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Guidance regarding amount of carbs per day

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@All The Little Kitties You have been misinformed or perhaps misunderstood..... Not surprising as the NHS advice for diabetics is notoriously poor.
As @silentsquirrel says it is the carbohydrate content you need to look at (usually in very small print on the back of the packet), not just sugars. The body breaks down all carbohydrates into glucose, so starchy food make from grains like porridge and bread and pasta and breakfast cereals and rice and pastry and potatoes will all spike your blood glucose as well as the sugar from sweet treats and also the sugar in fruit, so we need to be careful to reduce our consumption of all these high carb foods.

As regards testing kit, you were given those on prescription (ie free) because you were/are on insulin which can cause your BG to go dangerously low, so you need to be able to check that and treat it. Most Type 2 diabetics are not on such medication and therefore there is no risk of them going dangerously low. It would cost the NHS a fortune to provide everyone with diabetes that testing equipment.... and they just can't afford it and after this pandemic I think there will be a bigger shortage of funds.
 
silentsquirrel said:
No - it is the total carbohydrate that you need to look at, "of which sugars" is not relevant. Ignore traffic lights, they are useless for a diabetic.
Carbs are sugars and starches. Starch turns to glucose, So that is why the porridge spikes you!
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Ok, what do you have for brekkie and other meals. Everything I've got is high in carbs.
 
@All The Little Kitties
Eggs are a good low carb option for breakfast. I have omelettes with a variety of fillings like mushrooms and onion and cheese served with a salad and cheese coleslaw or creamy full fat Greek natural Yoghurt with half a dozen berries like rasps, strawberries or blueberries and a tablespoon of mixed seeds like pumpkin and sunflower and chia and maybe some chopped nuts. Another option is a fried breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausages and mushrooms, but no bread/toast, hash browns or baked beans as they are all high in carbs.
Are you on insulin? If so then you would need to be careful about cutting carbs completely in case the insulin takes you too low.
 
All The Little Kitties said:
Ok, what do you have for brekkie and other meals. Everything I've got is high in carbs.
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I do usually have porridge! I have found that I can cope with a small portion of oats, 25 -30g, and always "proper" oats, never over-processed instant oats. I stretch it with flaxseeds (ground in my blender) and chopped pecans, plus a very small portion of berries, usually frozen. I slow the spike and make it more filling by adding a tablespoon of double cream. My meter showed me
that just oats and fruit led to too big a spike.

Ideally I would eat eggs in some way (no bread), but I rarely fancy them until later in the day. Sometimes I have full fat, plain Greek style yogurt, adding berries, and either chopped nuts or ground almonds or a very, very small sprinkle of a lower carb granola eg Lizi's.

You have to find what works for you. Test just before eating, then 2 hours after first bite, looking for a rise of 2 -3 if possible, no more. If a certain meal spikes more than this when tested 2 or 3 times, either reduce the weight of carbs and try again, or try something different.

Good luck!
 
The "Eat Natural" brand do a Low Carb granola which is significantly lower than Lizi's at just 34g carbs per 100g. I sometimes have 40g of that with the creamy Greek Yoghurt and berries but I have insulin to cover the carbs in that which works out about 20g carbs so I usually have 4 units of insulin with that, 2 for the food and 2 for Dawn Phenomenon.
 
rebrascora said:
@All The Little Kitties
Eggs are a good low carb option for breakfast. I have omelettes with a variety of fillings like mushrooms and onion and cheese served with a salad and cheese coleslaw or creamy full fat Greek natural Yoghurt with half a dozen berries like rasps, strawberries or blueberries and a tablespoon of mixed seeds like pumpkin and sunflower and chia and maybe some chopped nuts. Another option is a fried breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausages and mushrooms, but no bread/toast, hash browns or baked beans as they are all high in carbs.
Are you on insulin? If so then you would need to be careful about cutting carbs completely in case the insulin takes you too low.
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Can't have most of that as I don't eat animal products.
 
I know someone uses Quinoa flakes for porridge instead of oats. They will still be quite carby but probably not as bad as oats. You would have to check nutritional info on packets.
Unfortunately being vegetarian will make controlling your diabetes through diet more difficult as even lentils and pulses are quite high in carbs.
Excuse me asking a personal question but do you need to lose much/any weight? Significant weight loss can be a route to pushing type 2 diabetes into remission if carb reduction is difficult, but losing weight when you are eating carbs can require more willpower in my opinion due to the effect carbs have on your BG levels... ie you feel hungry a couple of hours after eating them as your BG drops and therefore want to eat again.

You didn't say if you are on insulin or not?
 
Vegan even more difficult than veggie, your choices for low carb are very restricted without all the dairy.
I can't think of any vegans on the forum at the moment - used to be a couple, but neither have posted for some time. There probably are some, but I am not aware of them.

@everydayupsanddowns might be some help, I think he sometimes eats vegan because of a vegan family member?
 
Yes, I was a carb queen before this happened. Was having porridge for brekkie, which I can't have now, salad for lunch and a bean salad for dinner. Which I'm ok with.
I'm on insulin and metformin.
Yes, I do need to lose weight and will power is not a problem for me, especially if I can reverse it. I do not intend to do this for the rest of my life.
 
@All The Little Kitties
Which insulin(s) are you on and I am guessing you are on fixed doses, is that right? If so, you will need to eat a certain amount of carbs with each meal otherwise you are at risk of having hypos.

