@A DiabetesTeam Member I was already biased against carbs from my experience with my diabetic cat. (that didn't change my hoovering the carbs down though, until I became pre-diabetic myself.) Because of my past experiences, I readily agreed with the group here who wishes to limit carbs, as a way to reduce blood sugar. However, there are a lot of folks (docs also) who believe that the diabetes meds make it unnecessary to make major changes to their diets. (Best I can make of it anyway, and probably a lot of in-between views as well.) There are people who went on meds, changed their diets and lifestyle, and were able to eventually go off the meds. I'm not sure how to do that though since I never had to take the meds since I am pre-diabetic. One of them (and your docs) would have to tell you how to do it safely-since you are right about the risk of going too low.

@A DiabetesTeam Member unfortunately there is not a simple "add this plus this" and you have your number, it takes "some time"

If you follow the recommendations from Diabetes Dietitians they tell you the number is 200 per day - 3 meals/2 snacks - or 50 carbs at breakfast/lunch/dinner and 25 carb for each snack

That recommendation is for "total health" and not specifically blood sugar control.

I have never met a Type 2 that could consume that many carbs and not need a pick-up truck to bring home their Diabetes Meds. The "pro's" assume that you will eat the "food guide recommendations" and medicate away the blood sugar it creates

Next we have the DiRECT Guidelines (now adopted by the UK) - in that plan they say to cap your Net Carbs at 130/day

That seems to be the number for the "average" Diabetic however just about none of us are average

I "know" that I could manage the 130/day with some planning but I also know that my A1C "would" increase if I did. I'm certain I would still be sub 6.0% A1C but I "prefer" to be in the mid-5's "right now" because I have a long term plan.

If I am going to make it to life expectancy I "need" to manage for another 23 years. If I want to avoid complication "during that time" then I would rather keep my A1C in the 5's for at least another 6 years of so.

That requires me to keep "my daily carb number" closer to 100/day "at the moment"

Splitting that over the 4 meals I eat (target 25 carbs per meal) and following up with an after meal stick test (when I was figuring things out) taught me that the plan was solid - to keep a mid-5 A1C I needed a post meal average "just below 7.0 mmols/126

Through testing, over a period of "months" I determined that for many meals if I keep them to 25'ish carbs I can achieve that. In the case of some meals (chilli where the carbs are primarily from the beans) I can tolerate 40 carbs and still have a post meal level under 7/126

So setting your carb number starts with figuring your "goal" first (in this case - what A1C would you like) - that will tell you what average blood glucose level you need to achieve (on a weekly or monthly basis is a great target). Then once you know that, you can figure out where you need your post meal average BG to be and then from that you "eat your meter"

Count the carbs for "X" meal - eat, test, if in range you know you can handle "X" carbs - lower or higher BG reading tells you "more or less" - you do that with multiple meals and eventually after a couple of cycles you "know - I can handle X carbs and meet my BG/A1C goals"

I teach carb counting - it is a once a week (1 hour), two month program, because it takes "time" to sort it out if you want to be really precise.

Otherwise you could just pick a number (30 carbs/meal), eat that (or close to it), wait for your next A1C and adjust as necessary - less work to do it that way, but also tougher to adjust because you are working on 3 or 6 month averages.

Mentioned Users

A Diabete...

I weigh all my foods containing carbs and then look up Nutritionix online to calculate the net carbs which is total carbs less fibre. Best go for the carbs per 100g rather than per serving which is less accurate.
https://www.nutritionix.com/

Glycemic Index is not very reliable as it only measures the rate a food will raise your blood glucose. The higher the GI the faster your bgs will rise but the problem is that low glycemic foods will also raise your blood glucose sometimes quite high and therefore is quite misleading. Glycemic Load (GL) measures food as to how much of that food you're likely to eat in a meal. Combining both the GI and GL will give a better picture of what foods you can eat but I think weighing your food out and calculating the amount of carbs in the food is the more accurate.

Becky -- I think you make a great point about the refined corn products being a factor -- but certainly there are multiple factors - not just obesity, not just refined foods, but lack of movement/activity - our general sedentary lifestyles, genetics, age, social factors which influence our lifestyles, poverty, health care accessibility and quality, etc. etc. etc. It's complicated - what I'm learning the longer I live with and manage this disease is that I can only do the best I can, every day, with the knowledge and tools I have that day.I have to keep an open mind and learn as I go. I just have to remember that I have this disease, and that it requires care. Denial only helps for so long. Being aware of, and limiting my carbohydrate intake does help. It's one of those bottom-line behaviors. Just my two cents (adjusted for inflation.)

Corn syrup and artificial sweeteners don't help, in a lot of cases I'd say it's looking for hidden added sugars in products. My Dr once said if you don't eat carbs the body doesn't process it, but we do need carbs for energy etc to help with various body functions. Id speak to your diabetes team / dietician with regards what would be a safe level of carbs. When I needed to lose my last few pounds, I did the Newcastle diet- this is very carb restricted, and involves having 2 meal replacement supplements, and a proper dinner but you should really do it with your Dr, and they say only for 6 weeks. My GP also said eat what you want so long as you run it off! X