Just so you know, 50-75g of protein a day is considered about the minimum to sustain life. Eating 22-25g of protein/day over the long term will cause you to be malnourished and well, lets just say bad consequences. I actually try to get over 200 g/day of protein. Protein shakes help.
Even very strict diets, such as Dr. B recommend about 75 g/day. No matter what diet you choose, it is wise to use a ‘protein sparing’ diet. A ‘protein sparing’ diet assures high enough levels of dietary protein for both energy and healing. If you skimp on the protein, your body will search out sources of protein and it will ‘catabolize’ your own muscles and organs.
A good source of a high protein diet by Drs. Michael and Mary Eades (http://www.proteinpower.com/). Although you might need to make some minimal adaptations as a diabetic, I have a lot of respect for them. Their blogs are a hoot as well.
Great Post - my diet is very similar, the blogs and writing I use to follow my diet call it a Paleo Diet. Basically, eating Protein and fat, low-carb (30 - 35g per day) from vegetables. I also eat small quantities of fruit (blueberries, strawberries, other dark colored fruit) and liberal quantities of almonds, pecans and walnuts - no peanuts. I’m a highly active Type I, who has seen no ill effects from eating this way over a prolonged period. I pump insulin (w/CGM) and average around 17units of insulin a day, including basals.
My Endo is totally on board, but, be aware that most doctors have next to no nutrition training and will just spout the party line concerning FDA food pyramid.
When I first became I veg, I did research on protein and I do remember for men it was around 50 but for women it was lower - depends on your height and weight too but I never saw numbers like 200 - of course that probably works great for you. But I also read that too much protein is not good for your kidneys.
I have been a vegetarian for 20 and never had a problem before and always had good energy (well, it went 30 when I hit 30 but lots of people say that). I know many people who hardly eat any protein (even men) and they say they feel fine - of course they don’t have diabetes.
My guess is that your protein shakes are egg ones- I bought a veg protein shake mix but I didn’t like the taste of it. Just wondering what you mix yours in with. Milk probably? I mixed mine with water but I used to have protein shakes about 20years ago and I think I mixed mine with juice and it was much tastier but juice is out now. I had a hard time finding one that was low in carbs and had a good amount of protein. Thanks Bsc!
I am just starting my third week so I wasn’t sure which one to pick. I’ll try it again. I am 120 lbs, 40, 5"4’, I estimated for 35 carbs but it might be lower on some days. Than I read the rest of the page and it said if you are just starting out, you should pick the Sedentary with Metalibolic thingy.
Thanks Bob, i am on it. I am bit jealous, 17units a day including basals! Mine is double of what you take since i am eating around 150 grams of CHO. Since you are highly active and having no ill effects from eating this way i am realy excited to do this. I am assuming occasional l wine with dinner would be ok since wine doesn’t have any cho. (not all wine of course).
Where did you get the recommendations for low protein levels? The standard (very conservative) recommendations from the Institite of Medicine (http://www.iom.edu/Global/News%20Announcements/~/media/C5CD2DD78405…) is about 46 g/day for women. I suspect that if you accounted for your actual protein intake you likely got more than 20g/day. There is no evidence that high levels of protein harms kidneys in normal people. There has been a study that showed that patients with kidney failure have accelerated failure with high protein, but it would be wrong to extrapolate this to normal kidneys. You are a healthy young woman (well except for the D), so you should be fine. I can provide references on the whole kidney protein thing if you want.
Personally, I use 100% whey protein mixed with whole milk. Most protein powders taste poorly mixed with water.
30 GRAMS That is only one banana a day? WOWWW
I hesitate to start this diet. I cannot afford to lose any weight (BMI 20 with the weight gain on insulin). I Do eat a lots of carbs (but mainly from vegetables and fruits). I take 19 to 21 units of insulin (including basal) with almost 200 gr of carbs a day and probably the same amount of proteins (did not really calculate the proteins). II guess if I decease my carbs I would not even needed anything else but basal (which I would like more than anything). I am AFRAID to do so since in the past when ever I lose weight (mainly due to stress) I would feel very tired and low energy (I am very active now). Thank you all for sharing you experience. 30 GRAMS That is only one banana a day? WOWWW
I hestite to start this diet. I cannot aford to lose any weight (BMI 20 with the weight gain on insulin). I Do eat a lots of carbs (but mainly from vegetables and fruits). I take 19 to 21 units of insulin (including basal) with almost 200 gr of carbs and probably the same amout of proteins. II guess if I decresae my carbs I may not even need anything but basal but I am so afraid to that so since in the past when ever I lose weight (mainly due to stress) I would feel very tired and low energy. Thank you all for sharing you experience. I would apreciate if you could specify how long exactely you have been doing this.
