• Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
  • We seem to be having technical difficulties with new user accounts. If you are trying to register please check your Spam or Junk folder for your confirmation email. If you still haven't received a confirmation email, please reach out to our support inbox: support.forum@diabetes.org.uk

Daily Carb Intake

Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
I kept records for a couple of months where I was writing down everything I ate plus either the actual calories/carbs or a good guess depending on what information I had available to me. It got very laborious after a while so I stopped. I think I was on about 140g/carb a day and somewhere around 2500 kcal.

I suspect I?m eating slightly more carbs now ? my primary method of control is to weigh myself once or twice a week and either allow myself something extra or cut back depending on what it says.
 
I got a good app on my phone which is free called "food scanner" you can search food and scan barcodes on it. It tells you carbs, cals, fat etc and you add it to like a food diary. You can also add food favourites. It has loads of foods on it and although I don't use it daily anymore I used it for a couple of weeks to work out average calorie and carb intake. It also helped working out insulin. My consultant also recommended Carbs & Cals app which I also have but that was ?4 I think 😱
 
I'm near the 130-140 range with +/- 40'ish spread depending on day.
 
This is a really interesting thread. I average about 30-50g carbs a day, although usually at the lower end of the scale.

I have an insulin pump and (obviously) follow a low-carb diet which has given me very tight control.

k.
 
ScottyK said:
This is a really interesting thread. I average about 30-50g carbs a day, although usually at the lower end of the scale.

I have an insulin pump and (obviously) follow a low-carb diet which has given me very tight control.

k.
Click to expand...

WOW, that is really low................a low carb diet is definitely positive for BG control, but that is practically non existent, you can sometimes get more in a couple of slices of bread.......😱

Do you need to go that low..........?🙂
 
carb intake

are we doing something wrong ? we were told 300g carbs per day for my 15 yr old son- he has 140 g at breakfast alone!!!!!!!!
 
I'm also coeliac so haven't eaten bread for 15 years! (which maybe helps - I have no desire to eat bread/pasta etc as I associate it with ill health)

To be honest, I don't find it difficult to stick to such low carbs - it's amazing how you can substitute things. I have a lovely diet full of lots of delicious veggies, meats, cheeses etc (yum!). There's a bit of a low-carb 'movement' happening with other type 1's at the moment but I absolutely can understand why it wouldn't appeal to everyone!

I have the full support from my consultant and actually spent an awful lot of time taking about it with him as he's very interested in the results. I guess for me it's just become habit. I'm not saying I might not up the carbs in the future but I've found it so easy to do and the results have been great so I'll stick with it for now 🙂
 
Delb t - no, as long as you find a regime that suits your son and he can have stable blood sugars then your not doing anything wrong.

There's no wrong or right - just what works for the individual diabetic 🙂
 
ScottyK said:
I'm also coeliac so haven't eaten bread for 15 years! (which maybe helps - I have no desire to eat bread/pasta etc as I associate it with ill health)

To be honest, I don't find it difficult to stick to such low carbs - it's amazing how you can substitute things. I have a lovely diet full of lots of delicious veggies, meats, cheeses etc (yum!). There's a bit of a low-carb 'movement' happening with other type 1's at the moment but I absolutely can understand why it wouldn't appeal to everyone!

I have the full support from my consultant and actually spent an awful lot of time taking about it with him as he's very interested in the results. I guess for me it's just become habit. I'm not saying I might not up the carbs in the future but I've found it so easy to do and the results have been great so I'll stick with it for now 🙂
Click to expand...

When injecting, if you injected, where you on similar amounts of carbs and what were your results then?
 
ScottyK said:
Delb t - no, as long as you find a regime that suits your son and he can have stable blood sugars then your not doing anything wrong.

There's no wrong or right - just what works for the individual diabetic 🙂
Click to expand...

well he is sporty and no couch potato -his first HBA1c 7.5 -we were diagnosed 8th dec- god I suddenly panicked I was over feeding him !!!
 
delb t said:
well he is sporty and no couch potato -his first HBA1c 7.5 -we were diagnosed 8th dec- god I suddenly panicked I was over feeding him !!!
Click to expand...


