carlrr said:
I have a diabetic support leaflet here that says you need 300g carbs a day to maintain your body
I'm afraid that's a complete myth.
All carbohydrates are turned to glucose in the body, which goes round in the bloodstream to fuel our organs etc. Excess glucose is stored as fat - mainly triglycerides, I think, which are not good for us.
But carbs are not the only source of fuel for the body and brain; about 20% of the protein we eat is slowly metabolised into glucose; in addition, in a very low carb situation, the body goes into a state called ketosis, in which fat is metabolised into ketones which are also used as fuel. NB this is not to be confused with ketoacidosis, when ketones go up, blood glucose levels go up, and you feel very ill. You can read about it on this site.
A Type 2 with insulin resistance has problems getting the glucose into the cells for use as fuel; blood glucose stays high, until eventually the excess glucose is pushed into the fat cells - which very sadly do not get insulin resistance :roll: . In fact, insulin resistant Type 2 diabetes makes you fat!
I work on the principle that, as my body cannot handle carbs properly, it's best not to give it any. Usually I eat below 50g daily, and often below 30g without any ill-effects. My BG stays within the non-diabetic range, my BP and my cholesterol/blood lipids all go down, and I lose weight. Since Christmas I've been eating a bit more carb than usual - between 100g - 150g daily - and sure enough my BGs are up and I've put on weight. If I ate 300g daily my BGs would be through the roof and I would be almost visibly expanding :shock:
One of our members, Hanadr, is a scientist and understands things at a more technical level than I do. She says she has never seen anything in the scientific literature that proves we
must eat carbs. No one she has asked has ever been able to point her in the direction of any peer-reviewed papers that say carbs are essential.
We are all different; some people can eat many more grams of carb daily than I can. But I think you'll find that most diet-controlled Type 2s limit their carb intake in some way, whether by carb-counting, portion control or going for low GI carbs instead of quick-acting. The other option is to manage blood glucose by medication, up to and including insulin. Speaking personally, I intend to stay on minimum meds (I take Metformin) for as long as I can.
Each to his own - we are all different!
Viv 8)
