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Type 1 carb intake...

pearceam

Well-Known Member
Messages
46
Hi everyone.

5 1/2 years ago when I was admitted and diagnosed, the nurse said to me "Eat complex carbs with every meal, bread, pasta, rice, potatoes".

Since then I have had regular meetings with my nurse, consultants and dietitian and have learned carbs counting etc but that inpatient stay and those words haunt me and I am reluctant to give up my heavy carbs out of fear of hypos. I have obviously put on weight and the high carb intake means heavy insulin doses.

I would love advice on what people eat, diets and low carb. Other sauces of carbs other than the above. any experiences gratefully received!

Amy
 
Hi Amy

I have been Type 1 for 40 years and I am after the same info. I need to loose 2 stone but wondering if the low carbs diet is just for Type 2 or can Type 1's do it too? I would think we can but would have to reduce insulin and I am not sure if that is something we should do on our own without doctors, or at least dieticians input.

Chris
 
I am type 1 for 3 years now and eat 20 carbs or less per day per my choice. At DX I was told 20 per meal. I quickly reduced them as I couldn't keep bs steady and gained a bunch of weigh. As I reduced I did need to reduce insulin of course.

My carb sources are above ground low carb non starchy veggies. This suits my stomach too as I was always bloated with carbs. Also helped my arthritis.

Definitely talk to your doctors about it. Mine is perfectLy fine with it.
 

Hello!

I have also emailed my dietitian for her thoughts on the low carb diet so I will update you with that info too.

 

thank you for your response. would you be able/willing to share a food diary with me? Out of curiosity as I cannot imagine what people eat without carbs lol

Thank you!

Amy
 
I eat moderately low carbs Around 180g a day. I ate more when I was first diagnosed as I'd lost a lot of weight prior to diagnosis. I never go too low as I don't want to have to think about bolusing for protein, delayed rises from fat, or physiological insulin resistance. It's a fine balance, as I'm sure you know!

How many carbs per day do you currently eat?

If you're looking to lose weight, small but consistent cutbacks in carbs can help, as can keeping a food diary for a week just so you can see what areas you can trim food-wise.

There are a number of questions/polls here where Type 1s state the amount of carbs they have a day. But the bottom line is you shoukd eat what suits you. There's no magic diet for Type 1 sadly.
 

Evening! Thank you for your reply. Would you be willing to share a food diary day with me so I can learn about new carbs?

I eat on average about 200-250 but it is always the same pasta, rice, potato, bread or porridge. So very heavy. I'd like to be able to enjoy a bowl of soup without (psychologically) needing a bread roll.

thanks for chatting with me!
 
Hi Amy and Chris

I have been T1 for 45 years and low-carb for about 3 years. I started by reducing carbs gradually, dropping major carbs from evening meal and replacing with extra veg (cauliflower, green beans, sprouts etc). When I saw the benefits, I started cutting other carbs but slowly over several months, so I had time to adjust my basal and ratios as I went. It also gave me time to find out what to replace the carbs with. Best advice is to find a level of carbs that suit you personally - there are no rules.
 

I will do Going offline now but I'll write more tomorrow. Don't be afraid to nudge me with a tag if I forget! : D
 
pearceam said:
I eat on average about 200-250 but it is always the same pasta, rice, potato, bread or porridge. So very heavy. I'd like to be able to enjoy a bowl of soup without (psychologically) needing a bread roll.
Click to expand...

They are only carb heavy if you eat them in large amounts, I eat all the above but keep the portion sizes down, typical example is my porridge in a morning, with the oats, milk, seeds, yogurt & blueberries the combined carb total is 50g.

When I first came to the forum I went very low-carb (60g) then gradually increased it as my diabetes control improved, I don't low-carb now but eat them in moderation (about 180g a day).

But for soup, if you don't want to eat bread with it don't, most soups contain some carbs from the veg and provided you know how to bolus for less carbs in your meals there's no reasons why you can't lower the amount.
 
Hi Amy,

My six year old daughter has type 1, and we've eaten low carb for the past year as a family, to help her control. I'm guessing she probably has less than 30g a day, max about 50g.

Her (and our!) typical daily diet looks this:
Breakfast of 3 scrambled eggs or cream cheese pancakes plus a handful of nuts and a few strawberries

Lunch could be Lidl protein roll with filling, veg sticks, berries and a homemade low carb treat (biscuit/choc brownie) or edamame pasta with tuna and mayo, or omelette and veg plus low carb biscuit.

Dinner may be beef casserole with veg and swede mash/edamame pasta, chicken curry with cauliflower rice, salmon and veg and celeriac chips, lasagne with coconut flour pancakes as the pasta layers, chicken dinner with veg, spag Bol with edamame pasta, smoked haddock pancakes using coconut flour pancakes, fathead pizza....the list goes on!

I'd eat salad with fish/chicken/omelette every day if it were just me, but I'm catering for 6 year old twins (one of which is diabetic) and a 4 year old. They'd think I was trying to poison them if I presented salad sadly. They'll come round!
 
Hi Amy

T1 for just 18 months, though only appeared when i was 41. I'm really critical of myself and have never been happy with the spike postcard meal. Whether with or without insulin, there is always a spike. Bread, pasta, rice, potatoes.

Now, I used to live on pasta, bread and beer (though not a generally healthy balanced diet with exercise).

I've now (just) given up alcohol and am on a low carb diet, probably less than 30 per day from overground veggies and nuts.

I recommend giving it a go. Start with the odd meal where you just don't have potatoes. Try a roast but without the heavy carbs. Fill up with the veg instead. Or how about a fry up but with no toast of hash browns/baked beans etc. It's so easy and though it isn't necessarily that easy if you travel a bit (as I do), with a bit of planning, it can be done
 
I noticed the same thing iv got a fast metabolism and I'm skinny but the carb diet helps me to pick up weight or at least maintain it but the trick is to try and stick to a certain amount of carbs per day or cut down slightly in my case I eat about 60 gram carbs mainly once sometimes 2 times a day....I also noticed if I increase my basal insulin my weight also increases. The most iv weighed for my height of 180 was 62kg but now I just hover around 54-57kg
 

Thanks Robert. That really helps. I had decided to replace my sandwiches midday at work with soup, and reduce my quick acting insulin, so will wait a while and see how it goes before I move on to dinner!! Glad you mentioned it, as I guess I willl need to adjust the basal aswell. Thanks again. Good to get confirmation that I am on the right lines
 
Oooo just reread your post Amy. Other sources of carbs - Fruit, especially pineapple and banananananas (sorry always forget to stop spelling that name), but any fruit has natural sugars. Also some veg like peas and sweetcorn. I was told oats were better than wheat, but still have complex carbs, just better and more evenly absorbed. Also many of the alternative flours have a little carbohydrate, just no where near the amount of wheat flour. So good for lowering gradually - as long as you are in to making and baking your own
 
I'm going to try the same as you @PurpleChrisB and change my lunches and see how that goes.

I have also got to sort out my snacking. I am definitely also an emotional eater. Both are terrible habits for anyone let alone a type 1.
 
If you can snack as you do why don't you snack on protein?? Instead of carbs
 

What a fantastic menu.
I would chew my right arm off to have a mum who fed me so well.
You are amazing.
 
Wow I'd have to be rich to eat like that.... guess I'll just have to stick to my bread....can't even afford peanut butter anymore
 
Only a small change made today but progress is progress.

I have a beef stew in the slow cooker and instead of the main ingredient being white potato as usual, I have traded it for 1 medium sweet potato (serves 2) and some other root veggies to bulk it out.

About 25g of carbs per portion I worked out. Will serve with steamed kale and broccoli.
 
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