How many carbs per day is low carb?

[Felinia]

Being new to this I am confused by conflicting information. I am Type 2 H1c 57 and am not on medication, but diet only. I have seen somewhere that low carb is < 130gm pd. Elsewhere it is < 30gm pd (my skimmed milk and virtually nothing else). Then it is < 20 gm per meal. My GP practise tells me there are carbs in almost everything except meat, but naturally occurring carbs in fruit and veggies are OK to eat. I can eat porridge, and very small quantities of boiled potato (1 small new), half portions of wholegrain rice or pasta occasionally, 1 or 2 slices of wholegrain bread from a small medium sliced loaf 3 times a week. Then I read to cut out all bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, starchy veggies and any goods made with wheat or oats.
Last 2 days I have cut right down and feel light headed and sleepy, but my BP was 130/79 so it's not low BP. Can anyone share their experiences and advice please?

 

[Drummer]

Ah - first of all - you can eat fat. It is the ideal fuel for a Human as it doesn't do any harm. This might seem wrong because of all the propaganda of the last several decades - it was one man's opinion and he worked to defend it very expertly.
Testing, however, reveals that he was wrong - we need foods containing saturated fat in order to live, and to live well - there is no getting around it. We live longer with higher levels of LDL cholesterol - you can't argue with the facts. You should therefor avoid anything with the fat removed.
The low carb foods are meat fish seafood eggs and cheese for the most part.
There are numerous low carb veges and salad stuffs to eat with them - avoiding high starch veges and high sugar fruit means that you have a lot more to eat - the bowl I use for salads is huge, a serving bowl for a family, I have been told - but I can fill it and still not be eating over 10 gm of carbs.
Avoiding grain is a good idea - pasta potato and porridge are just not on my menu. I do now have Livlife bread which is 4 gm of carbs per slice, but I am back to normal so don't need to worry about anything but gaining weight as fat. Without the high carb foods there is more to eat and they are full of vitamins and minerals.
It can be a big shock to reduce the carbs and go over to using fat for fuel - you need to have it in your diet, you can't do low carb and low fat it just doesn't work, but adding in a bit of stir fry or a salad usually gets things back on track - but cook with oil or fat, or have coleslaw or a salad dressing ass you need to have the fuel in the tank in order to get going.

 

[Felinia]

Ah - first of all - you can eat fat. It is the ideal fuel for a Human as it doesn't do any harm. This might seem wrong because of all the propaganda of the last several decades - it was one man's opinion and he worked to defend it very expertly.
Testing, however, reveals that he was wrong - we need foods containing saturated fat in order to live, and to live well - there is no getting around it. We live longer with higher levels of LDL cholesterol - you can't argue with the facts. You should therefor avoid anything with the fat removed.
The low carb foods are meat fish seafood eggs and cheese for the most part.
There are numerous low carb veges and salad stuffs to eat with them - avoiding high starch veges and high sugar fruit means that you have a lot more to eat - the bowl I use for salads is huge, a serving bowl for a family, I have been told - but I can fill it and still not be eating over 10 gm of carbs.
Avoiding grain is a good idea - pasta potato and porridge are just not on my menu. I do now have Livlife bread which is 4 gm of carbs per slice, but I am back to normal so don't need to worry about anything but gaining weight as fat. Without the high carb foods there is more to eat and they are full of vitamins and minerals.
It can be a big shock to reduce the carbs and go over to using fat for fuel - you need to have it in your diet, you can't do low carb and low fat it just doesn't work, but adding in a bit of stir fry or a salad usually gets things back on track - but cook with oil or fat, or have coleslaw or a salad dressing ass you need to have the fuel in the tank in order to get going.

Hi, thanks for this insight. I hadn't thought about fat. For years I've been following a low or zero fat diet, due to high cholesterol, and my cholesterol has dropped to just above the normal level (I can't take statins) by diet alone. My fat and sat fat levels are very low, but I have upped my protein, by adding chicken to soups and eating more eggs. My good cholesterol is 1.4. The bread I have is 4.4gm of starch per slice, so I'll look out for Livlife. I have lots of salads and home made veggie soups - it would be nice to have coleslaw back in the mix and the normal blue cheese and thousand island dressing again.

 

[Ralph-YK]

This is a problem with "low card", it's not well defined. It's anything below about 130g a day. Some people go very low (20g a day?). Others go higher. It's down to what individuals can eat, along with other factors. You are supposed to spread it out a bit. (Spreading it out means it shouldn't peak your BG as high.)
Since it's spread between means, it can be more convenient to talk per mean, instead of adding and subtracting all the time to work with daily amounts.

