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Dieting with type 1
- Thread starter Wakey
- Start date
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Hi @Wakey,
If you have Type 1 diabetes (your profile says "type 2"), the diet should be the same as if you did not have diabetes.
Some people diet through reducing their carbs but you may prefer to reduce calories, for example.
The only additional thing to consider is adjusting your insulin - if you eat less, you may find you need less insulin and you do not want to "undo" your diet by having to eat more carbs to overcome hypos.
No I haven’t but I will
Remember with Type 1 you do not need to reduce carbs, @DaveB may have made his comment based on your profile which says you have Type 2.
If you choose to follow a low carb diet, you will need to reduce your insulin but maybe need to take some for your protein.
No, I was targetting either diabetes group type. I'm afraid I don't agree with the generalisation that T1s can have a 'normal' diet. I certainly can't and it does risk some weight gain and hence insulin resistance. Some of us do have to control the carbs. If I don't my insulin needs skyrocket non-linearly and note I don't have insulin resistance and am slim. Perhaps I'm alone on this?
Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
I suppose it depends on your definition of a normal diet.
Inka
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Perhaps you’re truly Type 1.5 as defined by my consultant. That is, a mix between the two types. I took that to mean Type 1 with some insulin resistance/metabolic issues.
I’m Type 1 and I don’t have to control the carbs like you describe. I just eat normally. This varies but can be roughly between 150 and 220g carbs per day. I basically eat what I would have eaten if I didn’t have Type 1. My weight has remained the same. I don’t really put weight on.
Maybe we should both remember that everyone is different.
Like @Inka i don’t have to control my carbs and still weigh the same as I did when I was diagnosed 20 years ago.
I certainly eat a “normal” diet in terms of carbs. I accept some may need to “control the carbs” but I would not insist upon it to lose weight with Type 1. There are other ways.
But if you weren't diabetic and ate whatever a "normal" diet entails, would that not also result in weight gain, etc.?
I also don't need to control my carbs, however, if I weren't diabetic and keeping track of what I eat so I can dose correctly, I could easily eat more than I do now (by accident)
A couple of biscuits for a snack could turn into half the packet, perhaps just have a quick icecream as the weather is nice, and especially at supper time (my main meal of the day) I could easily double the quantity of e.g. rice I eat with a Chinese or Japanese meal or make and eat a larger pizza. But I don't as these contain loads of carbs and taking large doses of insulin is not fun (larger +ve/-ve responses if the insulin effectiveness/quantities of carbs are off at all.)
It doesn't leave me hungry (despite my saying I could eat more) and there's something to be said for not eating until you can't move. If am very hungry I'll try to pad a meal out with non-carb or lower-carb things, though sometimes (especially when out) you get what you're given so I split dose and monitor closely, but it's generally not worth the (time and risk) hassle IMO.
For reference I eat an average of 250g carbs a day (so Tidepool tells me), when I'm riding a bike I could quite happily end up at ~350g of carbs a day (and require less insulin to boot!)
Re insulin resistance, I require more insulin if I don't exercise for a while (like 4 days+), whether this would be classified as insulin resistance I don't know, I'm guessing probably not - I'm just going back to "normal" rather than having higher insulin sensitivity due to exercise. But then one must as the question of which one of those states is "normal", or should be normal!
rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
If I want to lose weight I up my exercise which lowers my basal insulin needs and probably also means I eat less, simply because I am less hungry when I do more exercise. My normal basal dose is about 24 units of Levemir a day. If I can do enough exercise to reduce that to 20units (....or less although 18 seems to be about as low as I can get it but maintaining it is tough) I am generally in weight loss mode. Over 24u and I am gaining weight.
I follow a low carb way of eating for a multitude of reasons, so I don't really want to mess with my diet, hence adjusting the exercise to facilitate the weight loss. Not saying that the higher basal insulin dose causes me to gain weight because it doesn't, but it is just a means of knowing where my tipping point is for weight loss/weight gain and in some respects motivates me to exercise so I can reduce it. Obviously, just reducing my basal insulin doses will not help as I would have to correct highs with bolus insulin to keep in range, so it is the exercise which is the important bit and that means I need a basal reduction, but the basal dose just signifies whether I am in "gaining" or "losing" mode. Not sure if that makes sense to anyone else. My basal insulin is Levemir which I need to adjust regularly, sometimes day to day for exercise, so I am more acutely aware of that than my total daily dose which will of course include corrections as well as bolus for food, so that isn't a useful indicator for me. I don't know if this would work so well for other long acting basals like Tresiba.... or if it is somehow linked to my low carb diet. It is just something which I have become aware of.
