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How many grams of sugar a day?

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Carina1962

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I am trying to lose weight by watching my carb intake but how many grams a day of sugar is acceptable to have?
 
Anything below 130 grams of carbs is regarded as low carb but don’t cut down on carbs too suddenly as you’re body won’t be used to running at a normal BG
 
Hi @Carina1962 if you are looking to cut down carbs it is better to look at the carb content of the food you are eating, rather than just the sugars. On labels they show the carbs and then ’of which sugar’ which can be a lot lower. Focus on all the carbs

For all of us every carb we eat will be converted to glucose once inside us, whether it is sugar or not. When I was first diagnosed I knew nothing about this, and once I started to look I was surprised at the amount of carbs there were in what we were eating.

There is no right amount of carbs to eat, and we each have to find what works for us. This can be easier to work out if you are testing your glucose levels before and after meals. This will show you how many carbs your body can cope with, and also show if there are some foods that make your levels react a lot more than others. For me it was porridge oats!! They sent my levels up so quickly and I decided to eliminate them (most of the time until I get presented with a lovely homemade flapjack!!)
 
Hi @Carina1962 if you are looking to cut down carbs it is better to look at the carb content of the food you are eating, rather than just the sugars. On labels they show the carbs and then ’of which sugar’ which can be a lot lower. Focus on all the carbs

For all of us every carb we eat will be converted to glucose once inside us, whether it is sugar or not. When I was first diagnosed I knew nothing about this, and once I started to look I was surprised at the amount of carbs there were in what we were eating.

There is no right amount of carbs to eat, and we each have to find what works for us. This can be easier to work out if you are testing your glucose levels before and after meals. This will show you how many carbs your body can cope with, and also show if there are some foods that make your levels react a lot more than others. For me it was porridge oats!! They sent my levels up so quickly and I decided to eliminate them (most of the time until I get presented with a lovely homemade flapjack!!)
Thanks for this info. I have had diabetes for 13 years now and I am still classed as obese and with me having turned 60 last week, I now need to focus on getting my weight down and hopefully in return will lower my BS levels. I'm now looking at my daily carb intake and have a very good app on my phone. I seem to be staying at 200g carbs per day (some days slightly over). Is this the way forward for me do you think? My next 3 monthly diabetic review is in July.
 
Thanks for this info. I have had diabetes for 13 years now and I am still classed as obese and with me having turned 60 last week, I now need to focus on getting my weight down and hopefully in return will lower my BS levels. I'm now looking at my daily carb intake and have a very good app on my phone. I seem to be staying at 200g carbs per day (some days slightly over). Is this the way forward for me do you think? My next 3 monthly diabetic review is in July
HI Carina! I was 101kg and HBA1C 55 when I started in November. It's now May and I have lost 11kg by eating low carb (for me that's 50g of carb a day). I cut down gradually after starting on the Newcastle diet (which is low cal but and low carb) and now stick to the Freshwell app advice and 50g of carb otherwise my blood sugars go up as does my weight. I am going to have a push in June to lose another 4gk as I am getting close to my target weight now. I feel much better. for me, 200g of carb would be out of control blood glucose and massive weight gain. Perhaps you could use myfitness pal app or your app to cut to 140g of carb and see how you go. Try swapping out the carb foods for low carb, e.g. chips no but celeriac chips yes. If you are addicted to bread, change to LivLife bread which is in some coops and waitrose, or if you love pasta, change to slimpasta from Holland and barratt or amazon. If you love rice, grate a cauliflower in stead. Good luck - it does work. I am now in my age 25 jeans again. just. with a squeeze.
 
As many as 200g per day is pretty well normal amount of carbs that non diabetics would have so reducing that would be a good way forward to getting your blood glucose down and reducing weight. Many people who follow a low carb diet would have less than 130g per day and many go much lower than that to be able to keep blood glucose levels to a good level.
You may find this link useful for ideas for a way forward to modifying your diet. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/
 
Thanks for this info. I have had diabetes for 13 years now and I am still classed as obese and with me having turned 60 last week, I now need to focus on getting my weight down and hopefully in return will lower my BS levels. I'm now looking at my daily carb intake and have a very good app on my phone. I seem to be staying at 200g carbs per day (some days slightly over). Is this the way forward for me do you think? My next 3 monthly diabetic review is in July.

If you are obese then shedding the weight is by far the best bet for getting your blood glucose down. Most will agree that it does not matter how you get the weight off, so yes it is a good way forward. My instinct is that you should be looking to get much lower than 200g/day and combine that with cutting back on calories. My thought is not to latch onto some magic diet scheme but to understand the issues and work out a plan that suits you.
 
As you are diabetic, control of your blood glucose levels is way more important than your weight.
Do you have a meter to test your levels?
If you can keep your blood glucose in normal levels it is not unusual to see weightloss as a simple side effect. I lost over 50lb without even thinking about it when I started to eat low carb.
 
A month ago my Doc gave me an initial target of 250 grams per day, I am, now, usually coming in under that and have dropped 3kg or 6,6 lbs in the last month. However the Empagliflozin may be helping a bit.
 
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