Hello! Carbs question please

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florence4

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Type 2
Hi. Newly diagnosed with Type 2 last week. Trying to get my head round adapting my diet/eating habits as I cook from scratch most days. Can someone please confirm the carb level you need to average at daily? I think it's around 150g shared out as best you can between 3 meals but am reading many different things! Many thanks
 
florence4 said:
Hi. Newly diagnosed with Type 2 last week. Trying to get my head round adapting my diet/eating habits as I cook from scratch most days. Can someone please confirm the carb level you need to average at daily? I think it's around 150g shared out as best you can between 3 meals but am reading many different things! Many thanks
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I aim for ketosis so try for fewer than 20g of carbs.
I also only eat 2 meals a day to help with this.
Coffee with double cream only in the mornings.
T2 in remission for 7 years following this methodology.
 
Some people do go to quite an extreme low amount but if you are following a low carb approach rather then a Keto diet then it is suggested that no more than 130g total carbs not just sugar per day, that includes drinks and any snacks. That is a good starting point but some people do go lower but they will determine that by testing their blood glucose before and 2 hours after eating to check what they as an individual can tolerate so they can modify their diet accordingly.
 
I think the best way forward is to get a blood glucose tester and see how you react to various foods, adjusting your eating until you start to see things going back to normal.
I got my after eating numbers to 8 or just under and stuck to the same meals for a while. My tests showed continued improvement as I recovered, so I advise allowing time for adjustment and settling into a routine rather than a full on hammer and tongs approach as that might be a bit of a shock to the system.
My intake of carbs was 50gm daily to start off. I have dropped to 40, but it made little difference, and none at all to my Hba1c number.
 
florence4 said:
Hi. Newly diagnosed with Type 2 last week. Trying to get my head round adapting my diet/eating habits as I cook from scratch most days. Can someone please confirm the carb level you need to average at daily? I think it's around 150g shared out as best you can between 3 meals but am reading many different things! Many thanks
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Look at what you were eating pre-diagnosis and cut down the carbs while upping the veg. You can then cut down gradually and see what level of carbs works for you. Generally low carb is less than 130g per day, but it’s an individual thing and depends on your own body, whether you’re trying to lose weight, etc etc. Starting by looking at where you are diet-wise, then reducing the carbs is a simple way.
 
In terms of measuring carbs by weight, how does that map against glycemic index? Do I, for example, weigh a piece of wholemeal (low GI) bread and then a piece of cake (high GI), and compare them?

Or is it about 'net carbs', ie that the weight is the 'actual' starch/sugar in the food, (ie, per gram), rather than the 'bulk' weight of the food?
 
Callista said:
In terms of measuring carbs by weight, how does that map against glycemic index? Do I, for example, weigh a piece of wholemeal (low GI) bread and then a piece of cake (high GI), and compare them?

Or is it about 'net carbs', ie that the weight is the 'actual' starch/sugar in the food, (ie, per gram), rather than the 'bulk' weight of the food?
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Look for the total carbs of whatever food it is, usually given as per 100g or sometimes also as per cracker for example. That really is the only number you need to consider. You will then have to work out the carbs for the portion you are going to have.
I would not worry too much about glycaemic index as everybody handles the carbs in a different way mainly because of their gut bacteria. In other words carbs are carbs, they all convert to glucose, just that some do it more quickly than others.
 
Net carbs is a US thing as they label carbs differently, and in some other countries. In the UK just look at totaly carbs
 
LL, thank you. So interesting about the gut issue. I must 'explore' etc. I suppose (?) that a slower release (from lo GI carbs) helps to ease the impact of a 'sudden hit' into the bloodstream from high GI carbs?

TDM - ah, that makes sense. I've been googling questions like 'are tomatoes keto' (to find out which fruit and veg are lower-carb), and they give the answer in 'net carbs' (which does make sense, if it's a question of what percentage per weight of the food item is carbohydrate (starch plus sugars), which I did find helpful (Tomatoes surprised me, as they cam back low net carb, when I thought that because they are sweetish would be higher, but hopefully there is a lot of non-carb in their gross weight)
 
Callista said:
LL, thank you. So interesting about the gut issue. I must 'explore' etc. I suppose (?) that a slower release (from lo GI carbs) helps to ease the impact of a 'sudden hit' into the bloodstream from high GI carbs?

TDM - ah, that makes sense. I've been googling questions like 'are tomatoes keto' (to find out which fruit and veg are lower-carb), and they give the answer in 'net carbs' (which does make sense, if it's a question of what percentage per weight of the food item is carbohydrate (starch plus sugars), which I did find helpful (Tomatoes surprised me, as they cam back low net carb, when I thought that because they are sweetish would be higher, but hopefully there is a lot of non-carb in their gross weight)
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The small 'cherry' tomatoes are rather higher in carbs than the salad ones - I always buy the salad ones as I find the cherry ones too sweet these days.
I limit the carb content of foods to under 11% and salad tomatoes are quite low - under 5gm of carbs per 100gm of tomato.
 
