How many carbs?

[TeachinNV]

Hi all...

Well, I got the expected diagnosis on Thursday. I'm type 2, but not too bad...my A1C was 6.1. My cholesterol is high, but overall my blood work wasn't too bad.

I've followed Atkins in the past with some success. However, within a short time, it became too restrictive for me. I know that low carb is the way to go, but I think I'd have trouble doing Atkins for any length of time...I just know me too well.

Here are my questions:
1. How many daily carbs would be a good starting point for me?

2. Since my cholesterol is high, should I be worried about the fats in meat and cheese?

3. How should I spread the carbs out during the day to avoid spikes in my blood glucose readings? So far, they've ranged from 109 - 182 two hours after meals.

Thanks in advance!!

[Bru88]

Hi Lori I hope I can answer a few of your questions.
"1. How many daily carbs would be a good starting point for me?"
The bad news is the more carbs the bigger the impact on your blood sugar, fiber slows it, but more like prolongs it. But the more fiber for me the less impact I see. YMMV

"2. Since my cholesterol is high, should I be worried about the fats in meat and cheese? "
Your body either makes cholesterol or when you consume it in meats, fats, ect, the body adjusts and slows down the production of cholesterol. So no you should not worry.

"3. How should I spread the carbs out during the day to avoid spikes in my blood glucose readings? So far, they've ranged from 109 - 182 two hours after meals."
The smaller the amount of carbs you eat the better, so yes if you spread them out you will get less of a spike.

Lori I don't know if this will help, but I keep my carbs between 20-30 net a day. I find that some days I will eat 10-12 net carbs, some days 30 net carbs. My blood sugars range very slightly from a low of around 95 to a high of 120. After reading a thread here about cinn. bark, I ordered some last night. People where talking about 20-30 % reduction in blood sugar readings, I thought I would try it. $20 for a 4 month supply. That was with shipping.
Lori how long have you been following Atkins? What phase and how many carbs do you do a day? Are you strict on plan or do you cheat? Do certain foods set your sugars off?
Lori best of luck, blood sugar is very individual thing. Your mileage may vary, some are more sensitive than others. You say Atkins is boring, a few tricks I do is I love to cook, I like taking my old high carb dishes and making them LC. I like to try new recipes, always tweaking them to my taste. I add spice to every thing. There are other LC plans, Jonny Bowden wrote "Living the Low Carb Life: Controlled Carbohydrate Eating for Long-Term Weight Loss" which reviews a lot of LC plans. Might be a good read for you.
Lori I hope I helped a little...Bru :wave:

[Nancy LC]

What is the issue that keeps you from following Atkins?

Do you think if you educated yourself really well on the progression of diabetes perhaps you could convince yourself that adhering to a diet is a better option? I know that visibly seeing my blood sugars going up and understanding the consequences of that really made me not want to get off the diet.

People eating high carb and using medications seem to always spiral down and doctors expect to see the disease progress. But we're seeing people posting here who aren't progressing, in fact they're getting better and some get off meds altogether.

[Charran]

Lori,

There is no one plan that fits all. You kind of have to find your own way in all of this and find a plan that suits your personality, tastes, lifestyle etc.

1. How many daily carbs would be a good starting point for me? This is going to depend on how well your body can process carbs. That is why testing is such an important thing. I'm sure if you asked everyone on this thread how many they eat, you would get that many different answers. It's a very individual thing.

Since my cholesterol is high, should I be worried about the fats in meat and cheese? While it is true that your own body makes it's own cholestral, you have to keep this in mind. If you are eating higher carbs, then your fat should be lower. If you are eating very LC, then your fat intake can be higher. This information is laid out in the SB diet plan if you have access to it.

3. How should I spread the carbs out during the day to avoid spikes in my blood glucose readings? Dr. Bernstein recommends a 6,6,12 split. This doesn't work for everyone though. Again, you have to test to see how different amounts of carbs affects your own body. Obviously spreading them out over the course of the day will give you more even readings than eating them all at once. Some people because of higher morning BG readings will eat less carbs for breakfast and more for other meals when they may be more active. But it truly is a YMMV kind of thing. You must test! :idea:

Following the Atkins ladder isn't restrictive at all. If you find you don't like Atkins, there are other plans to try out. I personally follow SB, but again it's not for everyone. You know yourself the best. Experiment with what will suit you.

