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Type 1 What food should I eat?

A

amoniz

Member
Messages
7
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi Guys,
Im new here to the forum and I though I would ask for your help.
I am type 1 on insulin Pump.
I have had diabetes for 3 years now and well lets say that I am still struggling with everything.
However today i just came to ask to you about food.
It is difficult for me to cut down on what I normally eat. to tell you the truth having diabetes was not in the cards. seeing as no one in my family has diabetes.
But now I am willing to go on another route as for food and eating habits whatever it takes for me to get my levels on a normal level. I am always going up and down with my HBA1C and I am tired of that. Even my levels on a day to day is all over the place. I am imagining if I change my food and how I eat, this can be drinking too something might change.
So I am asking to you all out there if there is some type of regime that you have tried or you are currently on that has helped you or is helping to have a more stable blood sugar????

I will really appreciate your comments, histories if you want me to tell them. Really anything.

Thank you very much and sorry for the long length text.

Hope to hear from you soon
 
Hi @amoniz

I'd start with the basics before looking at changing your diet, things like getting your basal rates right, I:C ratio's and correction factors, if your unsure about all this then the book Pumping Insulin covers all this and much more.

I try to stick to a Mediterranean Diet as far as possible, eating carbs, fat & protein in moderation, it works for me but I think with diet it's best to find your own way, but simple things like pre-bolusing ahead of your food is an excellent tool in reducing postprandial spikes, again this is mentioned in the book.

Good luck.
 
How about simply having fresh unprocessed food as far as possible?
 
Hi @amoniz

I second the advice to make sure your basics are ok eg your basal rate, your insulin to carbs ratios, your bolus timing (many of us find bolusing more in advance is best).

I recommend the book Think Like A Pancreas as it's brilliant for Type 1s.

For diet, I eat moderate carbs and plenty of veg, good quality proteins in moderate amounts, and healthy fats.

If you're having problems with control, it's far more likely to be to do with your insulin than your diet.
 
@amoniz . Good control is not necessarily about diet but how you manage your diet with the correct insulin regime.
Diets come in all shapes and sizes but if you don't take the correct insulin amounts for the food you eat then you'll always struggle for good BS control.
On saying that I and others find that a reasonable amount of carbs at meal times ( 30/50 g ) helps to make control a lot easier.
Some people choose even less carbs than this and find control easy.
It's what you feel comfortable with, but as mentioned, getting your insulin dosage right is probably your main focus to start with.
 
@therower has put it well, good control is not all about diet...

For instance, I eat anything I want to - but NOT as much as I want to. And that includes fresh organic green vegetables right through to deep fried food and ice cream. You need to learn and understand what is good for your overall health and your diabetes, then apply commonsense for which foods to welcome with open arms and which ones to avoid where possible...

Think Like A Pancreas and Pumping Insulin are both excellent books and this is why they've both been suggested. The knowledge you'll gain from reading them cover to cover and hanging around this forum is invaluable and will literally set you up for life:)
 
could you give us an example of what you eat in a typical day ect?
 
Personally, I need to eat low carb to get my levels VERY steady. No meter surprises. Always in non diabetic ranges. Every one has different goals. I prefer the Bernstein solution. Low carb but that is just my preference. So much less stress about meals, timing, doses etc. I know my meals, timing and doses and jus tear my food. Simple for me. Others can eat more carbs and get things right. I cannot. That is ME. we are all different with different goals.
 
noblehead said:
Hi @amoniz

I'd start with the basics before looking at changing your diet, things like getting your basal rates right, I:C ratio's and correction factors, if your unsure about all this then the book Pumping Insulin covers all this and much more.

I try to stick to a Mediterranean Diet as far as possible, eating carbs, fat & protein in moderation, it works for me but I think with diet it's best to find your own way, but simple things like pre-bolusing ahead of your food is an excellent tool in reducing postprandial spikes, again this is mentioned in the book.

Good luck.
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Hi @noblehead Thank you so much for your reply. I will look into that book and see if it can help me. It's been three years and I feel like I haven't achieved much there. will let you know how i found it.

:)
 
@azure, @noblehead The thing is I have had my insulin pump for a year now and I don't know much about what the basal rate, what bolus is as for carb ratio I don't even think I know that. when the pump needs adjusting for those things I just go and see my pump nurse who deals with it for me and that's it. it was not explained to me what they mean or what I can do. or even if i need to change it how to do etc... I read some things before online and it spoke about basal rates and bolus but I didn't really know how to work my own. I really want to change these high readings but I feel like I don't know what to do. I though going on a low card diet would help but like @Kristin251 said it might work, but it also might not. @GrantGam does say that he eats anything. Well straight after being diagnosed I was told by my doctor not to stop eating what I normally eat and continue eating as I always did. But I just have to make sure that I give the rightful amount of insulin. But I feel like I am doing that but still I get hyghs and lows. yes its true not always that I am weighing my food but still... but @GrantGam I will look into that book too and see if I can learn something with it too.
@therower thank you for that tip, but I have to say I don't know what you mean with that ratio.

@Gaz-M what I eat differs everyday. As I said before I eat anything I want and that is anything and everything. Like for example today I had no carbs for breakfast just some eggs cheese and avocado. then for lunch I had tomato soup with a piece of baguette and then been eating little things throughtout the day such as rich tea biscuits, then for dinner rice and fish. things like that. but I still get those highs.
@zand that is a good point I will look into that.

