along with Metformin and Gliclazide. They are averaging out at 14.00 can't get them lower. I have Carbs and Cals for Diabetics book and have been trying to portion all my food intake.
Then I go to another diet and it says I should be eating a high carb diet.
Has anyone got a good low carb diet that I can download. I have to do something as my weight is creeping up every month.
I have never been this big before, just keep getting told to diet?
Please someone must have a good diet that I can follow.
HELP!!!!!!!
Jeannette xx
viviennem
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As far as I am concerned, diabetes is a condition where my body cannot metabolize carbohydrates correctly. If I eat too much carbohydrate, my blood glucose levels go up, and if I continuously eat too much carbohydrate for my system to handle, my BG levels stay up! It therefore seems logical to me to avoid carbohydrates much of the time, though I do sometimes have treats! :wink:
Also I put weight on with carbs - in my pre-diabetic days, I tried to follow the NHS "balanced diet" advice, and just got fatter and fatter. My pancreas still produces insulin, and as I have insulin resistance in my muscle cells, the insulin stores the extra glucose from too much carbohydrate as fat.
We are all different; I am happy on a very-low-carb (less than 50g daily) diet - the one I use is a Sticky Thread on the Low-carb diet section of the forum - Viv's Modified Atkins Diet. Other people can control their blood glucose very well by eating about 130g - 150g carb a day. Some people, like me, deliberately avoid carbohydrate foods. Others, eg Sid Bonkers, have excellent BG levels through portion control, eating only small amounts of carb-foods and trying to go for Low Glycaemic Index foods.
I have a personal theory that many Health Care Professionals get taught most about Type 1 diabetes and very little about Type 2. With Type 1s, who don't produce any insulin themselves, the balance is between how much carbohydrate they eat and how much insulin they inject. Too much insulin and not enough carbs can send their BG levels dangerously low - hypoglycaemia - which can be fatal. This is where the idea that all diabetics must have a steady intake of carbohydrate comes from, I think. But for Type 2s, at least those who still have insulin production and have insulin resistance, there is no need to eat a lot of carbohydrate. Our bodies can manage very well on a small amount.
Have a look at my diet (as above). I am not suggesting you go as low-carb as me, but it's a good basic low-carb diet, and you can add carbs into it eg by eating extra low-ish carb vegetables, and fruits eg berries, apricots and plums (but not too much fruit). Also pulses, in small quantities. Pick the amount of carb you want to eat each day, and get a carb counter book (available eg on Amazon - Collins Gem series do one) to help you choose which foods to eat. If you use any processed foods, always read the labels - it's "total carbs" you need to look at, not "of which sugars".
Finally, a word of warning. I do not take Byetta and I know nothing about it. I think it is a drug that puts weight on, but it may also be a drug than can cause your blood glucose to go too low, so you have a hypoglycaemic episode. I hope someone else on the forum can help you (both of us!) with that - meanwhile, do check. Google it; read the insert in the Byetta package to see what the side-effects are, and don't lower your carb intake too severely until you are very sure what you are doing with this drug.
I would feel very guilty if you had a hypo by cutting your carbs on my advice
. If Byetta can cause hypos, better tell your GP or nurse that you want to contol your carbohydrate intake and ask how you adjust your Byetta dose. Don't say "low carb" - many HCPs don't understand it properly and won't listen. (I'm lucky - mine do!) Say you're aiming for 150 grams of carb daily - you can always go lower once you know more.
In summary - you will find that many people on this forum control their carbohydrate intake; not all go very low, but only a minority eat as much carb as the standard NHS diet recommends. We've learned by experience. Don't be afraid to ask questions
Can we have some input from someone who uses Byetta, please?
Viv 8)
Also I put weight on with carbs - in my pre-diabetic days, I tried to follow the NHS "balanced diet" advice, and just got fatter and fatter. My pancreas still produces insulin, and as I have insulin resistance in my muscle cells, the insulin stores the extra glucose from too much carbohydrate as fat.
We are all different; I am happy on a very-low-carb (less than 50g daily) diet - the one I use is a Sticky Thread on the Low-carb diet section of the forum - Viv's Modified Atkins Diet. Other people can control their blood glucose very well by eating about 130g - 150g carb a day. Some people, like me, deliberately avoid carbohydrate foods. Others, eg Sid Bonkers, have excellent BG levels through portion control, eating only small amounts of carb-foods and trying to go for Low Glycaemic Index foods.
I have a personal theory that many Health Care Professionals get taught most about Type 1 diabetes and very little about Type 2. With Type 1s, who don't produce any insulin themselves, the balance is between how much carbohydrate they eat and how much insulin they inject. Too much insulin and not enough carbs can send their BG levels dangerously low - hypoglycaemia - which can be fatal. This is where the idea that all diabetics must have a steady intake of carbohydrate comes from, I think. But for Type 2s, at least those who still have insulin production and have insulin resistance, there is no need to eat a lot of carbohydrate. Our bodies can manage very well on a small amount.
Have a look at my diet (as above). I am not suggesting you go as low-carb as me, but it's a good basic low-carb diet, and you can add carbs into it eg by eating extra low-ish carb vegetables, and fruits eg berries, apricots and plums (but not too much fruit). Also pulses, in small quantities. Pick the amount of carb you want to eat each day, and get a carb counter book (available eg on Amazon - Collins Gem series do one) to help you choose which foods to eat. If you use any processed foods, always read the labels - it's "total carbs" you need to look at, not "of which sugars".
Finally, a word of warning. I do not take Byetta and I know nothing about it. I think it is a drug that puts weight on, but it may also be a drug than can cause your blood glucose to go too low, so you have a hypoglycaemic episode. I hope someone else on the forum can help you (both of us!) with that - meanwhile, do check. Google it; read the insert in the Byetta package to see what the side-effects are, and don't lower your carb intake too severely until you are very sure what you are doing with this drug.
I would feel very guilty if you had a hypo by cutting your carbs on my advice
. If Byetta can cause hypos, better tell your GP or nurse that you want to contol your carbohydrate intake and ask how you adjust your Byetta dose. Don't say "low carb" - many HCPs don't understand it properly and won't listen. (I'm lucky - mine do!) Say you're aiming for 150 grams of carb daily - you can always go lower once you know more. In summary - you will find that many people on this forum control their carbohydrate intake; not all go very low, but only a minority eat as much carb as the standard NHS diet recommends. We've learned by experience. Don't be afraid to ask questions
Can we have some input from someone who uses Byetta, please?
Viv 8)
paul-1976
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I used to use Byetta and it does reduce appetite and I believe a fair few people who use it have lost quite a substancial amount of weight on it and also as far as I am aware the risks of hypo are low on it as it only makes your pancreas secrete more insulin when it's required unlike Gliclazide which I believe stimulates your pancreas all the time.
Sadly Byetta didn't work for me as my pancreas only makes a very small amount of natural insulin and also I was unlucky enough that I couldn't tolerate the gastro side effects.
Sadly Byetta didn't work for me as my pancreas only makes a very small amount of natural insulin and also I was unlucky enough that I couldn't tolerate the gastro side effects.
