Do you think a Low Carb Diet is bad for a Type 1?

I don't think anyone would consider 80-100 carbs per meal or 300 carbs a day low carb! But hey, whatever works and if you have a 5.0 A1C then it works for you! I would just suggest watching for changes in your ability to eat that many carbs as your time from diagnosis lengthens and be careful of weight gain and developing Insulin Resistance.

Hi Zoe,
I wondered the same things you mentioned above, so I figured I was in "honeymoon" but then I asked my doctors and they said my c-peptide was 0.01 so that meant I was producing ZERO insulin and there wasn't any honeymoon. As far as 300 carbs per day, I think I can do it because I run about 10 miles per week and do weight training 4 times per week. If I didn't do all that activity, I'd probably gain weight. I call 300 per day low carb because looking back before diagnosis I was eating double or triple that some days (and working out harder because I didn't ever have a concern about 'going low'). Also, my husband and toddlers all eat well more than the 300 carbs per day that I eat and call low carb, so when I compare my carb intake to theirs, it seems pretty sparce and regimented. In the first month or so after diagnosis I tried eating 45-60 carbs per meal and that didn't satisy me at all, and on top of that there's no difference in my blood sugar control eating 45-60 carbs per meal versus 80-100 carbs per meal, so I finally figured why should I torment myself like that. What I have learned is that I can keep my blood sugar flat for 2 hours after each 100 carb meal, but right at the 2 hour mark, I have to bolus another 1-1.5 units to keep from spiking at 2.5-3 hours post meal.

Hi Kristina,

I don't know if low carb is bad for a T1. I do know that in my experience with T1 which has been decades, it has not been necessary for me to achieve excellent health and control of my diabetes. All advice for food in my life has been 1) nutrition, 2) enjoy your food, 3) don't eat more than your body needs. Carbs are not the only thing I count, I need to be aware of fat, protein, certain vitamins, and calories. So, whatever works best for you is what you should do. I prefer fresh natural foods, and they come with carbs, but have never caused me any harm. Spikes and drops come with the territory, and mine are not caused by my food...they are the unknowns and the surprises of this condition.

Ahhhh...the low carb debate. This one can get as emotive as Republican vs. Democrat, God vs. Allah, Coke vs. Pepsi....

Here's the simple truth. It's your choice. Any medical professional who professes low carb is "dangerous" is clueless. Let's not forget, 10,000 years ago we didn't have agriculture and all the wheat based products we have today. No bread, no corn flakes, no pasta, no rice, no donuts.... Our primary source of nutrition was proteins and fats, and we did just fine.

The logic is simple, and you figured it out yourself. Minimizing your carb intake reduces your insulin requirements and your glucose swings. Your metabolism is very clever. If you switch to a protein based diet, your body will convert proteins to the glucose that it needs. It does this much more slowly and predictably than by eating high glycemic foods like bread. And through this process you get all the energy you need without the peaks and crashes in energy brought on by your typical American high-glycemic diet (i.e., 3PM crash, between meal cravings, etc.).

Upon my T1 diagnosis 18 months ago I switched to eating about 30g carbs a day, which I get from vegetables. I eat around 2lbs of meat a day. I lost over 30lbs in 3 months and got to my ideal BMI. My Cholesterol dropped from 210 to 155 (I have bacon and eggs with salsa and sour cream every morning for breakfast), I'm mentally sharper and I have more energy than I ever had. Ironically, despite (or maybe because of) my T1 diabetes I'm the healthiest I've ever been in my life, and in better shape than most of the non-diabetics I know. My primary driver in doing this was to better manage my glucose levels and it's worked very well. My A1c consistently ranges in the high 4's to low 5's.

Don't let anyone scare you into avoiding a low-carb diet. There is no "one correct way." Do what works best for you. Some people are fortunate enough to be able to maintain tight BG control with a high or higher carb diet, and that's OK too. It just wasn't my case and it might not be yours.

If you want to learn more, read Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution, Jenny Ruhl's Diet 101 and William Davis' Wheat Belly.

Good luck!

It doesn't work like that. First of all, the ADA guidelines are extremely high, and we don't need that many carbs. The bolus on a low carb diet results in less insulin than a high carb diet, and generally the spikes (if you call it that) are lower. Second, the carbs converted from protein are very slow, and don't have anything resembling a spike. It's kind of the difference between trying to hit a fastball thrown by a MLB pitcher and trying to hit a ball tossed to you underhand by your dad.

I think a T1 sticking to a very low carb diet could end up with a sub 6 A1C simply by doing correction boluses throughout the day, not snacking past dinner, and of course having basal insulin. Yeah, it's that slow.

I'm not arguing in favor of ADA guidelines. I'm not even arguing against low-carb. I'm just reporting back a bit of advice I've heard from other low-carbers when I was considering it myself.

Never actually went on a low carb diet, at least not one a low carber would consider low carb, so if the advice is off, my apologies.

true, the need to cover protein replaces the need to cover carbs on a low carb/high protein and fat diet. however, its much easier to cover slow acting protein than fast acting carbs(especially w/ a pump and the extended bolus feature). As dr Bernstein says, our injected insulin cannot mimmick a phase 1 insulin response which is what is required to cover the spike induced by simple carbs. Injected insulin more closely resembles phase 2, and for me 100g/day from strictly veggies and nuts is about as close to phase 2 as I will ever get. My insulin load seems to match my digestion perfectly no matter how large or small the meal(and bolus), seldom any lows or highs in the hrs after I eat(I also do an extended bolus for a couple hrs after every meal)

Everyone keeps talking protein, protein, protein. Carbs replaced fat, in the old world, man's prize was fat, look at the Inuit people, look at the American Indians fallowing the buffalo, even today they will always chose to eat the fat and save (dry) the protein for hard times. There where no carbs in their diet. We brought them carbs, High blood pressure and type II diabetes....nice gift huh! If you eat enough fat you can eliminate carbs , just make sure the fat is the right kind (natural) not the processed fats...remember fat has 9 calories per gram and a carb is only 3, it's a supper food.

