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Type 1 and a low carb diet

bushbri

Active Member
Messages
26
Location
Norfolk
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I am after some general advice and opinion. I moved to a low carb diet later last year and found it great in relation to balance, reduced exhaustion, weight loss, memory improvement as I was sufffering these symptoms since diagnosis in July.

When I visited my healthcare team they were worried I was too low. I was informed that I should increase carb intake to ensure health relevant to glucose and blood cells

I did and 2 months on I have gained weight, feel tired and am drained often again and am occasionally forgetful so mostly my previous symptoms. I am interested in your experience of low carbT1 and how you find this and do I need to be concerned regarding glucose and blood cells as ideally I would like to cut down or remove carbs. I exercise and am generally fit and active so understand the diet/balance well but not in relation to T1 as have not yet had this for 1 year

I use a Libre and self inject NovoRapid against carb intake and Levemir nightly. I also have a high cholesterol level (8.7) that I am aiming to reduce. My levels are mostly pretty good and I am range between 5-9 although I have had some blips

All advice and opinion welcome
 
hi @bushbri

You don't really need carbs as long as you can manage your levels and have sufficient energy. I have been below 20g/day for about three or so years now and feel fantastic, although I doubt that my healthcare team would be supportive. They haven't asked and I haven't told them
 
@bushbri it's frustrating, isn't it?! But like @robert72 I go about my merry way low carbing - although I consume 50-80g CHO per day, rather more than he does - and that works really well for me.

It works for me - and I bolus for protein as well as carbs, so that's actually a large part of that 'carb count' above - and if my diabetes team knew either of those things they would very likely roll out their standard script of eating lots of carbs.

They are happy with my control (although they've had words about my lower-than-they-want HbA1c - I'm tweaking to cover a lot of exercise and haven't nailed it yet) and so am I. So they don't really need to know any more from me about it.

If I'm at risk of running low I find I'm more comfortable reducing my insulin intake than increasing my carb intake. Please note though that I always treat a hypo with glucose.

 
Thanks @Snapsy and @robert72 that reassures me as I have been keen to reduce my carbs again but a little concerned with the teams advice and wanted to benchmark this with people who live with Type 1
 
bushbri said:
Thanks @Snapsy and @robert72 that reassures me as I have been keen to reduce my carbs again but a little concerned with the teams advice and wanted to benchmark this with people who live with Type 1
Click to expand...
As long as you find a level of carbs that works for you, then that's OK. There are no rules.
 
Hey @bushbri - unless you live with type 1 then you don't know what works and what doesn't - we are all unique and if you can match your insulin to carbs perfect, however for some it's not that easy, personally I find the less insulin I take then the less room for error. I can function on low carbs but bolus for protein too. I know others who consume carbs no issue it's all about finding what works for you. My DSN said the same to me and I ignored her knowing it's easier my way however my consultant supported me fully, it really depends who you talk to in the NHS
 
I've eaten less than 20 carbs a day for over 20'years. Diagnosed type 1 3 years ago. At DX my bs was 550 so they told me to eat 20 c per meal until my bs stabilized. Well it was ALL over the place hypo/hyper. Within 2 months I went back to my vlc diet and all is well. I couldn't even come close to matching my carbs with insulin. Now my fluctuations are rarely over 10 (US) one way or another.
My doc has no problem with it and my A1C had been 5.1 the last 3 6 month checks
I too find less error being low carb and small doses
Nobody could talk me into changing my diet. I had all the symptoms you do/ did
I do enjoy a few above ground veggies and avocado as my carb sources. After net I'm probably 5-10 max. Constant energy and weight.
Someone else can have my carbs.....
 
As it happens, I was at a diabetes info evening last night run buy my GP practice. The head of endocrinology at the local hospital was the speaker; he favours diabetics of any kind limit their daily carb intake to about 150g per day. He's cautious about going below around 80g because care is needed to get enough calories without risking kidney damage. No idea if this was a sweeping generalisation but I'm sure this forum is where the knowledge and practial experience will be found!
 
I consume about 2400 calories/day according to my Fitbit, and my weight hasn't changed in 30 yrs (160 lbs). So 150g carbs would be only 25% of my calories which is pretty low. Something tells me consuming only 20g/d could be a problem for a Type 1. Not sure what problem not sure I would want to find out either. And other foods get turned into glucose anyway, so you have to take insulin even if no carbs. The ultra low carbs thing might just be fooling yourself a bit.
 
I think that's only an issue if you have kidney problems and are eating too much protein. It's better to replace carbs with fat as an energy source.
 
Why would you think it's a problem??? The only problem for me is carbs. I love my higher fat diet. I don't over eat protein either but I do have a history of kidney stones.
 
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