Sugar Level Average over 10 Points, Should I Omit Carbs!

[aaron_mky]

Hi all,

I am trying to get my mum to eat healthily and bring her sugar level down. Her sugar level is always over 10 (no more than 13) before meals. The only time I ever see her sugar level between 4 and 7 is after her gym session in the morning.

Her diet is quite simple, she mainly has porridge every morning and then a slice of bread with protein and veggies as a post workout snack/meal. She normally has lunch 3 - 4 hours later, which consist of brown rice, protein and veggies. Normally in the afternoon, her sugar level goes up around double digits, because she doesn't do much activity.

If her blood sugar level is high just before lunch, should she completely omit carbs to reduce her sugar level within normal range.

She normally doesnt eat carbs at night, apart from veggies and her sugar level is generally good after 2 hours (between 1 and 2 point increase).

I am just concern that if I omit her carbs from lunch time, she will be weak.

By the way, when I say Carbs, I mean starch carbs like rice and bread etc. Our main goal is for her to lose weight and put her pancreas in remission (Yes my mum is overweight ). She has been on oral medication for the past 20 years to control her sugar level, which is Metfomin 500mg and Glycoside 80mg.

Thanks again

Aaron

 

[sally and james]

Sugar levels between 10 and 13 are too high and your Mum should try and bring these down to ensure future good health. You mention that she eats porridge, rice and bread, These will all put her sugar levels up, so perhaps she should consider alternatives. What about eggs and bacon for breakfast, though there are many other low carb alternatives?
While exercise and activity does help to bring sugar levels down, maybe your Mum's afternoon rise is more of a build up of the (slow release) sugars which she is having for breakfast and lunch.
If your Mum has a high sugar level before lunch, it would seem sensible to not top up her levels with more carbs at lunchtime. I very much doubt if she will be "weak" as a result. As human beings we are designed to consume our own fat (ie lose weight) and make use of fat in our diet, as a major source of energy. People whose bodies have been used to the quick energy source of carbs, may have to adapt over a few days or weeks, but the results will be worth it.
As your Mum takes Gliclazide and this increases the amount of insulin she produces, I suggest she speaks to her doctor about dietary changes. If she really does go "low carb", she made need to have her dose decreased to avoid her sugars going too low.
Sally

 

[aaron_mky]

@sally and james Thank you for the quick response.

We are planning to see the diabetic doctor next Thursday, and try to convince them to go off Glicazide so my mum can lose weight and not go close to hypo, which in this case she is nowhere near lol.

However, I have always been told that cutting carbs (i.e atkins diet) is not good for an overweight person who wants to lose weight. Is this scenario different for a diabetic person?

 

[sally and james]

I have always been told that cutting carbs (i.e atkins diet) is not good for an overweight person who wants to lose weight. Is this scenario different for a diabetic person?

I wonder where, on earth, that idea came from? Diabetic or not you have a very good chance of easy weight loss on low carb. I'm not diabetic, but my husband is and we both lost weight without hunger or calorie counting by cutting out most carbs. Have a good look round the Diet Doctor site, https://www.dietdoctor.com/ and you will find lots of information and people's own stories (diabetic and not) who have lost weight and normalised blood sugars with low or reduced carbs.

Remember, carbs are not an essential part of human nutrition. The things we need to live and to live well are proteins and fats, which come with all the vitamins and trace elements contained within them.
Sally

 

[ringi]

I see little real risk of bad hypos in her cutting out carbs that are known to result in BG over 10, assuming she knows what to do if she gets hypos, and always has carbs with her. The time of heightened risk is clearly at and after the gym. So eating an apple just before the gym may not be a bad option.

When your mother's BG is down to about 7 after most meals, talk to her doctor about reducing her Gliclazide dose. She MUST have about the same amount of carbs at each meal while on Gliclazide, otherwise, it is not possible to get the dose right.

When taking Gliclazide she must check your BG before she drives and every 2hs while driving. If under 5 eat carbs, if under 4 don't drive until it has been over 5 for some time.

Personly, as I was committed to "low carb", I stopped my own Gliclazide as soon as I started to get readings under 5, as I was not willing to each carbs because of taking a drug. We can't tell you how to change does of drugs as we are not qualified doctors, but remember you can cut tablets in half if needed.

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You can see that unlike your doctor we all assume she can get her diabetes under complete control by decreasing the carbs she eats as most of us have done it.

 

[Bluetit1802]

As you mum is overweight she is very likely to be highly insulin resistant. This means her insulin cannot do its job properly. It cannot push all the glucose in her blood stream into the cells to use for energy efficiently. The glucose therefore remains in the blood stream for a long time. Gliclazide works by making the pancreas produce extra insulin. All this insulin that can't do its job properly ends up circulating in the blood stream. Insulin is a fat carrying hormone, so it will deposit fat just about anywhere in the body. The higher our insulin levels are, the more likely we will gain weight or not be able to lose weight. The trick is to lower the amount of circulating insulin - and the only way to do this is to reduce carbs. The more carbs we eat, the more insulin will be produced (and the more glucose will be released), and the fatter we are likely to become.

Dietary fats do not raise insulin levels and do not raise glucose levels. They also keep us from feeling hungry and feeling less need to snack.

 

[aaron_mky]

Thank you all again for the reponses, they are so helpful.

We only started measuring her sugar level last week. Before that it was a good 5 - 7 years since we last checked and the doctor saying she is 'managing' well (i dislike the word managing in this scenario). If her sugar level has always been this high for 5 - 7 years, what is the worse that could happen? Reason for asking is I am trying to convince my mum to cut carbs and get her sugar level down to normal range, but she keeps responding that she has been diabetic for 20 years and it is perfectly normal to be like this and she knows what shes doing....

The joy of being a son!!

 

[Resurgam]

The things they say about Atkins - most of the time the reverse is true. The Atkins diet is ideal for anyone overweight - it was developed by a cardiologist, who saw his patients not only get better but thinner too, with more energy and better 'bloods' overall.
When I was diagnosed a year ago, went straight back to low carbing using the advice in Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution. I was very ill at first - due to taking Metformin and a statin, but I stopped those after a few weeks and then started to get better. At 80 days I was no longer in the diabetic range and at 6 months no longer even prediabetic. I have lost over 3 stone without effort, I was concentrating only on blood glucose. Now I find that if I do eat something a bit higher in carbs it doesn't matter - I can cope with it.
I suspect that if I go on like this my diabetes will have gone away and I will be able to concentrate on weightloss again, and go out on my bike more frequently - and there have been hints that I might like to try dancing with the morris. I started playing again, and joined a band, and a folk club, then bought a melodeon, and my waist has shrunk a lot, my knees are a lot better. It is so much easier to do the housework - I can get down and into the lowest shelves of the fridge and various cupboards, and get up again too.