High carbs?

[Steve1122]

How much carb is high carb?

I had two meals yesterday at 57g and 59g respectively (for the full meal). Total carbs for the day were 163.

I know it's probably another of the 'everyone is different' things, but does that seem high for type 2? Should I be aiming for a little lower than that?

steve

 

[Dishevelled]

I try to aim for 120 carbs per day. I do fail quite often though.

 

[Leadinglights]

How much carb is high carb?

I had two meals yesterday at 57g and 59g respectively (for the full meal). Total carbs for the day were 163.

I know it's probably another of the 'everyone is different' things, but does that seem high for type 2? Should I be aiming for a little lower than that?

steve

People who are going with a low carb approach then no more than 130g carbs not just sugar per day would be a good starting point but many would need to go lower, so yes your 163g is high but not just that it is the amount per meal if too high for your body to tolerate would be adding to the excess glucose in your system. Spreading out the carbs you have between the meals, snacks and drinks would be less likely to produce a high blood glucose level post meal.
Many will use a home testing blood glucose monitor to see the effect of their meals by testing before eating and after 2 hours looking for an increase of no more than 2-3mmol/l, if it is then the meal is too carb heavy.

 

[harbottle]

How much carb is high carb?

I had two meals yesterday at 57g and 59g respectively (for the full meal). Total carbs for the day were 163.

I know it's probably another of the 'everyone is different' things, but does that seem high for type 2? Should I be aiming for a little lower than that?

steve

Did you test your levels before and after?

 

[Steve1122]

People who are going with a low carb approach then no more than 130g carbs not just sugar per day would be a good starting point but many would need to go lower, so yes your 163g is high but not just that it is the amount per meal if too high for your body to tolerate would be adding to the excess glucose in your system. Spreading out the carbs you have between the meals, snacks and drinks would be less likely to produce a high blood glucose level post meal.
Many will use a home testing blood glucose monitor to see the effect of their meals by testing before eating and after 2 hours looking for an increase of no more than 2-3mmol/l, if it is then the meal is too carb heavy.

Thanks for that. I'm just starting to take an interest in carb intake, mostly through the suggestion in here that carb levels are more important overall than the 'of sugars...' thing.

 

[Steve1122]

Did you test your levels before and after?

I have a Libre thingy, so I'm watching it all unfold before my eyes. It's better than Corry 🙂 . I ask because I had (for me) an unusual curve last night that saw my blood sugar linger higher than normal (but still in range) up to around midnight. I then had two dips to 3.2 during the night. I wondered if that was the two meals which were higher in carbs than I usually have.

Sorry if this is an obvious, basic question. I'm still getting my head around everything.

steve

 

[rebrascora]

The dips during the night are likely what we call "compression lows" where you turn over in your sleep and lie on the sensor, causing the tissue under the sensor to become compressed. This affects the composition of the tissue that the filament is sampling and results in false low readings. Generally you can tell it is a compression low because the levels come back up usually as quickly as when they dropped and may peak very slightly higher than they were before the low and then settle back to the previous level. If your levels naturally drop to below 4 during the night it is usually a slow steady descent and then a slow steady rise towards dawn or waking up time. Two dips into the red through the night are almost certainly compression lows.

 

[harbottle]

I have a Libre thingy, so I'm watching it all unfold before my eyes. It's better than Corry 🙂 . I ask because I had (for me) an unusual curve last night that saw my blood sugar linger higher than normal (but still in range) up to around midnight. I then had two dips to 3.2 during the night. I wondered if that was the two meals which were higher in carbs than I usually have.

Sorry if this is an obvious, basic question. I'm still getting my head around everything.

steve

Watching a poo floating on a river is more interesting that Coronation Street.

So what sort of levels are you seeing after eating meals with those 57g and 59g of carbs?

As a T2 diabetic you may see BG go up and take a while to come down.

The type of food can make a difference - a mix of carbs and fats might take longer to rise to its peak.

 

[Steve1122]

The dips during the night are likely what we call "compression lows" where you turn over in your sleep and lie on the sensor, causing the tissue under the sensor to become compressed. This affects the composition of the tissue that the filament is sampling and results in false low readings. Generally you can tell it is a compression low because the levels come back up usually as quickly as when they dropped and may peak very slightly higher than they were before the low and then settle back to the previous level. If your levels naturally drop to below 4 during the night it is usually a slow steady descent and then a slow steady rise towards dawn or waking up time. Two dips into the red through the night are almost certainly compression lows.

That's interesting. I'd not heard of compression lows, but that is what it looks like... thanks

 

[Steve1122]

Watching a poo floating on a river is more interesting that Coronation Street.

So what sort of levels are you seeing after eating meals with those 57g and 59g of carbs?

As a T2 diabetic you may see BG go up and take a while to come down.

The type of food can make a difference - a mix of carbs and fats might take longer to rise to its peak.

we went out for lunch, start was about 4 at 13:00, went up to about 6.5 by about 14:30, dropped to 5 by about at 15:00, then a very steady rise to 6 at 18:00

evening meal started at 6 at 18:00, rose to about 7 by 19:00, then stayed between 6 and 7 before plunging to a low from 23:30

It wasn't my usual result which is much more controlled and steady. Could be a one off, I suppose. Oh, and I did begin a course of antibiotics with a tablet at 17:00. I wonder if that can have an effect.

 

[harbottle]

Those levels seem OK. Not sure there's anything to worry about!

 

[Drummer]

@Steve1122 Your testing seems to show that you can deal with that amount of carbs, which is far more than I could - my limit for normal days is 40gm, and I still don't get a HbA1c in the normal range, though my age might have something to do with that as my glucose levels are normal.
As long as you continue to see normal blood glucose levels and HbA1c tests your diet seems absolutely fine. It is definitely the carbs, not just the sugars which are the numbers to tally up throughout the day.

 

[Steve1122]

@Steve1122 Your testing seems to show that you can deal with that amount of carbs, which is far more than I could - my limit for normal days is 40gm, and I still don't get a HbA1c in the normal range, though my age might have something to do with that as my glucose levels are normal.
As long as you continue to see normal blood glucose levels and HbA1c tests your diet seems absolutely fine. It is definitely the carbs, not just the sugars which are the numbers to tally up throughout the day.

Thanks for the reassurance, and sorry you seem to have it worse than I do...

 

[Drummer]

Thanks for the reassurance, and sorry you seem to have it worse than I do...

I had pork chops and mushrooms for breakfast, coffee with cream, and there is roast chicken and stirfry for dinner - no need to feel sorry, really.