I don't mean to burst your bubble, but diabetes is a life long condition and it is extremely unlikely that you will be able to push it into remission if you are on insulin (being on insulin means that you are diabetic even if your HbA1c is below 48.... remission is only achieved when you have 2 consecutive normal range HbA1c readings without any medication I believe) and even if you do, you need to maintain fairly strict dietary control otherwise it comes back.
That is why it is important to find a way of eating that you enjoy and therefore can sustain long term, ie for the rest of your life. Losing weight can in itself help, but you need to maintain the weight loss which can be more difficult. I think many of us have experienced the yoyo effect of dieting and then putting it back on once you end the "diet"
 
Insulatard, 16 in the morning, 10 at night.
It won't be difficult to maintain weight loss if it means I don't have to inject myself. Not a problem.
 
Ok, so you are just on a basal (background) insulin and don't inject anything for meals, so meals need to be kept quite low carb then to keep your BG from spiking too much which is going to be difficult for you especially when you are vegan.
Try a half portion of the porridge with some avocado/tofu or whatever vegan options there are for cream.... something high fat and maybe with some protein in it too.... and something that you like. Unfortunately I am not knowledgeable about vegan products to advise anything in particular..

It is a good idea to invest in some digital kitchen scales and weigh out your porridge oats and test before and after and then reduce the amount of grams the next day and test again to find the maximum amount you can get away with that doesn't spike your BG levels more than 3 units. Make sure to buy jumbo oats not cheap/instant more highly processed ones, as the jumbo ones should release their glucose slightly more slowly and therefore not spike your BG so high.
 

Yes my youngest is Vegan so evening meals are either entirely or optionally vegan in our house.

However with insulin as a T1 I have lots more flexibility.

Im not sure if there are reasonable yoghurt alternatives? There are various egg replacements for omelette / scrambled egg - I’d have to check packets for carbs
 
rebrascora said:
Ok, so you are just on a basal (background) insulin and don't inject anything for meals, so meals need to be kept quite low carb then to keep your BG from spiking too much which is going to be difficult for you especially when you are vegan.
Try a half portion of the porridge with some avocado/tofu or whatever vegan options there are for cream.... something high fat and maybe with some protein in it too.... and something that you like. Unfortunately I am not knowledgeable about vegan products to advise anything in particular..

It is a good idea to invest in some digital kitchen scales and weigh out your porridge oats and test before and after and then reduce the amount of grams the next day and test again to find the maximum amount you can get away with that doesn't spike your BG levels more than 3 units. Make sure to buy jumbo oats not cheap/instant more highly processed ones, as the jumbo ones should release their glucose slightly more slowly and therefore not spike your BG so high.
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I have soya cream which is very low in carbs, only buy the normal oats. A lot of my fake meat products are low in carbs but high in protein, so will get some more of those in.
I have only heard from the diabetic team once, the morning after I left hospital. The one in the hospital was ok, but you can't really take it all in. I have to test 4 times a day, before meals and 2 hours after then 1 at night. But that's all I know. No info on food, that's why I'm asking all these questions. Thank goodness this site is here, and all of you are so helpful or I would be completely lost.
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
Yes my youngest is Vegan so evening meals are either entirely or optionally vegan in our house.

However with insulin as a T1 I have lots more flexibility.

Im not sure if there are reasonable yoghurt alternatives? There are various egg replacements for omelette / scrambled egg - I’d have to check packets for carbs
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Yes, I have some egg replacer, forgot about that. Will take a look. Thank you.
 
I sometimes get Alpro soy yoghurt which is low fat, but I combine it with fatty foods.
The problem with a vegan diet is it isn't what we evolved to eat - despite what the vegan thread on Twitter maintains, the more vegetarian early Hominids all went extinct.
At least with the insulin you can eat more carbs and use that to deal with it but although the Twitter folk maintained that there are tens of thousands of people who were cured of their diabetes by eating wholefoods, I have yet to meet anyone free of medication and lots of exercise on a daily basis. I did ask for diet or recipe recomendations, but all sources seem high carb and low in nutrition. It really does give vegans a mountain to climb.
 
All The Little Kitties said:
I have soya cream which is very low in carbs, only buy the normal oats. A lot of my fake meat products are low in carbs but high in protein, so will get some more of those in.
I have only heard from the diabetic team once, the morning after I left hospital. The one in the hospital was ok, but you can't really take it all in. I have to test 4 times a day, before meals and 2 hours after then 1 at night. But that's all I know. No info on food, that's why I'm asking all these questions. Thank goodness this site is here, and all of you are so helpful or I would be completely lost.
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Are you sure your fake meats are low in carbs?.... I only ask because you were checking sugar content until now if your previous post was anything to go by in that you assumed porridge was low carb. Vegan meat is often significantly higher in carbs than proper meat which generally has none.

@Drummer The OP only has basal insulin so cannot really compensate for carbs in her food at the moment.... I think that might need to change in the near future and additional bolus insulin may be required.
 
Oh yes indeed - I just suspect that is the path she's on and will be directed that way by her support team in due course..
 
All The Little Kitties said:
Yes, I have some egg replacer, forgot about that. Will take a look. Thank you.
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Ours (Terra Vegane) only gets used a tablespoon at a time to give the egg flavour in baking. I’d have to weigh 4tbs for the suggested carb load for an omelette, but it’s 60g/100g so may not help Im afraid :(
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
Ours (Terra Vegane) only gets used a tablespoon at a time to give the egg flavour in baking. I’d have to weigh 4tbs for the suggested carb load for an omelette, but it’s 60g/100g so may not help Im afraid :(
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Might as well just stick with porridge if the replacement egg is that carb heavy, since they have the same carb content.
 
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