I follow a low carb way of eating for a multitude of reasons, so I don't really want to mess with my diet, hence adjusting the exercise to facilitate the weight loss. Not saying that the higher basal insulin dose causes me to gain weight because it doesn't, but it is just a means of knowing where my tipping point is for weight loss/weight gain and in some respects motivates me to exercise so I can reduce it. Obviously, just reducing my basal insulin doses will not help as I would have to correct highs with bolus insulin to keep in range, so it is the exercise which is the important bit and that means I need a basal reduction, but the basal dose just signifies whether I am in "gaining" or "losing" mode. Not sure if that makes sense to anyone else. My basal insulin is Levemir which I need to adjust regularly, sometimes day to day for exercise, so I am more acutely aware of that than my total daily dose which will of course include corrections as well as bolus for food, so that isn't a useful indicator for me. I don't know if this would work so well for other long acting basals like Tresiba.... or if it is somehow linked to my low carb diet. It is just something which I have become aware of.
Not necessarily. That would imply a "normal person's" weight is constantly rising.
My partner, parents and brother do not have diabetes. They eat what I consider to be a "normal" diet and are not overweight.
Probably the only abnormal thing about their diets is that they cook a lot from scratch and eat a lot of veggies. But they also eat bread and cake and pastries (often home made).
I think it depends upon your metabolism and how much you move.
Inka
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
@rebrascora I know I’m on a pump so it’s not exactly the same, but I find that interesting about your basal. I’ve recently reduced my basal due to the hot weather and I’m going to have reduce it again but that reduction won’t result in weight loss, just as when I increase it, it doesn’t result in weight gain.
The only time I put on weight that felt ‘unusual’ (not related to my food, etc) was in the later stages of pregnancy when I had the insulin resistance. To be clear, I don’t mean baby weight or anything connected to the baby, I mean that I got a taste of the difficulty of insulin resistance. I put on extra weight for no reason.
@SimonP I was actually thinking the other day about how I’d eat if there was a cure. I think apart from occasional extra treats, I’d eat pretty much the same but maybe more variety and spontaneity, not having to work out carbs and do all that mental stuff. Fingers crossed we’ll be able to find out in the not too distant future!
The only time I put on weight that felt ‘unusual’ (not related to my food, etc) was in the later stages of pregnancy when I had the insulin resistance. To be clear, I don’t mean baby weight or anything connected to the baby, I mean that I got a taste of the difficulty of insulin resistance. I put on extra weight for no reason.
@SimonP I was actually thinking the other day about how I’d eat if there was a cure. I think apart from occasional extra treats, I’d eat pretty much the same but maybe more variety and spontaneity, not having to work out carbs and do all that mental stuff. Fingers crossed we’ll be able to find out in the not too distant future!
But do you need to eat a diet that is markedly different from theirs?
My point was (trying to be!) that it's independent of whether one is diabetic or not (assuming a diabetic actually takes the insulin to cover the food, which is whole different issue.) If someone's normal is the right quantity and mixture of foods (for a given metabolism/quantity of exercise) then it makes no odds whether you're diabetic or not.
However.... there is a however of course.
If someone takes to much insulin (or overcorrects) and then needs additional carbs in the form of correction snacks these are "extra" which might lead to weight gain, equally those newly diagnosed may shy away from exercise they previously did due to worries about hypoglycaemia. I've no idea how large an effect these might produce.
The one thing I don't think is ever mentioned, but which I think is true is that high doses of insulin cause adipose tissue to convert glucose to fat. In those who produce insulin normally afaiu the insulin goes into the portal vein (which is where the glucose, etc., from the intestines also goes) and from there into the liver. The liver then does its thing and creates glycogen. I wonder if the fact that in a diabetic the insulin is not introduced directly upstream of the major storage location (liver) might then produce higher insulin concentrations in adipose tissue and therefore higher conversion of glucose to fat.
I've no idea whether my supposition is true nor how large an effect it might have (e.g. I don't know what concentration is required to make adipose cells create fat, etc., it probably varies between people too, nor do I know what the concentration of insulin in peripheral tissues is for diabetic vs non-diabetics eating similar foods), but I do wonder if this is where the persistent theory that taking insulin makes you gain weight has come from.
No.
And I don't.
My partner and i eat a very similar diet.
The only difference is that he occasionally eats meat which I chose not to for ethical reasons. We also eat similar portion sizes.
I see the insulin I inject as a replacement for the insulin my body would produce if it could which is lower than most (according to my DSN). And I am about the same weight as I was when diagnosed 20 years ago.
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I tend to cycle through periods of modest weight gain over the winter (less active and eating more) and then weight loss during spring/summer (more active, eating less).
If i need to lose a little weight I find it relatively logical to reduce portion sizes and cut back on nibbling on nuts, reduce alcohol intake, and a few kilos seems to ebb away without dramatic effort being required.
I’m also roughly the same weight as I was when diagnosed in my 20s
If i need to lose a little weight I find it relatively logical to reduce portion sizes and cut back on nibbling on nuts, reduce alcohol intake, and a few kilos seems to ebb away without dramatic effort being required.
I’m also roughly the same weight as I was when diagnosed in my 20s
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