Struggling a little...

[Verve09]

Hi everyone,

I've been a type 1 for about 11 years now and have always struggled to get the precise control that I want. My friend suggested trying a low-carb diet and subseuqently I have really been enjoying finding out as much as I can about low-carbing. It all seems to make so much sense, so I have been trying it for the last 4 weeks or so.

There have definitely been ups and downs as I've been learning. I firstly cut out all carbs and the results were amazing for the first week. But then my bloods just got very erratic and were swinging quite high, even though I was injecting to compensate for the conversion of protein to glucose. I also suffered quite badly with stomach cramps which was probably due to a big change in my diet and a lack of fibre.

So I've been trying a low-carb diet rather than a no-carb diet for the last few weeks. I still don't eat more than 50g of carb a day, as I really don't miss them. I've definitely increased my fat intake though, which has been quite unusual as I was a strict follower of the NHS and NICE guidelines. But I've been nibbling away on nuts and cheese and again, I've been having stomach problems. Not to get into too much detail (!), but is it true that digesting lots of fat can be hard on the digestive system? Have others found this problem too?

Over the last few days, my blood sugar has been going high again, even though I've reduced carbs and haven't been eating more protein than usual. I've actually been injecting more insulin than I would on my old diet. It could be that I have picked up a niggling infection, or possibly that my upset stomach is throwing a spanner in the works.

I'll give a typical day's menu and maybe someone could let me know if I'm going wrong with the food:
B/F - 2 eggs scrambled with milk and butter. 1 oatcake. 3u Novorapid.
Lunch - salad, half a tin of tuna with mayo, 1 tbsp of hummous. 4u Novorapid.
Dinner - Salmon with roasted veg. Greek yogurt. 7u Novorapid.
Snacks - a substantial amount of nuts throughout the day.
I row/swim/run/ circuit train 5 times a week.
N.B I initially lost weight but have put more on now as I think I'm overdoing the nuts!

Also, I'm a little confused about protein to glucose ratios. I've read than if we eat more than 1-1.5g of our body weight in protein, we will have an excess which is converted into glucose and that this conversion happens at 58% efficiency. So do people inject about half quick-acting insulin for protein i.e. if you eat 50g of tuna, would you estimate that 25g would convert to glucose and inject for that?

Any help/advice would be really appreciated!
Thanks

 

[hanadr]

For a T1 reduced carb diet, I'd recommend you read Dr. Bernstein's diabetes solution. He's a T1 low carber himself.
I can't see anywhere you are making any obvious mistakes if what you write is a typical day and you don'y vary by much. Keep the Collins Little Gem book by your side so you can check foods.

 

[Verve09]

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I really can't see what the problem is, so I'll have to give Bernstein a go and see if he's got any answers!

 

[Verve09]

Great, ordered Bernstein last night and it should be here in a couple of days.

Can anybody help out with the protein ratio? And also the stomach upset?

Thanks.

 

[Dillinger]

Try a fibre supplement (I know Atkins recommends this, and possibly Bernstein does to?)

Also, what basal insulin are you on? I recently swapped from Lantus to Levimir and found it's profile much easier to handle and seemed to fit better with a low carb approach. Lantus seemed to have a lot of random spikes which I couldn't really explain. Levemir has a much flatter profile.

On a low carb diet I do find that bloods sugars do seem to elevate more easily with illness or stress; possibly this is because there is less insulin and less glucose sloshing around so that upward changes are more noticeable?

Dillinger

 

[AliB]

I would suggest that you persevere for a while - when you change your diet so radically your body can take a while to adjust.

The higher carbs and especially if they are gluten-based like bread, cake, biscuits, etc., can encourage pathogenic bacteria and yeasts in the gut and they can kick up a stink for a bit when their food source is removed.

The low-carb will eventually get them under control, but it needs some perseverance. That may well be the cause of your stomach issues. Personally I would watch how things pan out over the next month or two.

When I started the Specific Carb Diet 15 months ago which is a lower carb regime that cuts out all starches, grains, sugar and most dairy, it took quite some weeks for my digestion to settle - I suspect that it finally was given the opportunity to off-load lots of rubbish.

I remember about 10 days after dropping gluten originally in Jan 08, and dairy a day or two later, that I suddenly got a severe pain in my left foot. It corresponded with a weird feeling in my left side of stuff going down my tubes from my liver. Sure enough, my liver was sore too just below my left armpit. The waves of pain that kept coming and going in my foot continued for the rest of the day and started to abate by the evening - within another day it had gone completely and my liver was no longer sore. Interestingly, the area where I got the foot pain equates in Reflexology with the lower end of the liver.

It obviously had a huge clear-out. What of I haven't a clue - fat? Stones? Sludge? Maybe all three! It's like it breathed a sigh of relief and said 'thank the heck she's no longer loading in that rubbish, I can start getting rid of it all now!

My health has still been up and down over the last 18 months and I still get evidence of my body trying to off-load stored toxins but I have gone from having virtually no digestion to being able to eat most things in the way of highly natural nutritious food. I no longer eat rubbish - not even gluten-free, which is typically much higher in carbs than gluten foods.

My husband also eats gluten-free and is better for it but he will nosh the GF bikkies. As his BS has been borderline Diabetic I am trying to get him to drop them but he moans that he has 'nothing' to eat. I pointed out that I am managing perfectly well without them!