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Type 2 No carb or low carb?

J

JulieGavin

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After struggling for 10 years to control my BG, normally hovering around 7.5-8, my diabetic nurse just happened to mention that when she uses the word 'sugars' she really means carbs. So all this time I've focused on the sugar content in foods and not really noticing the carbs.
Should I be trying to avoid carbs altogether or can I have some carbs. If so, how many is ok each day? I've cut down the obvious stuff - potatoes, rice, pasta, bread eating much reduced portions less often, but I do like a couple of weetabix for breakfast and a lower carb/lower sugar type cereal bar mid morning.
I read so much conflicting advice it's becoming quite confusing.
 
Are you testing before and after your Bix? If you're not I would recommend that you do, just to see if your body can cope with a shot of carbs.
You're right, nearly all carbohydrates will get broken down to lower molecular weight sugars and so the thing to look at is the carbohydrate content and ignore the sugar bit. I tend to go for less than 8% carbo unless I'm only going to eat a very small portion.
There are folk that do "No Carb" but I don't think I would recommend straight off.
Do some testing and see how you react to what you eat and use that as a guide as to what you should eat.
Let us know how you're going, please.
Wish you well.
 
Almost impossible to go no carb, esp. if you eat veg.
 
JulieGavin said:
After struggling for 10 years to control my BG, normally hovering around 7.5-8, my diabetic nurse just happened to mention that when she uses the word 'sugars' she really means carbs. So all this time I've focused on the sugar content in foods and not really noticing the carbs.
Should I be trying to avoid carbs altogether or can I have some carbs. If so, how many is ok each day? I've cut down the obvious stuff - potatoes, rice, pasta, bread eating much reduced portions less often, but I do like a couple of weetabix for breakfast and a lower carb/lower sugar type cereal bar mid morning.
I read so much conflicting advice it's becoming quite confusing.
Click to expand...
Check out this site
http://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb
has some good info on what counts as low carb and lots of meal suggestions.. personally I try to go very low as few carbs as possible but thats just me less than 20g per day. I also do fasts.
 
I was in the same position just a couple of months ago - I've been type 2 diabetic for 13 years but because I couldn't tolerate metformin any more I've gone on to a basal insulin injection - one every 24 hours. Because of this I changed to a community diabetic nurse and she mentioned carbs. I knew so little at the time but this site has helped enormously. I also bought a book Carb & Calorie Counter which is very useful. I am now generally within target range by cutting out wheat based products, potatoes, rice, pasta etc. It has been a bit of a challenge - especially for packed lunches and eating out but so far so good. But you need to test to see what caused spiked for you personally because everyone is different.

My doctor recommended a low GI diet, but even this takes me out of the target area, so you will need to find out what suits you.

If you are desperate for bread Lidl do a protein roll which is low carb, I find I can tolerate half of one of these and they are filling.

What I have done is test before a meal when I am eating something which might cause a spike and test two hours after to see what effect it has had, as if you are still high, then it is obviously one to avoid or to eat in reduced quantities. Having said that I sometimes still can't come in within range at two hours but do at three hours and the nurse says that's fine. I don't know whether it is really but I am going with that as it only happens sometimes.

Good luck with your diet, I am sure you will find you feel better reducing carbs. I've certainly been less tired and have more energy.
 
The amount of carbs you can manage depends on you there is no amount that suits all some go very low some have a higher carb intake .You will have to test foods to see what you can eat but you have started on the right route by cutting the starchy carbs
 
When I joined a week and a half ago I was advised to get a glucose meter and test my levels to see what things I could and couldn't have.
I test before a meal, 2 hours after a meal and first thing in the morning. I keep a little book of what I have eaten, the times of day and my results. I was told by my doctor to have low sugar and low GI carbs. For some that will be fine... For me it was not. I was hyperglycaemic after a small amount of basmati rice. It was then I decided to cut out all carb rich foods, and fruits. Low carb, high fat ketogenic type diet is what I am eating now. It's brought my numbers down from 8's and 9's all day to 5's and 6's in just a week. I have read some of the success stories on here where people eating similar have reversed diabetes.