But thank you everyone for responding. I really feel at lost with all of this. I just want to get better. Get better readings.
 
Testing your blood sugar after meals will help you decide which foods are good and bad for your blood sugar. You should discuss target ranges with a doctor to find targets that are best suited for you individually, but most people consider a blood sugar above 10 mmol/L 2 hours after a meal to be too high, so you could start with that. Each meal, write down what you eat and your blood sugar after - if it is within target range, the food is probably suitable, if it is outside the target range, the food is probably unsuitable. Of course, food is not the only factor that affects your blood sugar - for example, if you exercise around the time you eat you are more likely to have a lower blood sugar when you test later - so take that into account. Also, you'll want to make sure that your basal and ratios are correct, or else you may incorrectly attribute a spike to the food you ate as opposed to not getting enough basal, or not injecting enough before your meal. Checking your blood sugar frequently is the best way to determine whether anything is ok to do, including food, exercise and alcohol intake.
 
How have you got a pump if you don't know what basal/bolus or insulin:carb ratio is? You've got this amazing bit of kit and you're abdicating all responsibility for knowing how to use it. That seems like a bit of a waste. Presumably your pump came with an instruction manual, that should cover how to make any changes.

As for deciding what changes you want making I would suggest you need to educate yourself about diabetes management:-
  • Think like a pancreas is a great book covering the basics of what you need to know for managing type 1, covers the basics of a basal/bolus regime
  • The Bertie online course covers how to carb count and determine what your insulin to carb ratio is - https://www.bertieonline.org.uk
  • This covers how to basal test - https://mysugr.com/basal-rate-testing/
  • Pumping Insulin is a more intensive read on how to get the most out of your pump
It's fine to eat anything you want, but whether you're low carbing or eating whatever you can find you need to be able to understand how to manage your insulin to cover what you're eating. Unless you're expecting your DSN to follow you round 24/7 it's your job to learn how to do that.
 
catapillar said:
How have you got a pump if you don't know what basal/bolus or insulin:carb ratio is? You've got this amazing bit of kit and you're abdicating all responsibility for knowing how to use it. That seems like a bit of a waste. Presumably your pump came with an instruction manual, that should cover how to make any changes.

As for deciding what changes you want making I would suggest you need to educate yourself about diabetes management:-
  • Think like a pancreas is a great book covering the basics of what you need to know for managing type 1, covers the basics of a basal/bolus regime
  • The Bertie online course covers how to carb count and determine what your insulin to carb ratio is - https://www.bertieonline.org.uk
  • This covers how to basal test - https://mysugr.com/basal-rate-testing/
  • Pumping Insulin is a more intensive read on how to get the most out of your pump
It's fine to eat anything you want, but whether you're low carbing or eating whatever you can find you need to be able to understand how to manage your insulin to cover what you're eating. Unless you're expecting your DSN to follow you round 24/7 it's your job to learn how to do that.
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I want to correct myself on not knowing what bolous/basal is. I do know. I just which I knew about what the ratios are. As I said before the nurse tends to change it to what looks suitable for me. But I'm on the unknow as to what the rate/ratio. So yes I need to be more educated about that.
I actually do have an appointment with my consultant and I will be asking her a couple of questions and the questions you mentioned @phdiabetic. I will also follow ur advice on what to eat and what is good and bad for me.

Both @phdiabetic and @catapillar thank you for your response. They help me a lot.

I suppose the other thing is that after 3 years I have "alone" with this. I have friends and family that do check on me and stuff but they don't have the full understanding as to what is going on. And I think I been lacking too.

But anyway. Thank you everyone for the help.
 
Some great advice from the other responses.
One thing I am wondering is how accurate your carb counting is. With a pump, we have to be mor accurate than we used to with pens because the basal is closer tracked so there is no "spare basal" to mop up any inaccuracies. I think the bertie online course catapilar mentioned should help with this.
You mention that you snack between meals. I don't think there is anything wrong with this. However, you need to dial up every single carb every single time you eat any. So each rich tea biscuit you eat means getting your pump out and inputting the carbs. I know from personal experience how much of a pain this is because I do it every day: when I used MDI, I was injecting 7 or 8 times a day to cope with my snacking so the pump is much easier.
You might be doing this already, in which case, great.
 
amoniz said:
@azure, @noblehead The thing is I have had my insulin pump for a year now and I don't know much about what the basal rate, what bolus is as for carb ratio I don't even think I know that. when the pump needs adjusting for those things I just go and see my pump nurse who deals with it for me and that's it. it was not explained to me what they mean or what I can do. or even if i need to change it how to do etc... I read some things before online and it spoke about basal rates and bolus but I didn't really know how to work my own.
Click to expand...

Hi again @amoniz

I'm taking it that your not UK based as usually they insist that a person has a good understanding of carb counting and working out insulin-to-carb ratio's before being considered for a pump.

But fear not, Think Like a Pancreas has some really good info on pumps and will teach you all of the above, but the book Pumping Insulin is also a must read so do purchase it too if money allows. Also, rather than have your pump nurse make the adjustments for you ask them to teach you how to adjust basal rates and ICR, it's quite easy and is nothing to be afraid of.
 
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