This is where self testing comes in. You can see what effect food has, along with any changes you make. If you keep a food diary along with a record of your levels, you should start to see a pattern after a couple of weeks.

 

[Felinia]

Thanks. I have an app which measures everything I eat for calories, carbs, sugars, fats, sat fats, protein, fibre and sodium. So I do keep a daily diary. I have set it to flag over 90gm carbs and 45gm sugars each day. I've had a look back and can see that I do spread them, but as I have a small bowl of porridge, oatbran or Oatibix for breakfast, I probably have more then. Lunch is always salad or homemade soup, and I have 4+ veggies in the evening, plus there's the carbs in my skimmed milk during the day. So perhaps I'm getting the carbs more or less right. I certainly struggle to keep below 90gm when everything is taken into account.

 

[Drummer]

The problem is that when LDL and age at death is compared - older age at death is mostly associated with higher LDL not lower.
I found an article on the BMJ Open website which I had to read twice before I realised the implication - high LDL is not a death sentence.

 

[Ralph-YK]

Thanks. I have an app which measures everything I eat for calories, carbs, sugars, fats, sat fats, protein, fibre and sodium. So I do keep a daily diary. I have set it to flag over 90gm carbs and 45gm sugars each day. I've had a look back and can see that I do spread them, but as I have a small bowl of porridge, oatbran or Oatibix for breakfast, I probably have more then. Lunch is always salad or homemade soup, and I have 4+ veggies in the evening, plus there's the carbs in my skimmed milk during the day. So perhaps I'm getting the carbs more or less right.

That's great. Does it keep details for individual meals though. Also, does it just record "carbs" or what those actual carbs were (potatoes, pasta), as I think this makes a difference to how it affects BG. Also, what you have it with can make a difference.

I certainly struggle to keep below 90gm when everything is taken into account.

Others have given similar reasons for not really doing low carb; "managed carbs".

Go for what works for you.

 

[Ralph-YK]

I have an app which measures everything I eat for ... carbs, sugars.... So I do keep a daily diary. I have set it to flag over 90gm carbs and 45gm sugars each day.

Sometimes, when carbs are given it could include the sugars. It might be total carbs that you've to look at (including sugars).

 

[Drummer]

If you chose high carb foods then you will struggle to do low carb - but some people can cope with higher amounts than others.
I stick to under 40 gm of carbs a day as I seem to be altering my body composition and hopefully will eventually regain more of a waist.
With two meals a day and coffee with cream I seem to be making progress.

 

[Felinia]

My app keep totals for individual meals, what those actual carbs were, and all the meals for the rest of the day, so I can see at a glance the balance of the meals and what I have with them. So far lost 3.9kg in 2 weeks and am managing to keep under 90 gm carbs and 45gm sugars pd. When I went shopping today, I checked the back of everything!

 

[rebrascora]

Hi

So far lost 3.9kg in 2 weeks and am managing to keep under 90 gm carbs and 45gm sugars pd.

Congrats on your weight loss so far. That is really good going! Well done!
Just for the sake of clarity, can you confirm that your total intake of carbs is 90g or which 45 are sugars or do you mean 90g of starchy carbs plus a further 45g of sugary carbs?

 

[Felinia]

A total of 90g INCLUDING 45g sugars. I'm supposed to have 30gm fibre for my Diverticular Disease also included in that but find it impossible as it puts the carbs over the limit. But whilst the DD is under control I'll concentrate on the Diabetes. It's a balancing act and is why I didn't go for the very low carb option.

 

[rebrascora]

Have you tried Chia seeds and psyllium husk for fibre for the Diverticulitis? Many of us on a low carb diet find that we need a fibre supplement to replace what we were getting from wholemeal grain products. I have used psyllium on and off for years.... it is the active ingredient in Fibogel which is often prescribed for bowel issues. I am finding the combination of psyllium and chia seeds is working really well for me now. I soak them (2 tsps of chia seeds and 1 tsp of psyllium) in a glass of water or other low carb drink (I use a third diet coke, 2/3 water), stirring occasionally and then drink it down when they have swelled and become gelatinous, followed by another glass of water afterwards.

 

[Felinia]

Thanks - I have been taking Fybogel for 20 years, since first diagnosed, but have to avoid all seeds, nuts, pips as they trigger my Diverticulosis, along with full fat products. I have been thinking of asking if my GP will double my prescription to 2 sachets per day now to up my fibre. For a long time I couldn't eat gluten products either, particularly breads, but since my last attack in 2016, I did find I could manage a medium slice from a small wholemeal loaf from time to time. One step forward, then straight back again, eh?

