Type 1 diet advice newly diagnosed

kelj65 said:

I was just after some information on diet for type 1.
My step son was diagnosed last friday so has not seen a dietician yet but we are basically clueless until we do.
I was wondering on average how many grams of carbs per meal should he have and how many which of sugars should he be consuming on average per meal and also calories.
His blood sugar is ranging between 14 to 20 throughout the day and is on the 2 injections a day.
I know everyone is different but on average what should he be consuming any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

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Hello welcome to the forum

On 2 injections per day using insulin that is pre mixed so that it contains fast and slow acting insulin, it will be necessary for your grandson to most likely adopt what is known as 'little and often' way of eating food that contains carbohydrate. He doesn't need to worry about the amount of sugar the food contains or calories, its just the total amount of carb. Most food producers will list the carb content on the packets.

This is the diet that I followed using twice daily insulin, but do take into account that I am 5ft and weighed about 55kg.... and was injecting 22u insulin in the morning and then 12u before my evening meal.

The following amounts of carb that I had in order to keep my bg levels ranging from 6.5mmmol before a meal and then rising to 8.5mmol 2hrs later were as following. This is just an example of what I mean as 'little and often'

15g carb at breakfast, 15g carb as snack mid morning, 30g carb for lunch, 10g carb as snack mid afternoon, 40g carb for evening meal and then 10g carb per going to bed.

Do you know what amounts of carbohydrate your grandson is eating at the moment, as what he eats will affect his bg levels and he will need to monitor his bg levels a lot more and alter the amounts of carbohydrate according to the results he gets.

kelj65 said:

I was just after some information on diet for type 1.
My step son was diagnosed last friday so has not seen a dietician yet but we are basically clueless until we do.
I was wondering on average how many grams of carbs per meal should he have and how many which of sugars should he be consuming on average per meal and also calories.
His blood sugar is ranging between 14 to 20 throughout the day and is on the 2 injections a day.
I know everyone is different but on average what should he be consuming any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

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Hello

Sorry to hear of your stepsons diagnosis. As he is on just 2 injections a day, it must having short and long insulin together, so I am unsure how he would manage that. I am on 3 daytime injections and 1 before bed and I carb count with every meal then inject the correct insulin for that meal, but everyone has different medical needs. I hope someone who is on the same regime as your stepson can help out with some advice and support. I average about 150 to 200 carbs per day, but trying to keep to the 150 or below.

With best wishes RRB

kelj65 said:

That makes a bit more sense as to why his levels are high, over the last couple of days we have calculated his carb intake per meal is about 70g per meal, he has had 3 big meals a day to try and stop himself being hungry inbetween.
So it would be better if he did little and often then on the 2 injections a day.

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Hi

You can see now where your stepson is going wrong. He is eating way too much carb in one go and needs to eat less. If he tests his bg levels before breakfast and is above an ideal target, he will need to eat less carb for breakfast and then test again mid morning to see if bg levels are within target and if they are then he will be able to eat a snack to see him through to lunchtime. Pre mixed insulins usually take about 2hrs before they really start to have an affect on bg levels so people do need to adjust the carb according to the bg results they get. 3 meals per day on twice daily is very questionable and is something I never did.

Hope this helps you understand it all a bit better