How sustainable is a low carb diet

Thanks Firenza and katers87 for your thoughts. I am quite happy about my BS’s and it would be wonderful to be able to not have to take meds or even to reduce the dose. I do test several times a day including 1 1/2 - 2 hours after eating so I will continue this until I can get into to see my doctor. Even though I have read a lot of posts about the benefits of LC eating I never thought it would make this much difference to my BS’s. Very motivating, even more than the prospect of losing some weight. : )

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I had the exact same thought when I started to eat lower carb. My blood sugar numbers improved so much, I wanted to measure and watch even more. It started a virtuous cycle that continues to this day.

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Hi Terry4 that is nice to hear that the LC eating has continued and helped your BS. How long have you been eating this way? It was so quick to change my BS’s to good that I keep wondering if this is to good to be true and if eventually the diabetes will roar its ugly head again… lol

No, it’s definitely not too good to be true! Unfortunately, diabetes is a dynamic disease and has many tricks up its sleeve. Low carb, however, tilts the odds of good results in your favor.

Fewer carbs = less insulin = smaller mistakes.

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10 years so far on a low carb diet. I guess until death do us part. If there is an afterlife I will eat myself silly in fettucchinis.

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I didn’t answer one of your questions. I’ve been eating LCHF for six years now. I incorporate some fasting into my daily pattern as I usually eat a late breakfast and early dinner. I can sometimes go 18 hours without food. I think that helps me, too.

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A decade here, too…Oh yeah—fettuccini-alfredo…Spaghetti with marinara sauce and meatballs…Mom’s tuna salad made with ring macaroni…And frosted brownies for dessert----LOL!

It’s not sustainable for me. I’ll just crave carbs and then eventually gorge myself on them. haha

It’s much better that I just incorporate moderate amounts into my daily life. I usually have around 100-125 carbs a day. My last A1c was 5.4, so this is working well for me. I understand that approach may not work for everybody though.

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I frankly dont get the diet thing. I eat by testing my blood. My last A1C was 5.6. Given that sugar and carbs are bad I limit them.

It is an excellent thing to have figured out, though!

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Thank Terry4, It seems very doable to stay on this way of eating. I have found so many low carb recipes that look good to me that I am sure I will find many I will like and be able to use. Its very interesting that you mention the fasting because I find that I am really not very hungry, and my eating schedule mirrors yours but not quiet that long between a meal. I was worried that by not eating 3 meals plus a snack I would not be getting enough food.

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I agree randy. My a1c isn’t as low as yours, currently a 7, but I’ve been doing low carb for a few months and my blood sugars are much better. I still have an occasional high, but that’s to be expected. I was diagnosed with proliferative retinopathy a few weeks ago and I’m 26, the thought of losing my sight scares me, but I do my best and that’s the only thing I can do.

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I’m really sorry to hear about this diagnosis. I have worked very hard to avoid getting to that point. All we can really do in addressing any of these complications is to keep our blood sugar as close to normal and stable as we can.

Some form of low-carb eating is the simplest way to do this that I know of. I don’t follow a specific diet, I have just qualified foods that work well and stay with them. I have been doing this now for almost 8 years.

I recently got a Dexcom five CGM. I did not change my eating habits or foods when I first got it. I was curious as to what was actually going on for me in between finger pricks. What it showed was that by eating low-carb and staying with low glycemic foods for the most part, my graph is very flat. It does rise and fall, but very slowly with no spikes. It showed that I was in range for over 80% of the time the first 30 days. So that was comforting to know I was already on the right track with my diet.

My vision has improved quite a bit with all the treatments and injections. At my worst I was approximately 20:1600 or worse. Today I am still legally blind at 20:250, but overall my vision is decent. Can actually read some things if they are close enough and have the right conditions.

This is a scary place to be and a difficult path to follow. I know. No one knows how much you might affect your complications. You will be told you can do nothing. To some extent that may be true. But I have found for myself that it was not an absolute truth. All, and I repeat, ALL of my complications have greatly improved by being very careful and strict with my blood sugars. The improvements are exceedingly slow and gradual. They are still occurring for me.

Don’t give up hope, but don’t give up either on the work that you do to make things better. That really is your sole purpose in life for the moment.

If you need support to do all this, just let me know and I will help with what I can.

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The article states that Ice-berg lettuce, zucchini, bell peppers, spinach and asparagus are the “List of Low Carb Foods for Vegetarians”. While these are delicious and “healthy”, a vegetarian will severely lack protein and starve to death if these are their only foods.

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Our outlook on lowcarb is that it is not so much a “diet”, but more a lifestyle.

Personally I do not find lowcarb so limiting - we have a multicultural family and eat/enjoy a variety of cuisines in lowcarb mode. I think this keeps things interesting - we of course eat a variety of spicy Asian meals (Thai, Vietnamese, Burmese, Korean, Indian, etc) as well as Western (Italian, American, Scandinavian & other Euro, etc). All lowcarb of course.

For Western cuisine we employ lowcarb breads (made with almond/coconut flours, etc) and such… for Asian cuisines, we employ shirataki rice/noodles and other lowcarb options. Vietnamese lettuce wraps are popular around here as they are spicy and so very lowcarb and low GI (glycemic index).

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Low carb is only limited by your imagination!
Almost 10 years 30 carbs or less in a day, plus some added to keep my bg up during exercise. But i dont ever take a break and have like a sandwich etc. takes me too long to clean out my body.

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