Considering a low carb diet in this land of McDonald's requires a willingness to think for yourself. It is great that you respect your doctor but M.D.'s and nutritionists are trained to think fat=bad and carbs=okay. To me, it makes sense that if you have a disease where your ability to process carbs is impaired, you just might be better off (and feel better) if you limit them in your diet. Google Gary Taubes and start reading or listening to videos and you will start to see how American culture does not have all the answers when it comes to food and diet. My personal reservation with low carbing is not wanting to suffer through the body's transition from carb-burning to fat-burning metabolism. I'm just a wimp that way!

I've seen others say this too, but I'm going repeat it ;) It doesn't matter as much of how many carbs you eat as it does what kind of carbs.

Also, I'd like to add in there, that low carbs doesn't always mean low/good blood sugars. I've been trying to stay away from heavy, fatty foods, and only eat healthy, but my blood sugar is STILL staying 400 despite my meal skipping. I only eat 1-2 meals a day because of my high bg.(time for a basal adjustment..) Long story short, just watch what you're eating over all, not so much carb to carb.

Hope I made any sense enough to help ;)

LiL MaMa - I don't think you're such an odd case! There are many diabetics like you who are sensitive to carbs. I am definitely one.

And there are many who are in denial about their sensitivity to carbs and think that the gluco-coaster and slow persistent weight gain leading to insulin resistence are just the price of having diabetes.

I wholeheartedly agree with Dr. B's law of small numbers: fewer carbs requires less insulin which means smaller mistakes. I eat 50-70 carbs per day and have been doing so for 16 months. I don't see any good reason to ever return to consuming copious carbs. I don't miss the glucose volatility!

Sorry for the tone. The other board I'm on is a football board.

It's ok. My other board is a gamer forum. Never easy to switch tone, especially if you're posting in multiple windows.

The ADA does not have a specific guideline so to constantly read that misguided comment just irks me. What are these so called guidelines? When I look at the ADA regarding what folks can eat The first line of advice is - Make sure you are making healthy food choices each time you eat. Oh no, the nerve of them!!

As a T1 who does not follow a guideline - low carb (whatever that is!!) or otherwise, I maintain a 'normal' A1c and mostly 'normal' bg results. Some of us T1s run into a high or lows for no reason. When this happens, it may or may not be related to food selection. My own are usually related to activity, stress, or illness, and I always have to correct later if I eat a slab of meat.

I am on an insulin pump, I adjusted the basel today and it seems to be helping :P

The ADA may not have specific guidelines, but when I was still working w/ the diabetes center at my local hospital upon initial dx, their 'dietician' told me to eat specifically 320 carbs/day, and she got this number straight off her calculator and not by general knowledge and reasoning. That's absurd..lets just say i don't go there anymore!
I think this is normal advice for many diabetics, even if its not straight from the ADA.

Sounds like you have your BG control well in hand because of careful consideration regarding your diet and insulin regime.

As a matter of discussion, I'll say that any number of variables, in addition to insulin secretion patterns, affect glucose uptake rates, whether that's post-meal or under any other situation. Because of these other variables, I cannot base control over my BG profile the same way.

The first problem with basing insulin regime on endogenous patterns of insulin release is that measuring the phases of insulin response is generally done under clinical conditions with injected boluses of glucose. While this is extremely quantifiable and it's definitely helpful to know how our endocrine system responds under these conditions, it's not 100% applicable in non-clinical setting unless your regular meals consists of Coca Cola and donuts. I hope nobody is out there suggesting a diet like that for a diabetic.

Heterogenous meals affect glucose uptake rates and, unlike endogenous insulin secretion, we control the timing of our insulin dosing. Additionally, if I head to the gym after taking a meal, I increase my glucose uptake rate many times over. These things alone, which are under my control, means that insulin response, itself, can't determine my resulting BG levels.

Again, I'm not arguing that this is a better way to do things, or that low-carbing is not a good thing to do. The issue that's often brought up on both sides of the discussion, however, is the amount of misinformation out there. There's plenty of it being used to both dismiss and support low-carbing.

The point is, low-carbing is not necessarily easier and it will affect your lifestyle choices. While BG control is our primary goal, take everything into consideration.

I haven't read the previous replies, so please forgive me if I'm repeating ideas/thoughts. I think the low carb diet idea is really dependent on the T1 diabetic. I personally have a friend who NEEDS to eat at least 120g of carbs per day or her BG's will just be all funky. Me personally? I've slowly lowered mine to a range of 70-90g per day and that seems to be working fabulously for me! My original 140-150g was way too much! Not only was it affecting my BGs, but it was affecting my mood, energy levels, sleep patterns, and just a whole slew of psychological/physiological factors!

My point is, slowly try reducing your carbs if this is something that intrigues you. There may be different points in the day where you notice you need more or less carbs to meet your bodies optimum function level :) Carbs have a bad reputation, but they're super good for us in the correct format and in moderation. Good luck, take it slow, and be safe!

PS, My interpretation of what your Dr. might have been saying about the carbs and brain function is; is that carbohydrates are the primary/preferred energy source for the body. It is the first resource to be used above lipids (fats) and proteins due to its ability to be broken down so simply. So obviously, the energy/nutrients are received in the brain more efficiently than proteins (as far as digestible nutrition goes). Just my interpretation!