How many grams of carbs do you eat in a day?

[artdecogran]

New to this diagnosis, but my question is how many grams of carbs do you eat in a day? I have seen people say only 20 gms a day but nhs says 45 gms per meal x 3 a day. I’m confused.

 

[Leadinglights]

There are many factors which determine what people do, what their HbA1C is i.e. how far into the diabetic zone they are, what medication they are on, if any, if they need to lose weight, what approach they are taking to manage blood glucose. Everybody has a different tolerance to carbohydrates so a one size fits all does not work.
A good starting point if following a low carbohydrate regime is less than 130g per day but many people do go lowere than that which is why you will see all sorts of amounts that people say they have. Often the amount they have will be something they determine by home testing before and 2 hours after meals to see how well they tolerate the carbs in that meal.
A good idea is to keep a food diary of what you eat and drink and estimate the amount of carbs then look to reduce that gradually by cutting down by one third for a couple of weeks then another third until you get to where you need to be.
That helps to prevent damage to the eyes, nerves and small blood vessels.
This link may help with some ideas. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/

 

[Gwynn]

Yup, I have gone low carb since diagnosis. It has varied from 150g a day at the gentle start to less than 90g a day at the most intense. Now I try to keep it to below 130g a day.

What I have discovered is that I find it very hard to keep a balanced, interesting, diet on less than 100g carbs a day.

Meal wise I try to keep it to below 35g worst case in any meal.

What I did discover, that turned out to be important, was because I was reducing my carbs then I had to increase my protein and fats (whilst keeping the saturated fats down) to make up the calories (or lose weight if I didn't make up the calories).

How some people kerp their carbs to 30g or even 20g a day I do not know. Seems way too tough to me.

 

[SB2015]

Welcome to the forum @artdecogran

As @Leadinglights says we are all different so there is no single answer that fits all.
The important things is to find how many grams of carbohydrate your body can process, ie matching the insulin that you are producing and how that insulin is working.

They also mention home testing your BG. Testing before a meal and again a two hours after a meal can show you the impact of the carbs that you have eaten. Logging these readings along with a food diary can then show you any patterns in what is happening.

Keep in touch and keep the questions coming.

 

[nonethewiser]

Somewhere around 200g day at moment.

 

[artdecogran]

Thank you all.
I have been on 20gms a day,which has bought my blood glucose down but I’m heartily sick of chicken and lettuce all day every day. I will now increase carbs and test.

 

[Leadinglights]

Thank you all.
I have been on 20gms a day,which has bought my blood glucose down but I’m heartily sick of chicken and lettuce all day every day. I will now increase carbs and test.

That really is in the Keto region for carbs and many would find that a hard thing to maintain. Managing your blood glucose levels is better done gradually as many can get eye and nerve issues by reducing too quickly by cutting carbs to such a low level.
I hope you have increased protein and healthy fats to compensate for the lack of carbs.
You can have plenty of fulfilling varies meals with meat, fish, cheese, dairy, eggs, vegetables, salads and fruit like berries.
No need for boring chicken and salad, you can add herbs and spices, and lots of things to your salads to make them more interesting.
I think there is a thread in the food forum on a whole range of salad suggestions.

 

[Inka]

It varies as I’m Type 1. I usually eat 150-200g carbs per day, but occasionally more and very rarely less.

 

[Dave_Z1a]

About 60g per day. Max 10 at breakfast, Max 15 at Lunch, Max 25 at dinner plus snacks.
Keep my up and down readings on my meter in a band roughly the same as a "normal" person between 4 and 7.8 max and max 7.8 2 hrs after a meal although don't bother testing after breakfast. Averaging between 5.6 - 5.8 mmol/L. over the weeks.

