T1 Low carbing

R

Richard F

Active Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Pronouns
He/Him
Hello all

T1 for 45yrs and always followed NHS guidelines, enjoying a balanced moderate carb diet, circa 130g per day. I'm using HCL tech and achieve TIR of 83% & 7.8 mmol/L.

I've heard of a T1 guru advocating a low carb diet, I understand they've written a book that's been quite received. I can't remember they're name or the book. Anyone able to point me in the right direction?

TIA
 
Sorry Richard. Not heard of this book.
Is there a reason you are wanting to go low carb?
 
Richard F said:
Hello all

T1 for 45yrs and always followed NHS guidelines, enjoying a balanced moderate carb diet, circa 130g per day. I'm using HCL tech and achieve TIR of 83% & 7.8 mmol/L.

I've heard of a T1 guru advocating a low carb diet, I understand they've written a book that's been quite received. I can't remember they're name or the book. Anyone able to point me in the right direction?

TIA
Click to expand...
Could it be “Dr Bernstein, Diabetes solution?” It’s quite an old book.
 
I don't know if he has written a book, but Dr Ian Lake is a British GP, living a low carb, sometimes keto lifestyle, and also an ultra-athlete.

About Dr Ian Lake – Type 1 Keto

type1keto.com type1keto.com

Ian is a very nice, approachable man.
 
Hi thx all

Yes Dr Bernstein, sounds like the one, Dr Lake sounds a bit extreme for me!

The reason I want to research low carb is to reduce my insulin intake.

It's increased from 24u to 28u per day, diet and weight (70kg) has remained the same but exercise and activity has dropped off!
 
Richard F said:
Hi thx all

Yes Dr Bernstein, sounds like the one, Dr Lake sounds a bit extreme for me!

The reason I want to research low carb is to reduce my insulin intake.

It's increased from 24u to 28u per day, diet and weight (70kg) has remained the same but exercise and activity has dropped off!
Click to expand...
Why are you concerned with having an insulin dose of 28u.
Relatively speaking, it is not very high. To me (although I have no medical training), it does not suggest insulin resistance so should not cause any weight gain.
You mention your exercise has dropped off - this is most likely the reason for the (small) increase.

Bear in mind Dr Bernstein is a little old so may not take into consideration some of the newer treatments such as faster acting insulin. And that low carb has ben shown to increase insulin resistance.

Low carb is certainly a way some people manage their diabetes but that is usually to reduce the impact of errors in insulin dosage.
 
Yes exercise has dropped off (for now) If I reduce carbs I can also reduce insulin. (Win win)

Dr Bernstein recommends 30g of carbs, I don’t think I'll manage that. Maybe there's a half way house.
 
Richard F said:
Dr Bernstein recommends 30g of carbs, I don’t think I'll manage that. Maybe there's a half way house.
Click to expand...

There's always a half way house.

Honestly your daily insulin usage is low & nothing to be concerned about, worrying about such small differences can lead to stress & diabetes burnout.
 
If you go low carb, you will likely need to start injecting to cover the release of glucose from protein. In the absence of enough carbs, the body breaks down protein to obtain them. This generally takes about 2 hours to start but will release for about 4-6 more hours after that. I follow a low carb way of eating and usually restrict to about 10-30g carbs per meal and I have to inject before my meal for those carbs and then inject 2-3 hours afterwards because my BG levels start to drift upwards from the protein release and I may need another 2unit to deal with that and possibly a third injection of another unit an hour after that depending upon what I ate.

I follow a low carb way of eating for a number of reasons, but not to reduce my daily insulin needs. Exercise does that. I suspect that some people use the glucose release from the protein to fuel their exercise, as it is a slow steady release and therefore don't need to inject for it if they exercise 3 hours after a meal, but if you are not exercising much then you usually need to inject for it. The protein release doesn't spike your levels like carbs, it is just a slow gradual rise.

