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Should type 1s stick to low carb??

A

Abbiec12

Active Member
Messages
44
Location
Bradford
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Non-insulin injectable medication (incretin mimetics)
Hiya I'm type 1 and I'm just wondering if I'm supposed to be eating a low carb diet? If so why has no one mentioned low carb before? I was under the impression that I could eat as much carb as I like as long as I carb count and inject?!

Thanks
 
No - not necessarily. The advice to eat a low carb diet is mainly aimed at type 2s on diet or oral medication, and as their bodies can't handle carbs very well, they need to avoid eating higher carb foods to control their glucose levels. However there are some type 1s here who also eat a low carb diet, as it enables themto reduce the amount of insulin they may need to take. So in your case, it's a choice that can be made.

Robbity
 
I'm lchf and find my blood sugars are easier to control. My lows may be in the high 3s and my highs are in the 8s. I enjoy the food I eat, go the gym most days, do spin, circuits, hiit and I lift heavy.
Personally I think we should all be lchf but I understand that we are all different. By seriously reducing my spikes by low carving my insulin is about half what I used to be on. If I make mistakes now they are small mistakes. I feel I've stepped off the roller coaster and my old diet hba1cs were in the 6s but with plenty of lows. My last one was 40 or 5.8% with not very many lows none under 3.5.
I've eaten this way now for nearly 3 years and I won't swop the peace of mind for a slice of bread or pasta ta very much.
 
I'll also tag @robert72 here as someone who eats impressively low carb and has an amazingly flat lined bg level. I tend to eat sub-80g a day simply because it is much easier to maintain a controlled blood glucose level with lower carb.

In addition, and it's something worth bearing in mind, carbs drive up the need for insulin as a t1 and in spite of the just being able to eat them, increased insulin levels are a mechanism for weight gain, which you may or may not want @Abbiec12.

Ultimately the choose is yours, but the Eatwell plate and a higher carb diet don't logically fit with the issues that type 1 diabetics have, in spite of the message that DAFNE sends.
 
I was very much of the 'as long as I cover with insulin it's fine' belief but I didn't see this working in reality and my blood sugars were unpredictable and all over the place. I personally think if you can get good results from eating and covering with insulin them I'm a little Jeleous but that's great, but I couldn't and eating low carb has dramatically improved my control and the swings in blood sugar, so I know I need to stick with this way of eating!
 
hi @Abbiec12

I think it's really your choice. If you can get good control eating what you want and bolusing for it then that's OK. I have always found it easier to follow a reduced carb diet (around 150g carbs a day), then about 2 years ago I decided to try very low carbing and have found that I can get very flat BGs and need about half the insulin, so less risk of hypos too.

Not every day is this flat but it's not unusual.
 
Wow!! No one at the hospital or anything has mentioned anything about low carb and I've been diabetic for nearly 14 years believing carbs are the way forward:/ I might give it a go! My blood sugars are up and down quite a lot, particularly after food because it's really hard to do the right amount! I love to have blood sugar as stable as that!! Thank you everyone
 
There is some advice on Diet Doctor about Type 1's low carbing. It is in the shape of a warning that changing your carb intake and therefore changing your insulin requirement should be done with some care in case you **** up. The site owner suggests doing it with the help of a doctor.

I am type 2 so don't know what I am talking about but I thought that encouragement to low carb should carry the Diet Doctors warning along with it.

http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

See the note to diabetics.
 
As Diabetics we all know that the fluctuation in our blood sugars are caused by carb intake so naturally reducing the carbs will help with our control, but no, low carb is not a must for every diabetic..........

after years of experimenting with different foods, dosing amounts and timings, I have found that carb amounts over a certain level just don't produce a consistent, acceptable blood sugar level after eating and by the next meal.......

still doesn't stop me though..........

just try reducing the carbs your having and you will see a much more reliable and successful insulin dose........that's for sure....

you can still enjoy the larger carb loads though, just need to think a bit more about the insulin dose...
 
Type 2 chipping in here:

If i had the option to eat more carbs than i currently do, i would. Definitely. But i bet i would still stay below 'normal' intake.

But if even that came with greater fluctuations and increased risk of hypos, i would stop.

Diabetes is such a long game, i am really not willing to risk my sight, or my feet, 20 years down the line, by enjoying bread, pasta and potatoes now...

@robert72 that graph is truly impressive.
 
I understand the low carb idea to avoid spikes in blood sugar levels, but surely high fat means more cholesterol? What about the risk of heart attack/strokes?
 
Abbiec12 said:
I understand the low carb idea to avoid spikes in blood sugar levels, but surely high fat means more cholesterol? What about the risk of heart attack/strokes?
Click to expand...
Many people adopting the LCHF approach find that it results in a reduction in their key Cholesterol indicators. I certainly found that to be the case when I embarked on a lower carb diet. Managing the levels of monounsaturated and saturated fats is probably key to cholesterol levels.

In addition, the evidence is that dietary cholesterol has next to no impact on blood plasma cholesterol (a 10% increase, and to put it in context, smoking risk is 300%), and therefore CVD, as most recently documented from page 24 of this report: http://publications.credit-suisse.c...fm?fileid=9163B920-CAEF-91FB-EE5769786A03D76E

As the paper says:

1. High cholesterol (above 240 mg/dl) is only a marker for CVD in men, and does not cause CVD.
2. For all other diseases, higher cholesterol pointed to lower death rates due to it being an indicator of a healthy immune system.

Have a read of the paper. It completely debunks the myth of Fat and Cholesterol.
 
Interesting! I'm learning here, thanks
 
You may find this interesting.
Sikaris is a researcher with an expertise in cholesterol, and this video discusses the effect of low carb high fat diets on blood lipids.

 
I have a t1 colleague who has cut his carbs quite a bit since I was diagnosed t2 and went LCHF. He found it makes a huge difference to his evening readings and means he has to take less insulin. He was getting too high despite the insulin etc...
 
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