Drummer said:
The small 'cherry' tomatoes are rather higher in carbs than the salad ones - I always buy the salad ones as I find the cherry ones too sweet these days.
I limit the carb content of foods to under 11% and salad tomatoes are quite low - under 5gm of carbs per 100gm of tomato.
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Tesco cherry tomatoes 2.9g per 100g so not a problem at all.
 
Callista said:
. I've been googling questions like 'are tomatoes keto' (to find out which fruit and veg are lower-carb), and they give the answer in 'net carbs' (which does make sense, if it's a question of what percentage per weight of the food item is carbohydrate (starch plus sugars), which I did find helpful
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In the US, the carb figure on a food label also includes the fibre, which isn’t broken down by the body so you can deduct it for the purposes of how much carb is contained in a food. So they talk about 'net carb' meaning they have deducted the fibre. (or fiber, in the US spelling). In the UK, if you read the carbs on a label, this figure has already had the fibre deducted, so it is the equivalent of the US 'net carb' but over here we just say 'carb' .
 
Robin said:
In the US, the carb figure on a food label also includes the fibre, which isn’t broken down by the body so you can deduct it for the purposes of how much carb is contained in a food. So they talk about 'net carb' meaning they have deducted the fibre. (or fiber, in the US spelling). In the UK, if you read the carbs on a label, this figure has already had the fibre deducted, so it is the equivalent of the US 'net carb' but over here we just say 'carb' .
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Well put! A lot of the keto (and diabetes) stuff is US. I started by googling but there is a lots of duff info re carbs online and sometimes its carb per servingscor cups rather than 100g. I bought a copy of the calories carbs and fat bible which is good, or I use lables.
As above, don't take US advice of removing fibre count from carbs to get net carbs as in UK thats already done for you.
 
silentsquirrel said:
Tesco cherry tomatoes 2.9g per 100g so not a problem at all.
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That isn't accurate according to my meter - every time I ate cherry tomatoes my BG was higher than expected, so now I avoid them and only buy the larger salad ones.
I think it is common for the information on the label to be generic and not the actual product as it is not considered important enough to bother with, at least by those making the money selling it.
 
Drummer said:
That isn't accurate according to my meter - every time I ate cherry tomatoes my BG was higher than expected, so now I avoid them and only buy the larger salad ones.
I think it is common for the information on the label to be generic and not the actual product as it is not considered important enough to bother with, at least by those making the money selling it.
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They do vary slightly from one variety to another, but all around 3g per 100g.

You do seem to be unusually sensitive to carbs. I should hate people to be put off from eating tomatoes (cherry, plum or other) by your comments.

I doubt if many will find a problem with tomatoes, but as always, testing is the only way to know what you personally can tolerate!
 
silentsquirrel said:
They do vary slightly from one variety to another, but all around 3g per 100g.

You do seem to be unusually sensitive to carbs. I should hate people to be put off from eating tomatoes (cherry, plum or other) by your comments.

I doubt if many will find a problem with tomatoes, but as always, testing is the only way to know what you personally can tolerate!
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Well - my point was that the salad tomatoes are lower in carbs than the cherry ones - how it that going to put someone off eating tomatoes?
If they read what I wrote they might realise they can eat almost twice the weight of tomatoes if they chose the salad ones rather than the cherry ones.
If someone eats cherry tomatoes and sees a spike they might think that they CAN'T eat tomatoes when it is just not the cherry sort.
 
Drummer said:
Well - my point was that the salad tomatoes are lower in carbs than the cherry ones - how it that going to put someone off eating tomatoes?
If they read what I wrote they might realise they can eat almost twice the weight of tomatoes if they chose the salad ones rather than the cherry ones.
If someone eats cherry tomatoes and sees a spike they might think that they CAN'T eat tomatoes when it is just not the cherry sort.
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Almost certainly they CAN eat cherry ones - unless you eat a massive portion the difference in carbs will be negligible.
 
silentsquirrel said:
Almost certainly they CAN eat cherry ones - unless you eat a massive portion the difference in carbs will be negligible.
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Or they could just sprinkle on a teaspoon of sugar and have the same effect.
 
Drummer said:
Or they could just sprinkle on a teaspoon of sugar and have the same effect.
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I tsp sugar = 5g carb

Using Waitrose values, carb per 100g, salad toms 3.0g, cherry toms 3.6g.

So your extra tsp of sugar would be true - if your portion is over 800g.
 
I am perfectly able to accept that what affects some one else including Drummer's, blood glucose does not affect mine.

Remember that everybody has a different body and therefore can have a different reaction to all sorts of things eg entirely random things, whether you retch as you try to take a sip of the cold water always offered when you wake up again from a general anaesthetic or not and then need an immediate jab so you can eat and drink OK thereafter. Retching when you even smell cooked/cooking cheese and no way can you ever eat it without throwing up whereas uncooked cheese just never bothers you whatsoever and you enjoy eating it 'raw'.
 
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