Ive noticed that alot of people who are diabetic go on lowcarb diets. Im wondering if i have to.
A dietician from the hospital that i saw in the ICU said i should have 75 carbs per meal, but i hear people get by on 50 carbs a DAY! Im 15, still growing, if that helps at all. Im starting to get my BS under control, as they raised my LANTUS amount.
To sum it up, do i have to go on a low carb diet or not?
idk… becauwe i guess i love me some carbs, and i try to eat 50 at meal. I was just sitting here thinking about the same thing… my pb and j sandwich was at about 50 and kept full a bit, but maybe i should have had some salad with it or something extra? Idk i guess it just depends on each person. I try to eat healthy carbs at least, wheat bread, fruit, does lean cusine count (HA) and stuff. Until i get a fully functioning kitchen i can’t try much else at the momment. Good luck!
There are good reasons to low carb. Low carb is a relative term:) Even young children can safely eat low carb meals & this is how our ancestors ate for thousands of years. Growing bodies need protein & sufficient fat, not lots of carbs.
Unless you’re very active, strenuously exercising a lot, 75 carbs per meal is quite high.
You need more insulin to cover high carb meals. Large doses of insulin act unpredictably. Small doses of insulin are more predictable & easier to control. Swings from high to low are damaging & exhausting. Larger doses of insulin are pretty much a prescription for weight gain because insulin is a fat storing hormone. Gaining weight requires higher doses of insulin, so it can become a vicious cycle.
Eating whatever you want & attempting to cover it with insulin doesn’t work. There are too many variables & insulin dosing is far from an exact science.
My experience has been that low carb controls BG & is a healthy way to eat. If you do it correctly, you won’t be hungry or feel deprived. The more carbs we eat, the hungrier we are & the more carbs we crave. Another vicious cycle that’s risky for people with diabetes.
Jenny’s site & book are wonderful http://www.bloodsugar101.com. Check it out.
I eat 30-35 carbs a day. I don’t feel starved & feel far better than when I followed dietician ADA advice of high carb meals & constant snacking. When I ate the way the dietician recommended, all day long I was high & low & had no energy.
There are lots of low carb recipe sites to help you.
I hate the idea of eating 3 snacks a day with 3 meals, makes me feel like all i do is eat.have to tell u me what you eat to stay full!
Well, i usually just have about 50 carbs per meal, and for an afternoon snack i usually walk to starbucks for an Iced Coffee, with milk and sugar free vanilla syrup. Its good, and has low carbs. For breakfast i usually have cereal.
Cereal is eating pure sugar. The lactose in milk sends many people high & so does caffeine.
How are your readings two hours after meals?
So about 45 per meal and 15 per snack? Im already on track then. Rarely higher, but sometimes on a special occasion its a little higher.
Well, theyre actually barely risen. The coffee has no effect at all, and after 2 hours the Novolog takes care of the meal.
No way in h-(BEEEP) will i be able to do that. Ill try to lower my carb input. Ill just eat more steak 
That’s great. Not to burst your bubble, but you were just diagnosed & may have some insulin production of your own. It’s called the honeymoon period. You want to extend the honeymoon as long as you can by not stressing your pancreas.
I know this. But im also going through puberty, and i read that it could cause an insulin resistance. So they could effectively cancel out. If its happening.
I know, but no bread, crackers, or cereal? Milk? I couldnever do that.
No, you don’t “have to” do anything except take the best care of yourself as you can. You will, with the assistance of your healthcare team, figure out what works best for you. And that will change over time, always. But we’re all different. There is no “one size fits all” solution for managing Type 1.
For some, a very low-carb, low-insulin regime is the best way to keep blood sugars in control. You might find that you’re one of those people and that’s a decision you’ll have to make. You might find that a super low carb diet just makes it easier. Or maybe not.
I can eat a plate of pasta and a salad for dinner and never have my BG spike past 115. But eating a moderate sized pork chop or steak makes it very difficult for me to keep from spiking too high 6 hours later, even with an extended bolus on my pump.
My piont is that you’ll have to learn over time how your body works and keep up with managing it. What works for some doesn’t necessarily work for others. And vice-versa.
Wait, whats CHO?
Your choice & you can do it.
There are alternatives to grain crackers & cereal that are super low carb, as well as cookies, muffins & cakes using almond flour. I’ll send you recipes, if you like. Heavy cream with water added is a very low carb milk substitute. Unsweetend almond milk is something else you can use. It has 2 carbs for 8 oz.
The food facts you quote are strange. A 1 cup glass of 2% milk is 14 grams of carbs on my package. All the cereal I have is <17 grams w/some being fiber.
I agree with your point about control of bg being the guide. But be careful with your fact and generalizations about food. For a 15 yr old, carbs are an important part of eating.
The “Think like a Pancreas” book would a good book to read an Dr. B’s diet is the extreme side of low carb diet and a variation may be just the thing for a teen,
people say i should eat about that much too. Seeing that you are probably are still growing, i would follow their advice
You don’t have to go low carb. Whatever suits you is the best thing to do! I’ve read some comments with people telling you not to eat breads, crackers, cereals, etc… Honestly, these foods are part of my meals everyday. Just then for dinner I had a huge slab of lasagne… That turned out to be nearly 70grams of carbs and I have big serves of carbs all the time and it hardly effects me 
Everybody is different, some people get better control with low carb diets while others don’t bother keeping the carbs down low because they don’t really effect them
Whatever works for you is the way to go, re way other people eat shouldn’t influence you
I agree with Sophie. I eat about 45 carbs with each meal and 15 carbs per snack. My Bgs are usually good unless I eat over my bolus. So as long as you eat a well balanced diet and keep your BGs in control, that’s what it is all about.
I only eat 30 g of CHO (the fancy chemical abbreviation for Carbohydrate) or less at lunch and dinner, about 13 or less for breakfast, and 15-20 for snacks which are later in the day (not the morning). I do eat bread – but only low carb bread… Cereal, well, I can’t have it in the morning anymore, it spikes me like no other… I’m sure I could have it at lunch or dinner, one day, but meh. lol I mostly have eggs, and 1 slice of toast, on most days… but as I’ve been sick, I’ve had one cup of Fiber One yogurt in the mornings and nothing else (has 13 g of CHO, with 5 of those being from Fiber)… I can sometimes eat slightly more CHO if I have no protein or fat with it, but I don’t consider it worth it most of the time… because then I get hungry soon thereafter… I make a lot of stir fries with chicken, or beef, with frozen veggies from the store (or sometimes fresh ones), and then I get these “Sun Bird” Chinese meal seasoning packages that hardly have any carbs, at all… Usually about 3-5 per serving, and about 4 servings in the whole bag… It’s really not very hard, you just have to look. I sometimes have some crackers – there’s a particular brand that has 15 g of CHO for 15 crackers… Wheat Thin fiber ones I think? You have to read the labels, though… I put a little peanut butter on them, and I’m good. For milk, I switched to Almond Milk, which has 8 grams of CHO for 1 cup, instead of the usual 13 of milk… It’s wonderful. $2.99 for the carton – was not bad. Anyway, these are just ideas… Going low carb helps a lot… Even if it’s not Dr. Bernstein level low carb… It helps your body use less insulin, among other benefits. I have to say, I don’t have any complaints, really…