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Carbs in a low carb diet

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Nick J

New Member
Hi - I'm embarking on a low carb diet as I've read lots of evidence that it can reverse diabetes. I've cut out bread, rice, pasta and potatoes from lunch and dinner, that's not too hard, but breakfast options are trickier, because I like to start the day with something solid. So I've resorted to porridge, using 'proper' oats (not the microwave type) which I've always understood is ok for diabetics as this is a slow sugar release food. However it is still a carb-based food, and my question is, is it ok to include porridge in a low carb diet, or does it upset the whole thing? Basically, instead of cutting out carbs altogether, I'm reducing my intake by around 75% - is that ok?
 
Do you test? some people find they are ok with porridge but it spikes others terribly x
 
No I don't test. I've eaten porridge on a regular basis - love the stuff - and never had nay problems. I just wanted to know how it worked in the context of a low carb diet
 
Welcome.
Unfortunately we all have different tolerances for various foods and what are ok for one spike others.
 
Porridge spikes me badly but as Kaylz said some folks are ok with it, I normally have omlettes with cheese, ham etc for breakfast or grilled bacon and eggs a couple of times a week. Wholegrain cheerios cereal tends only to spike me a little so worth a try.

Would be worth testing if your not already to see what you can tollerate.
 
Hi. I always have cold oats as in muesli as 'stewed' oats are broken down with more available sugar? How about eggs and bacon etc instead?
 
This is why you need to test - you might be OK, or you might have huge spikes - but you will never know without testing.
 
Hi Nick For me breakfast is one of the hardest meals I love porridge but it spikes my BG. Without testing an hour or 2 after you won't know if you can tolerate it. I tend to opt for a slice of burgen soya and linseed toast as quick and easy. Although yoghurt and a few berries is low carb it really doesn't sustain me.
Sometimes I just have coffee.
 
First off you need to get a monitor and strips the codefree one is the cheapest on the market for strips I bulk buy from Amazon now so I don't run out
Test before every meal and 2 hours after
Your looking for 4-7 before and no higher than 8.5 after
If already high no more than 3
I know they say you don't have to exercise on low carb but you will want to as I was 2 months in and now I walk everywhere. 5/6 miles a day. If not used to exercise do 10minutes if able of walking that's my front door to the first lamppost in my area. Then build it from there by 5 minutes daily.
20g is the lowest some go others it's 50g- 100g you have to decide what is best for you mine is 80g but no higher than 100g I couldn't sustain the 20g it made me not well so I upped the carbs a wee bit.
I stopped all cereals, oats and weetabixs as they all spike me. I then realised I was forcing a breakfast down when I wasn't even hungry you know the brainwashed breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
I now only have two meals a day and rarely snack if I do it's on dark chocolate. Low carb cheesecake
Lunchtime is usually bacon and eggs fried in rapeseed oils on a protein roll or left overs from the tea the night before such as pesto chicken it's now my comfort food. We have recipes for low carb on the forum.
Also there is no end goal for this as most think there is one when there isn't
Good luck with it all now.
 
Nick J said:
No I don't test. I've eaten porridge on a regular basis - love the stuff - and never had nay problems. I just wanted to know how it worked in the context of a low carb diet
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As has already been mentioned, you say you have never had any problems, but without testing you wont know if its causing you problems, you could well be spiking into the teens or higher which may cause problems in the long term x
 
Nick J said:
No I don't test. I've eaten porridge on a regular basis - love the stuff - and never had nay problems. I just wanted to know how it worked in the context of a low carb diet
Click to expand...

My guess is that the changes you have made will have helped massively.

So I think it depends on how you think you will be able to identify whether it is working.

You could wait until your next HbA1c and see if there has been an improvement.

You could wait 10 years and see if your eyes have already been damaged by high glucose values (which obviously you are wanting to avoid!!)

Or you could ask your GP about a BG monitor, or buy one of the affordable ones yourself (many members here like the SD Codefree). There are links in the newbie section that give ideas about when to check BG and how to interpret the results.

At the end of the day, it sounds like you have made some really helpful adjustments, but it's very hard to answer the specifics of whether you are able to tolerate porridge (or how many carbs you can safely eat in the evening, for example) without a means of measuring what happens to your BG levels as an individual.

Congrats on the steps you have made already though. You may discover through self-monitoring whether you are able to introduce some of those items back in! But in the meantime your policy of avoidance is probably the safest BG-wise.
 
Personally I'd stay away from carbs, particularly in the morning (where we tend to be more insulin resistant) opting instead for perhaps an omelet or leftovers from last night. though I don't typically eat until lunchtime.

As for you personally, are you just going lowish carb or heading for a Ketogenic diet, in which case the Oatmeal will likely knock you out of Nutritional Ketosis
 
Nick J said:
Hi - I'm embarking on a low carb diet as I've read lots of evidence that it can reverse diabetes. I've cut out bread, rice, pasta and potatoes from lunch and dinner, that's not too hard, but breakfast options are trickier, because I like to start the day with something solid. So I've resorted to porridge, using 'proper' oats (not the microwave type) which I've always understood is ok for diabetics as this is a slow sugar release food. However it is still a carb-based food, and my question is, is it ok to include porridge in a low carb diet, or does it upset the whole thing? Basically, instead of cutting out carbs altogether, I'm reducing my intake by around 75% - is that ok?
Click to expand...
I did exactly the same with breakfast, and I love my porridge, it gets me through a very hectic morning without feeling the need to snack. My levels weren't that bad with the porridge, it was what I ate with it that was the problem, e.g. Fruit or a no added sugar jam, the jam was the best!
 
For me even proper porridge is one of the foods that really spike me, even worse than wholemeal bread.
 
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