[Cajunboy47]

Hi all...

I know that low carb is the way to go, but I think I'd have trouble doing Atkins for any length of time...I just know me too well.

Here are my questions:
1. How many daily carbs would be a good starting point for me?

2. Since my cholesterol is high, should I be worried about the fats in meat and cheese?

3. How should I spread the carbs out during the day to avoid spikes in my blood glucose readings? So far, they've ranged from 109 - 182 two hours after meals.

Thanks in advance!!

Just to answer you, but the choices are all yours, really!

1. 5% of your diet till you get your blood glucose under control.
2. NO.
3. Divide evenly over meals and snacks.

If you knew about diabetes as you're saying you know about yourself, you'd get on a low carb diet and stay there.

Once diagnosed:

You either control diabetes, or it controls you. The choice is yours.......

[eddiemcm]

Lori
Keep carbs as low as you can.
Bernstein thinks you should have lower number of carbs in early
part of day.
Test your blood glucose levels.You may find that you can
tolerate certain types of carbs without glucose number spikes.
Listen to what your meter tells you about the food you eat.
I personally do about 50 grams of carbs a day but that's not
true for everyone.Some people can't tolerate 50 grams-some can tolerate more.Listen to your meter.
Good luck
Eddie

[RCo]

You do not have to do Atkins, you can base your eating plan on any low carb diet, and adapt it to your meter. Bernstein knows what he is talking about regarding diabetics and diet. Basically you can use any LC system, so you could explore them all until you find one that you can stick with.

Too much protein can put a person off eating completely, never mind sticking to a diet, too much protein can also raise your BG.

As others have already pointed out, either you tackle the high BG you have with diet, or diabetes will tackle you...if the latter happens, it will probably win. You cannot pick what you eat with complete freedom with diabetes, not if you want to beat the diabetes. However, if you check your BG one and two hours after eating, you can find out what you can eat as an individual. You might find you can stick to an eating plan that keeps your BG in normal range, one that is carb controlled, but is not quite the Atkins plan.

[Janno]

I was diagnosed Type 2 in July....FBG of 211 and A1c of 10.1. After doing research and talking to my physicians...I began 1200 cal/120 carb diet. 16 weeks later my A1c was 6.7 and morning FBG is usually below 100. I have lost 40 pounds, gotten off a bunch of high blood pressure medication and next week seeing my cardiologist to get off statins for cholesterol. TC=83 TriG=75 and LDL=37. HDL still low ~ 32 but has always been low despite taking Niaspan...but with other numbers that low....think it is ok.

Let your monitor guide your carb/calorie intake. The combination method will assist in losing weight if you need to and slightly more carbs eaten evenly over the day makes remaining on this type of plan easy...not restrictive and since you pretty much have to accept that this is 'for life' if you are to control your diabetes....it is acceptable. Individuals vary in their insulin resistance so 'play with your carbs' a bit till you see your sugar coming down and staying down. Good Luck! I am doing great and feel great! :D

[RCo]

120 grams a day would be too much for most people on this forum, if they wanted normal or close to normal BG's.

[Cajunboy47]

120 grams a day would be too much for most people on this forum, if they wanted normal or close to normal BG's.

I understood it was 120 calories from carbs, not grams. Janno is on a 1200 calorie diet, so 120g would be 40% of total calories, which is the upper end of low carbing in my opinion and might work, but I hope Janno posts to clarify whether it is grams or calories....

Personally, I think Janno is on too low of a calorie diet. With a goal weight of 145, that will require probably about 1600 calories per day to maintain. I think 1200 is to low to allow sufficient nutrient intake. At complete rest the body probably needs more than 1200 calories to function properly....

[Nancy LC]

1200 might not be too low. It's kind of typical for a low calorie diet for women. As we get older our metabolisms get pretty pokey too. I've actually maintained my weight on 1200 calories when I wasn't getting enough thyroid meds.

