Does Lowering The Grams Of Carbs Eaten Daily, Reduce The Fbg Number Specifically? (No Diabetic Meds-only Changed Lifestyle).
I lowered my carbs to 30 grams a day last year. As my health improved, I began slowly adding healthy carbs back in and I currently eat 130 grams daily. However, I am currently still in the prediabetic range (low, I think), instead of the highest prediabetic range and still have more weight to lose. Did I raise my carbs prematurely and would it lower my fbg specifically, if I were to lower my daily carbs back down some? And is this a "which came first, the chicken or the egg", kind of question?
Hi Becky5. Your blood sugar number is a direct result of the grams of carbs you eat.
Your weight is also a direct result of the grams of carbs that you eat. So to my mind if you reduce the carbs it should reduce your weight and your numbers.
Regards.
Dewald de Beer
@A DiabetesTeam Member
Diabetes is not linear in the sense that cause does not always directly produce effect.
So in my experience low carb keeps my bgs down, other times it doesn't. I think there are many factors involved including hidden feedback loops.
I eat about 15g-20g of carbs every day, sometimes more sometimes less.
My weight is more or less stable at around 11st 8lbs (162lbs) to 11st 12lbs (166lbs).
I also find that with low carbs the body reacts by extracting every gram it can from food which can be frustrating.
I'm thinking of varying the carb amount per day to "fool" the body into thinking it's getting more carbs that it really is.
@A DiabetesTeam Member - may I ask - How do you keep track of carbs? Do you use an app? For awhile I wrote them down, daily, in my journal. When I was in a weight loss program through my insurance, I was eating about 130 carbs per day, which felt really low, for me, although I did lose 30 lbs. over a few months. I continued in the biweekly support group for awhile. The harder part was keeping off the weight. I know if I resumed the carb counting/carb watching routine I would manage my diabetes better. My doc has me on metformin now — too early to tell if that’s helping, but carb watching is so important! 🙂
I believe it does help but I think it is a combination of lower carbs and exercise that has the most impact. This may not be the case for everyone but it definitely seems to be for me. The other component is the importance of water. I’ve found if I don’t drink enough water my fbg. Is higher. For me it’s still a work in progress though.
@A DiabetesTeam Member — thanks for letting me know the app you use. I tend to write down food AFTER I’ve eaten it, at the end of the day. If I’m careful during the day, I usually can ballpark what the carbs will be. Re: your comment above about getting spikes from a “rogue”meal. I’ve found over time my pancreas is less forgiving of things I could once eat safely. It really pisses me off, but I guess it has its own wisdom. LOL. Take care.
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