Type 1 diabetes and low carb

Some Type1's have found that low-carb makes it a loteasier - a number of people on these forums do that, some have found the opposite, it really is all personal to the person.
But yes anyone who says all T1's need to is not correct, but then anyone who says they all need to eat carbs isn't correct either

Personally I cant go too low carb, but that's just me, various thing mean I just can't

As someone with Type 1 needing to calculate my insulin based on what I eat, I find low carb very complex.
For me (and we are all different), with a low carb meal, I have to bolus for protein. But protein converts to glucose slower than carbs and at different rate for different protein and need different insulin to protein ratios for different proteins. I found having to remember the prawn to insulin ratio, the egg to insulin ratio, the nut to insulin ratio, the salmon to insulin ratio, the cheese to insulin ratio, … too much to remember and I don’t eat meat so my list is shorter than many.
I decided to stick to a “normal” diet as it is much easier.

mum2westiesGill said:

the diet recommended for Type 1s is a healthy diet which is better for blood sugar and just with the addition of insulin

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I think an issue here is that no one really knows what a healthy diet is, though there is a fair amount of agreement on unhealthy (processed food in particular, crisps?).

But I agree with your sentiment that T1s can happily eat carbs if they can adjust their insulin for it. I personally lowish carb because after 51 years of T1 and with some T2 genetics (thanks dad ) I find that low carb minimises my insulin use and seems to be the only thing that controls my weight.

But I had two successful T1 pregnancies under what was probably the eatwell plate (albeit with some serious hypos) so I totally agree that low carb is just one of many dietary choices that T1s can choose to make. And the thought of bolusing for protein makes me want to cry, so I'm with @In Response in that respect.

I guess one advantage of being an insulin user is that we have more dietary choice than T2s controlling by diet.

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mum2westiesGill said:

So I keep hearing/seeing about Type 1s having to eat low carb but here's what I as a Type 1 diabetic of 30 odd years was taught

the diet recommended for Type 1s is a healthy diet which is better for blood sugar and just with the addition of insulin
Type 1s most certainly don't need to cut all carbs out
Carbs are an important part of the diet which is why I eat potatoes, rice, pastry. I also eat chocolate, chocolate biscuits, plain biscuits, desserts and I'm careful to match my insulin to carbs.

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I agree with everything you say but I do think in general we eat far more carbs than our bodies need diabetic or not !

No one should say which is best for you. However, I've definitely found that low carb has reduced my blood sugar swings and cracking hypos a lot, albeit not completely. You could always give it a try and if it doesn't work for you then switch back again. Worth a try

The responses in this thread demonstrate how unique everyone's type 1 is, what works for one may not work for another. It's about finding what works for you, type 1's don't have to eat low carb as we can match insulin, but sometimes matching insulin can be a right pain so reducing carbs to reduce bolus doses can be alot easier to manage both physically and mentally.