 

[Dave_Z1a]

I also eat pretty much as I used to do just substituting potatoes with 1 carb a slice bread or a 3 carb roll and rice with cauliflower rice. Don't eat pasta, swapped cereal with toast, avocados, protein yoghurts, full english breakfast or many types of eggs on toast. Eat more nuts, special crispy flat bread biscuits 0 carb made with pumpkin seeds and stuff with variety of toppings, if I have cheese I can tolerate branstone pickle with it as well, yum! Home made soups are good with a bread roll. Baked a few things with almond flour. Top tip, Lidl protein choc moose pudding, which I have half at a time is really really nice if you can find them before they get snapped up, job to keep my daughter from pigging them. All this I learnt through testing with my meter, been a godsend. Takes a few months to build up a picture of what I can and can't eat, now I can remember it quite easily. Can still have most currys, some chineese and lager beer so not too disappointed! The big problem is eating out on the hoof, not easy so I carry a bread roll with me if I am lunching out, get a few funny looks but all the burger vans have got to know me.

 

[DeeM]

I also eat pretty much as I used to do just substituting potatoes with 1 carb a slice bread or a 3 carb roll and rice with cauliflower rice. Don't eat pasta, swapped cereal with toast, avocados, protein yoghurts, full english breakfast or many types of eggs on toast. Eat more nuts, special crispy flat bread biscuits 0 carb made with pumpkin seeds and stuff with variety of toppings, if I have cheese I can tolerate branstone pickle with it as well, yum! Home made soups are good with a bread roll. Baked a few things with almond flour. Top tip, Lidl protein choc moose pudding, which I have half at a time is really really nice if you can find them before they get snapped up, job to keep my daughter from pigging them. All this I learnt through testing with my meter, been a godsend. Takes a few months to build up a picture of what I can and can't eat, now I can remember it quite easily. Can still have most currys, some chineese and lager beer so not too disappointed! The big problem is eating out on the hoof, not easy so I carry a bread roll with me if I am lunching out, get a few funny looks but all the burger vans have got to know me.

Hi @Dave_Z1a - would you mind posting a link for the special crispy flat bread biscuits made with pumpkin seeds and stuff? My friend bought some like this for me when I was first diagnosed out in Australia, but that brand isn't available here in the UK as far as I can see - I would love to track some down that are similar as they were delicious!

 

[Drummer]

Thank you all.
I have been on 20gms a day,which has bought my blood glucose down but I’m heartily sick of chicken and lettuce all day every day. I will now increase carbs and test.

There are far more things to eat on a low carb diet - why not see if you like them?

 

[Deleted member 21371]

I never count them.

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi @Dave_Z1a - would you mind posting a link for the special crispy flat bread biscuits made with pumpkin seeds and stuff? My friend bought some like this for me when I was first diagnosed out in Australia, but that brand isn't available here in the UK as far as I can see - I would love to track some down that are similar as they were delicious!

I bought some nice ones in Sainsbury's Karg's pumpkin seed protein thins. 5.9g carb per cracker reasonably big at 19g.

 

[DeeM]

I bought some nice ones in Sainsbury's Karg's pumpkin seed protein thins. 5.9g carb per cracker reasonably big at 19g.

Thanks - I'll seek those out. The ones in Australia were very low carb. Not sure how they managed it.

 

[DeeM]

Thanks - I'll seek those out. The ones in Australia were very low carb. Not sure how they managed it.

Actually I have just managed to track down the brand after all. Just 1.3g per cracker, although admittedly they are probably a bit smaller than the Sainsbury's ones:
https://www.realfoods.co.uk/product/42573/simply-seed-crackers-natural-gluten-free

This website above doesn't have the full nutrition breakdown, but there was another more expensive supplier that listed it all as follows (a bit strange because that's even lower than the 1.3g per cracker which it clearly says on the side of the box):
Servings per Package 4 Serving size 20g Per 100g Energy 2454 kJ 587 kcal Fat, total 51 g Of which saturated 7.1 g Carbohydrates 2.4 g Of which sugars 1.2 g Fibre 18 g Protein 23 g Salt 0.8 g
Per Serve Energy 491 kJ 117 kcal Fat, total 10 g Of which saturated 1.4 g Carbohydrates 0.5 g Of which sugars 0.2 g Fibre 3.7 g Protein 4.6 g Salt 0.2 g

 

[Dave_Z1a]

@DeeM Seriously low carb food company, they do three types, the pumpkin seed ones are the lowest, which I like, just checked and they are not listing them only the other two so may be out of stock, maybe because of me as an expecting 7 packets on my monthly order

Search: 2 results for "seeded crackers" - SRSLYLowCarb

SRSLYLowCarb is a home for healthy, Keto and Low Carb friendly foods. Perfect for diabetic-friendly diets. Elevate your health journey with us!

seriouslylowcarb.com

made in Australia.

