I’m T2. Have been for 4 yrs and all that time I’ve tried to use low carb and walking to keep my #'s in check.
I think I’ve done OK. I except my next A1c to be around 5.9 / 6.
I keep a food log. The only figures I pay attention to are calories, carb fiber and net carbs. After subtracting the fiber I am constantly under 30 grams of net carbs.
I’m wondering if I’m doing it properly or will a dietitian tell me I should I be striving to achieve under 30g without subtracting the fiber.
I’m wondering because I will see a dietitian soon.
What say ye?
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You have a technique that’s working for you. That’s golden. Any dietitian who would make a comment like that is nit-picking. I fear the incorrect comment you would get from most dietitians is that you need many more carbs to live well. They’ve been confused on this issue for decades!
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My CDE…a dietician… said that less than 120 carbs per day is unhealthy for my brain. I stay below 50 most days. Also, taking insulin, net carbs don’t work for me. If it’s 20 carbs, no matter what the fiber is, I dose for 20 carbs. Works for me.
30 carbs is a Bernstein diet. Personally, I think it’s unhealthy. A dietician saying 30 carbs per day would shock me.
You don’t seem to need meds. 5.9-6 A1C seems great. Worry less. Probably lower your A1C! 
Yup, they are nit-picky. I’m going because I’ve been doing the same thing for years and now my #'s are a little higher.
If they suggest something that doesn’t work for me I’m not going to do it.
I thought I’d get someone else’s take before I go.
Thanks for the vote of confidence. {~;
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I’m doing 30 carbs per meal, not day.
I have not looked at anyone else’s diet in a long time.
I also try to keep my overall net carbs below 20% per day. That’s working most all the time.
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30 net carbs per meal seems perfectly healthy to me. If a dietician says your carb count is too low or too high, then I wouldn’t bother listening… unless you feel deprived or are exercising a lot in which case an adjustment may be warranted.
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Missed that in your post. That’s 90 net per day. Still think your A1C is ok.
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25-30 net carbs per day for 11 years now. No major health issues–knock on wood…That’s a T2, age 68, diet and exercise only so far…
Of course: “If you want to treat diabetes by the book, you need to write a new book for every diabetic.”
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That’s good enough for me Judith. Thank you. Been feeling like I needed more support than I’ve been getting. I know several diabetics but I only know 1 that’s willing to talk about BG and carbs.
I’ve been monitoring your success for a while. I’m glad to know I’m shouting for about the same carbs.
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I know several diabetics who do not treat their illness. They choose to do nothing about BG and carbs, as if, not doing anything will make it go away. It shocked me when one of my doctors said 75 percent of diabetics do nothing. Carbs and BG are the game pieces we play with here.
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In my experience, it would be amazing if your dietitian didn’t tell you that you were in imminent danger of expiring unless you raise your daily carb intake to at least 150g. Because I’ve been told that, on more than one occasion. “Aren’t you tired all the time? Are you worried about proper nutrition? If you just eat more nutritious food you’ll be fine!”
As for your actual question (since I also eat strict to relatively low carb, regardless of the advice of dietitians), I’d suggest that your postprandial and fasting BGs are the best guide: if your BGs are in good shape, then you’re eating well enough when it comes to carbs. With my caloric intake and level of exercise, the difference between 30 and 50g of net carbs is pretty insignificant, but that will scale with your intake and output.
On the subject of net carbs: not all “fiber” is created equal, and one of the reasons some diet plans suggest only counting total carbs is because many manufacturers (at least in the U.S.) love to overstate the amount of fiber in a product. Some people have success in assuming that half the listed fiber content is digestible, and that seems reasonable. I just stick to eating foods that I know what they are, how they’re made (often by myself), and how my body responds (in terms of BG).
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“Carbs and BG are the game pieces we play with here.”…Well said, Robert. I like that “phraseology”!..……and so true. People who deny that simply deny that diabetes is anything they have to deal with. That was my dad, and having witnessed his premature downhill slide to death—well, it won’t be me…
LOL—Plenty else could grab me—like a multi-generational tendency to give up the ghost to a big old stroke—but it won’t be because I didn’t face the damn Big D head on!..
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I meant to say, too, that keeping a detailed food log is a great exercise as you figure out what really does work for you.
And as life circumstances change due to illness or aging or injuries, re-instituting that food log for a time can also help a lot in making healthy adjustments!..So it’s good to get a system down!
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Hear, hear!!
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Well said! It’s amazing how similar, yet, not, we all are.
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Thanks for your comments about fiber! Somehow I had not considered the possibility that the food companies would fib about fiber.
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Hi Anne! Yes, I’ve found it important to investigate how different “fibers” affect me, but part of it is not just that food companies love to “round up” on their fiber content, or list something as “High Fiber!” in bright red letters on the package when it has less than 2g of dietary fiber out of 100g of carbohydrate content…
There are also many different substances which are listed as fiber. There is insoluble fiber (cellulose, lignin, chitin, etc.) which is, quite literally, indigestible in any form for humans. Then there are the soluble fibers, like beta-glucan, inulin, oligosaccharies, etc. Some of these are partially digestible or fermentable, and some people say they can raise their BGs (they don’t for me). Then there is resistant starch, which who knows what is really going on there, and some list it as a fiber. It doesn’t raise my blood sugar, but others report that it does theirs.
In short, “Fiber” can mean almost anything to different people, and it’s hard to figure out what exactly a particular processed food contains. Specific whole foods high in certain kinds of fiber, on the other hand, are much easier to deal with. Chia seeds, camas root, and psyllium husk, for example, are all very high fiber foods on their own, but who knows how much is included in a food when they’re listed as ingredients?
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I experimented one time with cold potato salad, said to be a resistant starch. It didn’t raise BG, which is neat, but I had to wonder whether cold potato salad would just turn into warm potato salad once in the body – and then would that resistant starch become digestible starch again? I didn’t pursue it because I don’t care that much about potato salad or even potatoes generally.
We have found that 2 T of psyllium husks plus some chia seeds plus a little "real" fiber cereal, in a cereal bowl with a lot of almond milk and a few berries, is actually an OK form of breakfast cereal. A lot of people think psyllium is icky, and I thought so too when I tried drinking it, but this way is OK and low-carb.
Anne
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Years ago a dietitian told me I should only substract half of the fiber listed. That made no sense to me. So I ignored that advise.
If I had been told that food producers exaggerated fiber info that would have helped a lot.
I’m going to follow that advise. I’m not changing my diet at all. Just the way I log it.
Glenn
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Hi i am a t2 of 24 years. On insulin for the last 10 years. A1c between 7 and 8. Am keen to get into low carb mode but unaware of how to do this , Can someone please advise ? thanks.
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