Carbs, how much?

[Smit]

Ok after been diabetic for 27 years I am confussed lol how many carbs should I as a type 1.
When I was diagnosed my parents were told I must eat carbs. i see some folk on here don't eat a lot. I eat carbs with every meal. I asked my consultant about cutting them out and was told what I was doing was normal, and not to cut them out. What does all the other type 1's do? Sorry if this is a silly question. x

 

[FM001]

I don't restrict carbohydrates as I see them as an important part of a healthy diet, most days I'll consume 160g which is more than enough for my energy needs.

 

[Smit]

Thanks Toby, I think I'm just getting in a panic with this diabetes and pregnancy. Thank you for replying, we must be the only 2 on here tonight. X

 

[FM001]

Thanks Toby, I think I'm just getting in a panic with this diabetes and pregnancy. Thank you for replying, we must be the only 2 on here tonight. X

It's late for me and I'm usually in bed, waiting up for my lad to come home after celebrating his 18th birthday, could be a long night🙄

 

[Smit]

Happy birthday to him. I have to agree could be a long night. I hope he's not to worse for wear. That will be hubby and I in 18 years lol x

 

[FM001]

Happy birthday to him. I have to agree could be a long night. I hope he's not to worse for wear. That will be hubby and I in 18 years lol x

Certainly will, you worry when they are young but boy do you worry when they are older.

 

[shiv]

I definitely don't avoid carbs 🙂 as long as you are taking enough insulin to cover the carbs, you should in theory be fine. You may see some people on the forum with type 2 who use diet as a big part of the way they control their diabetes talking about reducing/cutting out carbs 🙂

 

[Vicsetter]

Restricting carbs is good practice for T2s.

Carbs can increase your weight and so can insulin and as the more carbs you eat the more insulin you have to take to compensate you may put on weight.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I don't tend to consciously restrict carbs either, though like Toby I'm officially a 'moderate-carber' (guideline daily amount for adults is a whopping 250-300g) at around 130-150g a day on average.

The advantage of controlling overall carb intake that i see is that fewer doses equals smaller doses equals less margin for error (eg if estimating the load wrong and you are 20% out, it's 20% of 50g not 20% of 125g) smaller doses are also absorbed more efficiently and reliably.

 

[Northerner]

Hi Smit, I don't consciously restrict my carbs either, eating around 160g per day. I'm often amazed when I see posts where people have had that much in one meal! 😱 But obviously, if your control is good and that is what you are used to then things are fine. Mike definitely makes a good point about the more carb-heavy a meal is, the more insulin is required - with a subsequent increase in the possibility of getting the dose wrong. Larger doses do not seem to absorb in the same way a smaller dose does, so keeping doses smaller can help with control. Vicsetter is also correct in saying that more insulin can mean more weight too, so another consideration - injecting, for example, 20 units, is completely different to how tha pancreas would normally deliver insulin, hence the greater problems with weight gain that people on insulin sometimes have to tackle.

Might be worth recording the carb content of your meals for a few days and seeing what your average intake is 🙂

 

[Copepod]

Smit - probably when you were diagnosed 27 years ago, you used bimodal insulin, which meant you had to eat 3 meals and 1 snack all containing relatively fixed amounts of carbohydrate and relatively fixed times?

Assuming you are now on more flexible MDI (multi daily injections) / basal bolus regime, you can have far more flexibility in time and amounts of carbohydrate.

Personally, I prefer to eat carbohydrate at nearly all meals, but occasionally have a carb free meal, such as salad or vegetable soup. Nice to have to freedom to occasionally eat without injecting 🙂

 

[imtrying]

Hi Smit.

When you were diagnosed you were probably on a mixed insulin where your body needs carbs frequently to keep levels even. Now if you are on MDI you only need to eat carbs if you want to! 🙂 it is much more flexible.

When I was diagnosed I had a set number of carbs to eat at each meal, so no flexibility. Now I still do eat carbs (otherwise I'd be hungry lol) but I only need to inject for what I've eaten, rather than eating for what I've injected.

Hope that makes sense. Good luck!

 

[Pumper_Sue]

Ok after been diabetic for 27 years I am confussed lol how many carbs should I as a type 1.
When I was diagnosed my parents were told I must eat carbs. i see some folk on here don't eat a lot. I eat carbs with every meal. I asked my consultant about cutting them out and was told what I was doing was normal, and not to cut them out. What does all the other type 1's do? Sorry if this is a silly question. x

Hi Smit,
the simple answer is we are all different 🙂 What suits one wont suit another. You need what you need.
If you are a normal weight for your age and height then you are on the right amount of carbs.

If you want to reduce your carb amount then obviously you need to know what you are doing with your insulin, ie, carb ratios thus you can eat more or less as you please.
As long as you can keep your blood sugar numbers at a level best suited to you without to many swings either then this is a good indicator that you are fine.
My carb intake varies from day to day can be 80 carbs one day and other days up to 150. For many years I used to consume anything up to 250/day but that was top limit and I was either at school or working full time on the farm.

ps, no question is silly 🙂

 

[Smit]

Thank you everyone for your responses. I don't feel so bad now that I eat carbs with almost every meal. I don't like salad so most things things I eat have carbs, I think I eat about 180 to 200g a day if not more some days. Depending what I have, if i have a curry I always need loads of insulin to cover the sugar content in the sauces.

On reflection, I mustn't eat too many as I am a normal weight, 9.5 stone, slowly putting it one due to pregnancy.

Thank you all so much for replies in my moment of panic. xx