Low carb or hi carb from veg / whole grain

[mitchsi]

Hi,
Having just been diagnosed with T1D last week at 46 after a bad DKA I’m looking at meal plans.
Previous to dka I was low carb and felt good but since diagnosis I’m heavily eating veg and low’ish carbs to help heal my body, I’ve quickly reduced spikes and BG with adjustments to insulin over the week to I think a good level.
I’m a little confused as to how to proceed, I’ve always read good results with High quality veg (whole grains, plant based etc…) but I’d need to add meat but I’ve also felt good on low carbs prior to diagnosis.
I also recognize a lot of discussions on here on low carb so could I ask if people have felt good with good blood works on a plant based diet or is there more success for good health / blood works with low carb?

Book recommendations on either would be appreciated. One book I’m looking to buy is Mastering Diabetes by Khambatta which is high carb plant based.

In know this might be a bit contentious but would appreciate peoples actual experience on this 🙂

Thanks, Steve

 

[rebrascora]

With Type 1, you can eat whatever diet you enjoy and suits your lifestyle and your body and any other conditions you have. There is no one "right" way, just what works for you as an individual.
I follow a low carb way of eating because the more carbs I eat, the more I want and it is a slippery slope, plus I feel a lot fitter and healthier eating low carb and my migraines have completely stopped and my joint pain has improved as has my asthma and gut health... and I have worked out a way to manage my diabetes with it (and the wonderful help of Libre) which is simpler than carb or protein counting, so it suits me in lots of respects, but I accept that it wouldn't work for everyone.

Why not try the plant based wholegrain diet and see if that suits you better than the low carb you have already tried or not as good. Or go back to a "normal" diet... whatever that is...particularly if you need life to be a little easier. Following a particular way of eating can be challenging if other aspects of your life are stressful for example. It you listen to your body, and give it a few months it will usually tell you what is working for you and you can compare it to how you felt before.

 

[Inka]

@mitchsi Khambatta has very good results. He has incredible insulin sensitivity. I tried a very low fat vegan diet and increased insulin sensitivity too, but for me, it wasn’t sustainable (the diet, not the sensitivity). So, I now eat more of a Mediterranean diet with a reasonable amount of carbs but also healthy fats.

You don’t need a special diet with Type 1. You can eat a pretty normal diet. You can also have ‘treat’ items such as cake, cheesecake, etc etc, and desserts like fruit crumble.

My advice is to eat your normal diet and find a level of carbs that works for you. There’s no beating Type 1 with diet. I’ve tried loads of diets over the years and there is no magic diet. IMO, the best bet is the Med diet, but I’m mainly eating it because I like it.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I think it’s up to you to work out what appeals to you, is flexible enough to stick with long-term, and gives you the sorts of BG results you are happy with.

I generally have a moderate-carb menu, with occasional very high carb meals that I have developed dosing strategies for (and which generally work most of the time)

The flexibility of insulin means you can decide what strategy is the best fit for you, without needing to worry about your body’s ability to cope with the ‘home grown’ insulin you have available (because most likely you have hardly any!)