 

[Dave_Z1a]

Not sure why but the site has seriously reduced the picture quality of photos i posted, here is a close up of nutritional info. 1 cracker 0.2 g. Well its not a cracker, the other two types are, i.e. round, these are flatbread biscuits, think riveta shape.

 

[DeeM]

Thanks - I'll seek those out. The ones in Australia were very low carb. Not sure how they managed it.

Actually I have just managed to track down the brand after all. Just 1.3g per cracker, although admittedly they are probably a bit smaller than the Sainsbury's ones:

Simply Seed Crackers Natural in 80g from Olina's Bakehouse

Simply Seed Crackers Natural in 80g from Olina's Bakehouse | Simply Seed crackers are packed full of wholesome flavours. Carefully baked selection of Natural Simply Seeds creates the perfect light and crunchy texture.

www.realfoods.co.uk

This website above doesn't have the full nutrition breakdown, but there was another more expensive supplier that listed it all as follows (a bit strange because that's even lower than the 1.3g per cracker which it clearly says on the side of the box):
Servings per Package 4 Serving size 20g Per 100g Energy 2454 kJ 587 kcal Fat, total 51 g Of which saturated 7.1 g Carbohydrates 2.4 g Of which sugars 1.2 g Fibre 18 g Protein 23 g Salt 0.8 g
Per Serve Energy 491 kJ 117 kcal Fat, total 10 g Of which saturated 1.4 g Carbohydrates 0.5 g Of which sugars 0.2 g Fibre 3.7 g Protein 4.6 g Salt 0.2 g

@DeeM Seriously low carb food company, they do three types, the pumpkin seed ones are the lowest, which I like, just checked and they are not listing them only the other two so may be out of stock, maybe because of me as an expecting 7 packets on my monthly order

Search: 2 results for "seeded crackers" - SRSLYLowCarb

SRSLYLowCarb is a home for healthy, Keto and Low Carb friendly foods. Perfect for diabetic-friendly diets. Elevate your health journey with us!

seriouslylowcarb.com

made in Australia.

Yes! Those are the ones my friend bought for me! Thanks 🙂
The link I posted above does them even cheaper, so I've made sure to order some before you go and clean them out! 😉

 

[Dave_Z1a]

Actually I have just managed to track down the brand after all. Just 1.3g per cracker, although admittedly they are probably a bit smaller than the Sainsbury's ones:

Simply Seed Crackers Natural in 80g from Olina's Bakehouse

Simply Seed Crackers Natural in 80g from Olina's Bakehouse | Simply Seed crackers are packed full of wholesome flavours. Carefully baked selection of Natural Simply Seeds creates the perfect light and crunchy texture.

www.realfoods.co.uk

This website above doesn't have the full nutrition breakdown, but there was another more expensive supplier that listed it all as follows (a bit strange because that's even lower than the 1.3g per cracker which it clearly says on the side of the box):
Servings per Package 4 Serving size 20g Per 100g Energy 2454 kJ 587 kcal Fat, total 51 g Of which saturated 7.1 g Carbohydrates 2.4 g Of which sugars 1.2 g Fibre 18 g Protein 23 g Salt 0.8 g
Per Serve Energy 491 kJ 117 kcal Fat, total 10 g Of which saturated 1.4 g Carbohydrates 0.5 g Of which sugars 0.2 g Fibre 3.7 g Protein 4.6 g Salt 0.2 g

Yes! Those are the ones my friend bought for me! Thanks 🙂
The link I posted above does them even cheaper, so I've made sure to order some before you go and clean them out! 😉

Lol! Thanks for the link, I will investigate that!