Low carb regime+Type 1 diabetes

[Scrumpyjack65]

Hi, I live with Type 1 Diabetes and have done for the last 45 years. I'm still here, so must be doing something right!

I have tried low-carbing before and had success to a point before a stressful job and a long commute to work got in the way (yes two years ago or so). This is when I sloped into a higher carb regime that made me sad, but it was the only option available to me at the time.

I am using a Dexcom G6 sensor and have recently returned to using Fiasp & Levemir pens after two non-functioning insulin pumps. I do have a new pump, but I am not fully confident in using it now. Can anyone give me advice on how to re-start on a low carb regime, I am not able to go completely carb free as that doesn't work for me, but any advice greatly received, I look forward to hearing from you, thanks, Sally

 

[Thebearcametoo]

What level of carbs are you aiming for?

Breakfast tends to be the least varied meal of the day so planning a low carb breakfast that you can do without too much thinking will start you off well. Eggs are good for that or Greek yogurt and berries. It depends how much you want to eat.

 

[rebrascora]

Firstly, just to clarify, short of the innuit diet of blubber, carb free is pretty much impossible. Even lettuce has carbs in it even if it is a tiny amount and you need to eat an awful lot of it to worry about it's contribution and warrant any insulin for it.
It may seem pedantic to make that correction, but it is important.

My best tips would be.....
Don't be afraid of fat.... cream, cheese, nuts, olives, avocado, eggs, full fat natural yoghurt will all provide you with calories and help to keep you feeling full... prevent you from feeling hungry.
Keep plenty of low carb snacks available at least in the early days so that you have something to munch on. I like sour cream and chive dip from the deli counter.... not the stuff that comes in a jar which is highly processed. I have it with veggie sticks.... cucumber, peppers, mushrooms, celery etc but it is also really nice to have with a plate of cooked broccoli. If you want to have a guilty pleasure and your teeth can take it.... pork scratchings or salami/peperoni crisps.... made my slicing thinly and nuking in the microwave sandwiched between paper towel to absorb the fat and prevent splattering.
Things which feature regularly on my menu are ratatouille... with lots of lovely olive oil.... aubergines and mushrooms are great for soaking up oil, so good vegetables to help increase your fat intake. Coleslaw (usually cheese coleslaw) always features on my shopping list...always full fat.... my salads always get a good dollop but you can put a spoon of it on a slice of cold meat, roll it up and eat it as a low carb snack.
Look for ways to incorporate green veg into a meal.... so I have been known to have bacon and eggs for breakfast on a bed of microwaved cabbage with a knob of butter. The cabbage catches the egg yolk when you don't have bread to soak it up and goes really well with bacon of course. I might fry some mushrooms and onions and then toss the cooked cabbage in with them and mix it all up and then serve the bacon and eggs on that mixture. I have also had it with bolognaise sauce instead of spaghetti or served a curry on it. I have a lovely recipe for cauliflower and halloumi curry which works well.
Cauliflower cheese.... made with cream cheese and grated cheese rather than a cheese sauce made with flour and milk. That goes really nicely with high meat content sausages or gammon. Ribeye steak (plenty of natural fat), salad with coleslaw of course and celeriac chips is an occasional treat.

Anyway, hope that gives you some ideas to get you started. You will need to look out for protein release if you are eating less than 30g carbs per meal. I find protein starts to release glucose about 2 hours afterwards and can slowly continue for up to 6 hours afterwards, so you may need to inject a correction about 2 hours after your meal to deal with that but with CGM it is so easy to see it starting to happen and inject for it. I don't calculate it, I just respond to my Libre data. For me, usually 2 units is easily enough and if it is a bit too much I always have small carb snacks like a dried apricot or prune both about 5g or a dried fig (8g) to level things out. Obviously if you go too low hypo, then you would treat with faster acting carbs so these are to stave off a hypo. But with protein because it keeps slowly releasing it keeps soaking up the insulin so you don't get a sudden drop like you do with too much insulin for carbs, it is more forgiving.

I think low carb without CGM is quite difficult because of the protein releasing afterwards and not being able to see that happening without lots of finger pricking, but with modern technology and management techniques like "sugar surfing" it has made it a much more practical and less tricky option for people who would like to try it.

 

[Scrumpyjack65]

What level of carbs are you aiming for?

Breakfast tends to be the least varied meal of the day so planning a low carb breakfast that you can do without too much thinking will start you off well. Eggs are good for that or Greek yogurt and berries. It depends how much you want to eat.

Hi, thanks for your swift response. When I did low carb before I was aiming for 60g per day. For some, I'm sure this is too much but for me, it worked. Breakfasts were relatively easily like you have suggested yoghurt and fruit. Lunch again is relatively easy, but dinner is the stumbling block from what I remember.

 

[Drummer]

I shop in Lidl and they have various vegetable mixes with flavouring in the freezer aisle.
I find it really easy to weigh out the amount I need and then either cook it as a stir fry or as part of a casserole and the carb content is on the bag.
They also have vegetable mixes which are not flavoured with various carb contents so they'd give you options for raising or reducing carbs depending on how you've eaten that day.
I went down to the local Lidl and it was almost bare a couple of days ago - so the food supply must be under strain, but in normal times there are quite a few options to be had - and you might find that other supermarkets have similar options in greater amounts.
I've found their meat and fish very good too - I buy the meat fresh and freeze it.

 

[Scrumpyjack65]

I shop in Lidl and they have various vegetable mixes with flavouring in the freezer aisle.
I find it really easy to weigh out the amount I need and then either cook it as a stir fry or as part of a casserole and the carb content is on the bag.
They also have vegetable mixes which are not flavoured with various carb contents so they'd give you options for raising or reducing carbs depending on how you've eaten that day.
I went down to the local Lidl and it was almost bare a couple of days ago - so the food supply must be under strain, but in normal times there are quite a few options to be had - and you might find that other supermarkets have similar options in greater amounts.
I've found their meat and fish very good too - I buy the meat fresh and freeze it.

Thanks for your great tips. Some good things to consider for the future. I feel a plan coming on ..

 

[trophywench]

I've had a lot of success very recently with not only continuing to have max approx 60g carb at dinner time, but also reducing my carb ratio (or is it increasing? - anyway) now having 1.2u to 10g and also converting em all to multi wave, which is a thing I've only done for 'pizza effect' dinners before. Best you can do on MDI of course, is split the bolus.