I also do not think your daily insulin needs are anything to worry about. My seasonal fluctuation of basal insulin can be 4units. I have just stepped it up from 20units per day during the summer when I was doing more exercise/activity, to 27units because it is colder and I am currently more sedentary than I would like to be. It will go down to 22-24u when I get my backside into gear and do more exercise again. Then I have my bolus insulin on top of that, which could be anywhere from 6 or 7 units to 20+ for the day depending on what I eat. If you were regularly needing 20 units per meal then that would indicate you might be becoming resistant, but those figures you quote don't seem concerning to me.
 
Richard F said:
Hi thx all

Yes Dr Bernstein, sounds like the one, Dr Lake sounds a bit extreme for me!

The reason I want to research low carb is to reduce my insulin intake.

It's increased from 24u to 28u per day, diet and weight (70kg) has remained the same but exercise and activity has dropped off!
Click to expand...

Dr B is equally as extreme - if not more! I found his book quite brutal. He also has total hypo unawareness.

That increase in insulin sounds fine and normal, and it’s completely explained by your drop in exercise.
 
Last edited:
Thanks all for the input, I'll discuss with the clinic at my next appointment.
 
If it is any help, I have noticed that quite a few people coming back from type 2, or from being overweight, or having disorders such as PCOS or even 'E.D.' find that a maximum of 50 gm of carbs per day seems to be where they settle after some experimentation.
I only stick to under 40 gm per day out of habit really - though the incorrect high carb low fat diets I was pressured to follow for most of my adult life have really hammered my metabolism.
 
The OP is Type 1. Very different from Type 2. There’s no need to severely limit carbs in Type 1 and, indeed, it often makes things harder.
 
Drummer said:
though the incorrect high carb low fat diets I was pressured to follow for most of my adult life have really hammered my metabolism.
Click to expand...
I have never been "pressured" to follow any diet. I eat what I want - higher carb and lower fat than most "evangelists". My metabolism is fine and my diabetes has nothing to do with diet.
I believe diabetes is very complex and the causes are not fully understood. The cause of type 2 is far more complex than just what you eat as can be seen by the number of people without diabetes, many of whom are overweight.
 
helli said:
I have never been "pressured" to follow any diet. I eat what I want - higher carb and lower fat than most "evangelists". My metabolism is fine and my diabetes has nothing to do with diet.
I believe diabetes is very complex and the causes are not fully understood. The cause of type 2 is far more complex than just what you eat as can be seen by the number of people without diabetes, many of whom are overweight.
Click to expand...
You are so lucky - all my adult life I was pushed to follow accepted ways of eating, which made me feel so unwell. All my mother's family were brought up eating low carb - they were born between the wars.
My diabetes is something in my DNA, I am fairly sure of that, but my ability to deal with it is entirely down to diet - though that is not for a thread started by a type 1.
 
I've never eaten any sort of special diet in my life. I'm 5ft 1, now 9st 12 so a bit heavy for me. I have a sandwich for lunch, two slices of large medium sliced 50/50 bread, spread with salted butter, filled with protein either meat cheese or fish, possibly some iceberg lettuce or tomato, possibly a few crisps or half a scotch eg or a sausage/cheese & onion roll. 4pm ish, small bit of cake or a biscuit with a cuppa. Dinner - whatever I fancy from a chop spuds and veg via pizza and chips and mac cheese to a curry or pie & chips. BUT - a max 60g carb content simply because I can't eat any more, no other reason. So I haven't changed anything. Have hardly ever chosen to eat any breakfast.
 
Richard F said:
Hi thx all

Yes Dr Bernstein, sounds like the one, Dr Lake sounds a bit extreme for me!

The reason I want to research low carb is to reduce my insulin intake.

It's increased from 24u to 28u per day, diet and weight (70kg) has remained the same but exercise and activity has dropped off!
Click to expand...
Low carb diets can make you insulin resistant, so the amount of insulin you use won't necessarily decrease with the carbs
 
Satan’s little helper said:
I’m puzzled. Are you saying that if more carbohydrate is re-introduced, the insulin to carb ratio increases?
Click to expand...
My understanding is that all insulin requirements are increased.
So, even if you don't introduce more carbs, your basal dose will be higher.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top