Keto / low carb with Type 1

[Sox]

Hi

i have just been diagnosed with type 1 or 1.5 , they are still not sure ( previously mis diagnosed with type 2)

Ive started with long acting insulin and trying to understand if I can / should still follow a keto / low carb diet and get advise on how to limit spikes ( after eating / while exercising)

thx

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome.
Good to hear that they are reassessing your diagnosis and establishing the actual cause of your diabetes rather than the assumption that if we are mature adults, then it must be Type 2. There are lots of us here on the forum who were misdiagnosed as Type 2 initially. How long have you had the diabetes diagnosis and treated as Type 2?

You do not need to follow a keto or low carb way of eating and many HCPs actively discourage it, but it is possible if you wish to do so. I follow a low carb way of eating but not keto. If there are no personal reasons for you to follow a keto diet then you should eat whatever you wish and if your levels spike after meals, then they will give you a bolus (quicker acting mealtime) insulin to inject before each meal and you will learn to adjust this for the amount of carbs in your meal (carb counting) I was started on basal (long acting) and bolus(quicker acting) insulin at the same time, but a few people recently have been started on just a basal insulin first and then the meal time insulin added in later. In this case, particularly with previously misdiagnosed Type 2s who have been trying to manage their levels through diet, there is a temptation to continue to do so, but Type 1 is about eating a normal diet and learning to balance your insulin doses to the food you want to eat. Keeping your carb intake low just delays them introducing that meal time insulin for no real benefit, so you might as well eat what you would like and learn to manage it with insulin from the start as try to restrict your diet for no real benefit, because sooner or later you will need that mealtime insulin. It can also cause confusion over your diagnosis and make people start to question your category of diabetes all over again. We have some members who are in this difficult situation, so probably best to eat normally and ask for the mealtime (bolus) insulin if your levels spike after meals.

 

[Tdm]

I am t1 and ate low carb for the first year, and whilst it made levels easier to control I found it led to insulin resistance (ratios in range 1 to 3). I went higher carb and now am between 1 to 13 and 1 to 23. And i can eat bread!

 

[Inka]

You might be better off with a bolus (meal) insulin as well. You can get insulin pens that give as little as half a unit but that small amount can be very helpful. Unless you want to eat low carb, you don’t have to. The diet recommended for Type 1s/LADAs is the same healthy diet recommended for everyone else. I tend to eat pretty much what I would have eaten if I didn’t have Type 1. Having the right insulin is the important bit.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

It’s up to you really @Sox

There’s no need to unless you want to for your own reasons.

Some find a moderate carb approach makes managing glucose levels easier, and that smaller doses tend to absorb slightly more reliably… but there’s also something quite satisfying about successfully double-guessing the mega-dose and splits for a high carb load combination of fatty foods (which can slow/delay absorption) with a few beers (rapid acting initially, but then potentially glucose lowering), and also a sugary dessert - and seeing a very modest rise and fall in your sensor trace over the next 6-8 hours