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Suggested carb intake

_pixie_

Member
Messages
20
Hi all

Just diagnosed yesterday with T2 but no stranger to low carb/keto dieting. I spent 2 years on under 20g and am back to low carbing today but I don't want to drop to keto levels yet. My bg meter isn't arriving til Friday but as a general rule....what would be a good average meal carb recommendation? I know we are all different but I have no idea what to sort of work towards atm

Thanks

Pixie
 
What worked for me, to reduce my blood sugars to normal levels, significantly reduce blood pressure, reduce my weight by over 10kg and reverse diabetic symptoms was a lower carb higher fat diet comprising a maximum of 130 grams per day of carbs.
 
Some can eat over 100 grams of carbs and stay solidly out of the diabetic range, others are still seeing higher numbers on 20 grams of carbs.
No way to predict what it will be for you without testing.

Good luck!
 
When first diagnosed type 2 I immediately dropped to less than 100g carbs/day, however this didn’t bring my blood sugars down as far as I liked so over the next few months I lowered the level gradually til I achieved what I was aiming for. I ended up between 30 -50g carbs per day which is what I maintain. I found this out by testing. I’m glad you have a meter on the way as that will help you establish the best carb amount for you.
 
Thanks all....I know it will be different for everyone so knew it was a shot in the dark kinda question. Its just so difficult to know what is right <sigh>
 
_pixie_ said:
Thanks all....I know it will be different for everyone so knew it was a shot in the dark kinda question. Its just so difficult to know what is right <sigh>
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Take your time, diabetes is a marathon, not a sprint! You were diagnosed only yesterday and you'll have a meter in a couple of days.
 
I generally prefer to eat no more than 50g carbs a day because experience and my meter have shown me this is the level where I can both keep my glucose stable and my diet sustainable long term (e;g; six years now).

I don't try to eat the same number of carbs every day or per meal, and will often go down to 20g or so a day. However I did fairly early on after diagnosis spend 2-3 weeks down to 20-25g carbs a day to "kick start" ketosis and to ensure I was burning fat as my main fuel, and being fat adapted now I can eat more carbs and still retain the main benefits of a very low carb/ketogenic diet.
 
I did Atkins and after diagnosis I found that my level of carbs to control weight was the same as the amount which took me back to the top end of the normal glucose range - but - when you think about it - that really should be the case.
 
_pixie_ said:
Thanks all....I know it will be different for everyone so knew it was a shot in the dark kinda question. Its just so difficult to know what is right <sigh>
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You've got options...

Eat to your meter is one: Check before a meal and 2 hours after the first bite. If you go up more than 2 mmol/l, the meal was carbier than you could process back out, so that way you can establish a bit of a rule of thumb for yourself. If a meal is 30 grams of carbs and you're a-okay, then that's fine to stick with. It takes some experimentation to find out what your body can handle and what it can't, though. And a lot of test trips.

You could also just dive in and go keto. (Though still testing quite a bit is advisable to see progress and hidden carbs). More often than not full keto'll make your blood sugars return to the normal range in no time flat.

You could also just pick an arbitrary number, say, 100 grams of carbs a day, and check with your meter whether that suits you. If not, try 20 grams less. If that's not satisfactory, another 20 grams etc. So there's a couple of ways to approach this thing... But between a meter and a nice little stock of teststrips, you can't really go wrong. The real question becomes, are you in a hurry to get your blood sugars down, or do you have some time to experiment at your own pace?

Good luck!
Jo
 
bulkbiker said:
Why don't you want to go to keto levels?
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no reason other than the general restrictions...20g is hard and I kinda hoped that I wouldnt have to go that hard too soon.....I hit 40 yesterday and that didnt feel restricting at all to start with
 
it isnt a race, its a lifelong change as we all know...so no rush, just wanted to get a general headstart. I will eat to my meter as of tomorrow so that will help me know how to get there....thanks all for taking the time to reply, grateful x
 
_pixie_ said:
no reason other than the general restrictions...20g is hard and I kinda hoped that I wouldnt have to go that hard too soon.....I hit 40 yesterday and that didnt feel restricting at all to start with
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Have you thought about restricting your eating window as a complementary therapy?
 
bulkbiker said:
Have you thought about restricting your eating window as a complementary therapy?
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No I havent...what would be the benefits?

I have tried it before, unsuccessfully as I seemed to spend all my time thinking about what I was going to eat. At the moment all I think about is eating regularly, I wake up starving with my stomach growling at me, I feel weak by lunchtime, I have a sugar drop (hypo maybe, monitor will tell me) mid afternoon which is a nightmare at work although that was before I even knew about a definite diagnosis, more just a suspicion then (I have been off work since mid December) and I have a good evening meal. I'm not sure when I would fit it in either
 
I'm guessing your afternoon drop might be caused by what you have had for lunch..
I skip breakfast and have a coffee (or 3) with double cream for satiety.
I tend to eat in a window between 1 pm and 8 pm then fast from solids for the remaining period. Tea and coffee I have throughout the day.
The benefit would be removing triggers for insulin production and working towards reversing insulin resistance.
I have intermittent fasted and ultra low carbed since diagnosis.
 


I am drinking tea with double cream right now, that is the one thing I didn't find difficult to readapt to lol I dont drink coffee.

You are probably right about the lunch thing, being literally starving by lunch meant a carb loaded pile of **** from the work canteen, obviously in my defence I didn't know about the D at that point so wouldnt have really made a connection, I also didnt care about going to the vending machine and "fixing" the crash with chocolate. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!!
 
Carbs trigger more need for carbs. The fewer you have, the easier it'll be to maybe even skip meals and go for Intermittent Fasting (Thus giving your pancreas a break every now and again. I don't usually do breakfast, myself). If you eat enough, and that means till you're full, you shouldn't experience hunger pangs like you used to. Otherwise you might want to snack on some cheese, cold cuts or sausages (Bifi, do you have those where you are?) olives, pork scratchings, a square or two of extra dark chocolate, or some additional tea with cream to tide you over. You shouldn't feel hungry or like you're crashing on low carb. If you are, there's an imbalance somewhere. Too few fats, too little protein... Just experiment a little.
 
bulkbiker said:
Indeed I suffered the same for many years too and got to be very fat and very ill.
However now your eyes have been opened....
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They most definitely have!!


The worst part about this Jo is that I KNOW all this stuff, I was keto for two years. I felt the best I ever felt, I lost four stone. I have known for many years that I can't process carbs as well as I should be able to. I do actually believe I was prediabetic at least 6 years ago based on how much better I felt when I was keto. All of the symptoms that I have accepted for a long time disappeared, and now they are back. They are the very reason I mentioned it to the doctor in the first place. Makes me feel a complete idiot tbh but I am lucky to already have some low carbing knowing and to know that it is the way forward.

I only ever had a creamy tea for breakfast before, there is no reason why I cant go back to that, I just thought maybe breakfast was a necessity to keep balanced through the day?
 
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