You could be a big muscly Olympian and need 6000 calories a day, and therefore a considerable carb load, and still have good blood sugar control............

Wouldn't be easy though......:D
 
Delt t - Goodness no, he's a growing boy! 😉 I think the best is to stick to the consultant's advice, esp. in teenage years.

Novo - It was when I was on MDI that I started on the low-carb diet (for about a year before I got the pump. My hba1c dropped from around 10% to around 6% within that year eating similar amounts of carbs. For me (and I stress for me - everyone is different) it completely leveled out the peak highs and lows (less carb = less insulin = less margin for error). My consultant was amazed!

But again, this worked for me and I did a lot of research into it before I changed my diet. It may not be for everyone - I stress I'm not handing out advice!

k.
 
I am currently in the process of cutting my carbs, no carbs for dinner Monday to Friday and the results are good, good enough to continue doing it.......

but I would expect elevated ketones, at least at the beginning of an almost carb free diet......

Did you experience this?
 
I sometimes have very, very slightly raised ketones but not enough to worry about (I test using a blood ketone meter). Bearing in mind that having trace ketones is not the same as ketoacidosis which is generally caused by a lack of insulin (which I always have 'on board' - I average around 25-30 units of novorapid a day - using a pump this covers basal and bolus).
 
Oh, and I just noticed you have a baby due in May - congratulations!! Myself and my partner are going to try for our first this year (so the carbs may have to go up for at least 9 months!)
 
novorapidboi26 said:
I am currently in the process of cutting my carbs, no carbs for dinner Monday to Friday and the results are good, good enough to continue doing it.......

but I would expect elevated ketones, at least at the beginning of an almost carb free diet......

Did you experience this?
Click to expand...


I might be wrong NRB, but I wouldn't expect ketones if still having some carbs and having insulin to cover them and basal requirement.
 
^^^ Yup, as I said, I haven't found this to be an issue due to having a constant basal of insulin. 🙂
 
I think it's about 150g's on a high carb day, I don't do a daily allowance, just count what I'm eating for a meal or snack to adjust my insulin..

I don't buy into the low fat this high what ever that dogma's just a little of everything is good for you to much of one is bad theology with fresh and scratch cooked is far healthier than processed..

So I'm just as likely to have a fry-up, pasta (home made pasta) roastie or a nice omelet or cauliflower cheese on my plate, the only thing I would say isn't standard is bread, not keen on sandwiches so don't often eat bread.

Control wise, I've just checked my data, which is showing an average of 5.4mmol/l, SD 1mmol/ charts are showing, 89% in range, 4% hypo 7% above range, but highest reading is 7.2mmol/l

I do use a pump, because I'm pretty sensitive to insulin and have a basal profile that can't be tamed by 2 background injections a day..

As to extreme low carbing more beneficial for T1's is there a more of a up take and does it reduce medication...

I wouldn't say that there is a increase of T1's going extreme low carb, as in truth it's actually works along the lines of any Fad diet, it comes and goes just the same as Atkins, the cabbage diet the F-plan diet etc etc.. very few turn it into a long term lifestyle.. And the handful that I know have are mainly T2 diabetics, and the T1 funny enough take a lot more medication than I do, even the insulin is a lot higher than mine.. And so far none have achieved their weight goals long term..

I think I rather do as I do, I don't crave anything nor fall of the wagon, because if I want it I can have it and still maintain the control I desire.. without much hassle
 
Maybe a silly question but is there a ball park figure for how much carbs a day a T2 should have to get good BS levels?
 
Mulberry said:
Maybe a silly question but is there a ball park figure for how much carbs a day a T2 should have to get good BS levels?
Click to expand...

There is no single figure I'm afraid, because it will all depend on what type and what quantity of carbs a person can tolerate and retain good control of their blood sugar levels. It will also depend to some extent on how active you are as you can mitigate the effects of extra carbs through exercise.

Sorry I can't offer you a more precise answer but it really is a very individual thing - some may manage happily on 150-200g, or maybe even more, others may have to be very strict on 30-50g, and some may need extra medication even if they go as low as they are able. There are lots of factors, unfortunately!
 
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Back
Top