[soapluvr]

1200 calories is enough for me. I would like more sometimes but I can survive on 1200. I don't lose weight though. I'm stuck on 115. Dropped five pounds low carbing since the middle of october and haven't lost a pound in a couple of weeks. I'm not sure what my calories are though. Probably 1200-1400.

[RCo]

I understood it was 120 calories from carbs, not grams. Janno is on a 1200 calorie diet, so 120g would be 40% of total calories, which is the upper end of low carbing in my opinion and might work, but I hope Janno posts to clarify whether it is grams or calories....


Sorry if that was my mistake, I don't do calorie counting, so it might have been. If people can sustain good BG control on more carbohydrates, I don't think it is any of my business. I just thought if it was a gram count, BG would improve by cutting it back a bit.

[CantEven]

I think everyone answered your questions. I just wanted to say that if you test your blood frequently, it will help to keep you on track. For myself, if I stop testing, I tend to increase my carbs because I don't feel the impact it has on my blood glucose (meter = big brother). However, if you eat too many carbs and get a high number - well it's hard to avoid the truth. Test...test...test.

~Danielle

[Cajunboy47]

I think everyone answered your questions. I just wanted to say that if you test your blood frequently, it will help to keep you on track. For myself, if I stop testing, I tend to increase my carbs because I don't feel the impact it has on my blood glucose (meter = big brother). However, if you eat too many carbs and get a high number - well it's hard to avoid the truth. Test...test...test.

~Danielle

I couldn't agree more. It is a great way to keep myself in check.... My wife just got on to me for using so many strips, saying, I should just eat and stop worrying as my BG is always within range, but if I don't test, I also tend to overdo on the carbs.... So, we keep testing....
Ron

[TeachinNV]

Hi all...

Thanks for all of the responses. When I met with the diabetes nutritionist, she advised me to eat 45 - 60 carbs PER meal! I know that is way too many for me. She also advised me not to "do Atkins", but didn't give me a reason why. When I asked about eggs, which I eat almost every day, she said I shouldn't have more than 4 yolks a week. That is so not going to happen.

I'm still learning about what I can eat, and what I should stay away from. My average breakfast is scrambled eggs with sausage or ham and a bit of cheese mixed in, and one or two pieces of whole wheat toast with jelly. My BG readings after two hours average around 115 - 120. So, I'll probably stick with that. A typical lunch is a chef salad with ranch. Typical dinner is chicken or beef with a salad, green beans, and a small amount of mashed potatoes or rice. Again, my BG levels are usually no higher than 150 after two hours. I would like to get those down below 130 most of the time.

I'm not losing weight very quickly, but I'm content with 2 or 3 pounds a week. I'm in this for life, so there's not real rush. I have a goal of losing another 10 lbs. by January 1. I've lost 15 since early August, so that would make 25 total...which is a pretty good start.

Thanks again to everyone. Your help is greatly appreciated. :agree:

[Bru88]

Lori as you have learned from your so called diabetes nutritionist, they don't believe in low carb, most don't know they where taught wrong. You are not doing Atkins if you are eating;two pieces of whole wheat toast with jelly,mashed potatoes or rice. Do you have a copy of Atkins diet book, if not you should get a copy and review what is allowed and when. Your blood sugars will stabilize even more if you drop the high carb stuff out of your diet. Best of luck its does have a learning curve to it, and it seems that you fight, doctors, nutritionists, but remember if your well they don't make any money off you, so why would they want you to be healthy? Best of luck, on your diabetic, diet, and life journey....Bru
PS I have gotten up and walked out of two doctors offices right in the middle of talking with them about diabetes. I've found, that I know more then a lot of doctors out there. I've read a lot on the subject, after having bone infection in both feet, and being sent home to die when the antibiotics quite working, because I was to big to cut both right leg and left foot off. Luck, or should I say through hard work and going through a few doctors I have found one that is diabetic and will work with me. That was one of the hardest things to do. We are taught to trust, the police, doctors, teachers, ect... sometimes blind trust isn't a good thing. Knowledge is your friend. Best wishes...Bru

[RobLL]

The best tasting decent 'mouth feel' low carb bread is the sprouted grain stuff. I can sometimes eat a few pieces a week. This week my BGs are going high on me, so not even that.