 

[Eddy Edson]

Thanks - I have been taking Fybogel for 20 years, since first diagnosed, but have to avoid all seeds, nuts, pips as they trigger my Diverticulosis, along with full fat products. I have been thinking of asking if my GP will double my prescription to 2 sachets per day now to up my fibre. For a long time I couldn't eat gluten products either, particularly breads, but since my last attack in 2016, I did find I could manage a medium slice from a small wholemeal loaf from time to time. One step forward, then straight back again, eh?

I don't know anything about Diverticulosis, but are seeds still a prob if you grind them up? They're a really convenient way of getting fibre into the diet, plus they're full of excellent nutrients with minimal "net carbs" ie total carbs minus fibre. Pity if you can't eat them at all.

 

[Annette&Bert]

Although I knew I needed to lose weight been on every 'diet' ever discussed pre diagnosis and have always had terrific willpower. that's a brief bit of history, however, since being type 2 I have wanted to do my bit for the benefit of all of my organs etc., which everyone on here knows diabetes can affect. On 19th May this year I decided to go low carb because carbs (which turn to sugar) are the worst thing for us, but I'm not following any regime other than knowing what I put in my stomach will be good for me as well as giving me good BG readings. You could have knocked me down with a feather when I weighed myself recently and discovered because everything was slack on me, and I felt great that I have lost 9 kilos. Over the moon, so I never feel hungry and know I've done the right thing, another few months will show an even greater result I'm confident in my BG readings and my HbA1c too, when I have it taken again in 3 months' time. All of my readings before and after food (2 hrs) are 7 mmol or less - first since 2016 when all of my BG readings were in double figures. I'm delighted and it gets better all the time - incidentally, me and my new GP practice still use the old table which I could convert to but am happy as I'm used to it.

This site is so good for me, and I have to agree totally with DRUMMER.

 

[KARNAK]

managing to keep under 90 gm carbs and 45gm sugars pd.

Just picked up on this, hi Felinia and welcome.🙂 What @rebrascora says, if you are distinguishing between carbs and sugar there`s no need to. Sugar and carbs are the same, they are all converted to glucose. If you read a food product that says 20gms of carbohydrates of which sugars are 8gms, you still have 20gms of carbs. You do not need to count the sugar unless you are applying it separately, e.g. having sugar in tea or coffee or in a recipe you are making that requires sugar as a part of it but if you are aware of the recipes final carb count including sugar e.g. 50gms of carbs of which sugars are 12gms, total is 50gms. I hope this makes sense but if you are already aware of it well done and accept my apologies. Take care and keep posting.🙂

 

[Felinia]

Although I knew I needed to lose weight been on every 'diet' ever discussed pre diagnosis and have always had terrific willpower. that's a brief bit of history, however, since being type 2 I have wanted to do my bit for the benefit of all of my organs etc., which everyone on here knows diabetes can affect. On 19th May this year I decided to go low carb because carbs (which turn to sugar) are the worst thing for us, but I'm not following any regime other than knowing what I put in my stomach will be good for me as well as giving me good BG readings. You could have knocked me down with a feather when I weighed myself recently and discovered because everything was slack on me, and I felt great that I have lost 9 kilos. Over the moon, so I never feel hungry and know I've done the right thing, another few months will show an even greater result I'm confident in my BG readings and my HbA1c too, when I have it taken again in 3 months' time. All of my readings before and after food (2 hrs) are 7 mmol or less - first since 2016 when all of my BG readings were in double figures. I'm delighted and it gets better all the time - incidentally, me and my new GP practice still use the old table which I could convert to but am happy as I'm used to it.

This site is so good for me, and I have to agree totally with DRUMMER.

Thanks for your reply. So many people on here were put straight on Metformin and monitor before and after food. I asked about daily testing and medication but was told neither was necessary for me, which is a bit of a puzzle. If you're Type 2 diabetic you're diabetic! Instead it was strict diet and exercise only. I'd had 6 monthly HbA1c tests for the last 4 years and apart from 2 creeping into the pre-diabetic range I'd always been normal. But I'm due to speak to my GP in a couple of weeks to see if I've reduced my BP and cholesterol, and I have my next HbA1c in November. I'm concerned that although I'm doing my bit, more could be done. I've seen that the "wait and see" approach can lead to more serious problems down the line, with other conditions.