Now doing low carbs. Advice please

[pippaandben]

Having had really high readings and struggling to get them in single figures my Dr has now actually told me to test, test, test for 2 weeks and given me ketone strips to use if 15+ which was 6 times over last week. Refreshing outlook especially as a month ago the practice had threatened to not prescribe new lancets!! He warned I could on insulin very soon.
Having looked at various threads on here it did seem that all the dietary advice I had been given - even by a diabetic dietician - was based on increasing my carb input. For past 4 months I have made sure I have eaten some form of carbs - cereal bars or wholegrain sandwich when out - every 3-4 hours. I have lost weight steadily but BG gradually have got more and more out on control.. Back to the low 20s I had when first diagnosed

So 2 days ago had bacon, egg, sausage and tomato lunch. Before dinner 5.9. My lowest ever reading. Lasagne dinner but took out 3 layers of pasta - even so 13.4 after 2 hours but 9.8 before bed. Again best bed time reading since end of January. Yesterday 8.4 fasting - Bacon and scrambled agg and one slice soya/Linseed bread, lunch gammon steak salad, evening spoiled myself on strawberries and "light" cream 2 hours later 8.7 and night 9.9. This morning 9.0.

Have I really cracked it? 🙂 Am I one of those who only has to look at carbs to go up? So now any low carb advice required especially links to web site pages for foods/recipes or books. I am quite happy with bacon and eggs but somehow don't think this is the long term answer!!!!

 

[Northerner]

Great to hear that you are getting things under control 🙂 They really ought to go into more detail when they advise a high-carb diet - it's fine to eat the carbs that your body can cope with well, simple as that, but the advice often given seems to omit the final 'that your body can cope with' bit! 🙄

All carbs raise levels, the trick is knowing which ones raise your levels only within target range. It's a good idea, I think, to go low-carb, and then perhaps gradually introduce some more carbs and test your reaction both to the type of carb and the quantity consumed - this should give you a bit more flexibility in your diet over time. I must admit, I'd find it extremely difficult to eat very low-carb all the time, but I'm fortunate to be on insulin so I can eat a reasonable amount and cover it with injections.

There's a good selection of recipes and meal suggestions on the 'other' forum (DSF), so I'd suggest having a browse there - their recipe section is more extensive than ours:

http://diabetes-support.org.uk/diabetesforum/index.php#c2

Well done, and keep up the good work! 🙂

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

And more still in the DSF archive forum: http://www.diabetes-support.org.uk/forum/Blah.pl?c-800/

Great to hear your GP is advising 'test test test' pippaandben... As for the 'lots of starchy carbs' advice - well the wheels move very very slowly and while the value of low-moderate carb diets are now well proven by various studies there are still healthcare professionals who stick to what they were taught to say decades ago (fat=evil, carbs=good). As Northerner says, how many carbs (and which types and at what time of day) your body can process properly is only something you will be able to discover through testing for yourself - even if something gives you a dodgy result one day you might find that a smaller quantity or eating it at a different time of day is fine. I think that one member here found that just one type of carb (bread) was her nemesis and that most other things could be eaten in moderation.

Advising a newly diagnosed T2 diabetic to increase their carb intake and make sure they eat some every few hours seems rather like suggesting that someone suffering with cirrhosis of the liver should base every meal on alcohol 😱

Hopefully reducing your carb intake will give you the benefits to your cholesterol levels (and breakdown) that seem to happen for many people too.

 

[slipper]

Worth reducing the carbs for a while and see how the readings go. I did just that and found that after a few months of low readings, I could actually tolerate some carbs much better than before.

Good luck with yours.

 

[ando]

Carbs have certainly been my problem. A friend who is type 1 only has problems with pasta, never allows for the night time release of carbs properly.