Testing is the best advice I can pass on to you. Once you work out what sends your numbers up you can then work on getting them lower.
 
It's worth being aware that your low/no carb diet needs to be sustainable, possibly indefinitely but at least long term: for many of us it has to be a lifestyle change rather than a short term diet. The more restrictive you are in limiting your choice of foods, the harder it may be to maintain it, so be realistic in your targets: that way you'll be able to achieve them and not keep falling off the wagon. There's no real need to go no carb unless you have a good reason to do so , as you can eat a good healthy and varied diet, including plenty of low carb vegetables and small quantities of fruits (berries) and nuts and still keep to a very low carb diet - around 30g carbs a day.

Robbity
 
I'm type 2, and my wife and I are both overweight so it's a team effort on the carbs. Of course it was easy to identify the bread, chocolate biscuits, snacks, fizzy drinks, cake, potatoes, rice and pasta. What was harder was to think what you can eat with a curry once the poppadums, naan bread, parathas and even rice were on the naughty list. Likewise, a Chinese just isn’t the same without rice, noodles or a pancake roll. We have a hundred recipes for things you can do with eggs but how do you make a quiche without pastry? It is hard to maintain a ‘5-a-day’ regime unless those are 5 varieties of cabbage, and it is hard to look at what used to be stocks in the freezer (chips, ice-cream, sliced bread, naan breads, last year’s crop of parsnips) and the cupboards (rice, pasta, biscuits, flour, sugar, orange juice, jam, anything in a tin) which are now just taking up space. As this is a lifestyle change I guess we should toss the lot in the bin and stop torturing ourselves. Sugars are carbs, carbs are bad therefore most fruit is bad. Luckily the tide has changed regarding eggs. When I last dieted the limit was 2 eggs per week and small quantities of seafood or you died. Now there is no limit. Apparently I can eat as much red meat as I like and even eat the skin on the chicken.

The only rays of sunshine are there are no carbs in Gin, we have gained a lot of cupboard space, we can switch off one of the freezers and we are saving money as we can’t eat out any more. On the plus (minus?) side, we are both losing weight…….
 
phil976 said:
I'm type 2, and my wife and I are both overweight so it's a team effort on the carbs. Of course it was easy to identify the bread, chocolate biscuits, snacks, fizzy drinks, cake, potatoes, rice and pasta. What was harder was to think what you can eat with a curry once the poppadums, naan bread, parathas and even rice were on the naughty list. Likewise, a Chinese just isn’t the same without rice, noodles or a pancake roll. We have a hundred recipes for things you can do with eggs but how do you make a quiche without pastry? It is hard to maintain a ‘5-a-day’ regime unless those are 5 varieties of cabbage, and it is hard to look at what used to be stocks in the freezer (chips, ice-cream, sliced bread, naan breads, last year’s crop of parsnips) and the cupboards (rice, pasta, biscuits, flour, sugar, orange juice, jam, anything in a tin) which are now just taking up space. As this is a lifestyle change I guess we should toss the lot in the bin and stop torturing ourselves. Sugars are carbs, carbs are bad therefore most fruit is bad. Luckily the tide has changed regarding eggs. When I last dieted the limit was 2 eggs per week and small quantities of seafood or you died. Now there is no limit. Apparently I can eat as much red meat as I like and even eat the skin on the chicken.

The only rays of sunshine are there are no carbs in Gin, we have gained a lot of cupboard space, we can switch off one of the freezers and we are saving money as we can’t eat out any more. On the plus (minus?) side, we are both losing weight…….
Click to expand...
how do you make a quiche without pastry
I make it once a week with chorizo, leaks, cheese topping and anything else wanting to be used up and call it "crustless" and it is just the job for my BG's and I love it. :happy:

Skin good. There might be someone along soon to wonder about red meat but I agree.... though I actually have fish three days a week... we get top fish in NE Scotland.

Good news on the weight, it sort of self perpetuates...
 
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