I’ve been eating 30-35 carbs per day for almost two years. The key to not losing weight is eating sufficient protein. I’m thin & lost weight at first. I had to increase protein slowly to get to my optimal weight.
I have no lack of energy. In fact, I have more energy now than before.
When you’ve lost weight due to stress, you’ve probably felt tired because of the stress.
I should also mention that I weigh 155 @5’7"; I’ve been around this weight since high school - over 20 years ago. My activity level is mainly in the form of running (~3 miles a day); biking and weight training. My fat level is high in my diet (not when compared to a typical fast food diet); my fats mainly come from protein, nuts, avocados, oils and omega 3 supplements.
Excessive insulin is just as bad as high BG’s - my total daily is roughly half basal/half bolus.
One other interesting thing - I used to drink quite a bit of diet soda & put artificial sweeteners in my tea/coffee, and when I stopped last year I noticed my “sweet tooth” went away - I have little desire and can easily bypass sweets.
Oh and the wine thing, I drink about a half glass every night of red (not dessert wine).
Sure it’s one banana, but I eat a ton of fibrous veggies, such as spinach, kale, romaine, broccoli, etc to get to that number. I snack on almonds and walnuts - as many as I want. My diet definitely leaves me satisfied and with a lot of energy.
You have to break the need for sweet things, once the desire is gone - it’s much easier.
I love Manny’s (Hernandez) tweets on Food Rules, and plan on reading that book, if you haven’t seen them do a twitter search and check them out
I think every diabetic should have the book by dr bernstein http://www.diabetes-book.com/
there he explains what carbs do to your body and how you can avoid complications just by changing your diet. he also has a list of what you can eat.
my diet, LCHF is a swedish diet, but I think there are loads of similar diets, its basically a “ketogenic diet” where the body uses fat as fuel instead of carbs, so you loose excess weight. Your weight normalizes. It doesnt matter how “fat” or “skinny” you are. My husband was underweight and has started on this diet and is gaining weight
I am a very hungry person, i LOVE to eat, but now my weight is not a problem anymore. I can “overeat” but i still dont gain any weight. My weight is about the same all the time. but if i’d start eating carbs again im 100% sure I would gain every pound that ive lost.
Someone asked if im eating any fruit or if fruit is ok. I dont eat anything that has more than 5 grams of carbs per 100g so fruit is OUT and i dont really miss it…
you still get some carbs in you from the vegetables you eat. I dont know how many grams of carbs i get in me per day, but i guess its around 20-30 as well… and its not from ONE banana but from the vegetables i eat
Thanks Dolores
I think I do almost the same ( a lot of nuts mostly pistachios in my case as well as tons of vegetables) with the difference that I do eat fruits. I may try to avoid them but I think it is to much for me to take them out altogether.
Tonight I will thoroughly read the link you provided
Thanks Bsc for all your help! You are like the protein guru!
Well, the protein info was like from 20 years ago I guess! I think I got it out of an old vegetarian book or something which I don’t have anymore - no internet to look this stuff up then!
I am going to try mixing my protein shake mix with unsweetened hemp or almond milk which I have developed a liking for and hopefully it will be more tasty. I can’t eat too much dairy - I get all phelmy and post-nasal drippy. Yuck. I am supplementing with some veg cheese right now. I think 6 grams of protein for a serving and I’ll have one or two throughout the day and I just did a big shop today and was please to find many veg things that were low in carbs and high (or sort of high) in protein. Many things were under 10 carbs and 13 to 15 grams of protein so at least I will get some additional protein. I try to meet my number but half is better than hardly no protein at all. I also do eat peanut butter and I am trying to eat more nuts. So I am getting there, I have a lot of food researching too do.
I lost my taste for eggs a while ago so I am still debating on whether or not to supplement with him. I want to try the “eggless” way first.
I think I reading the kidney thing when I did a search for diabetics and protein - there was some people saying too protein could be bad for the kidneys for diabetics.
Ok, it is now only 69. Ah, that is a bit more believeable. I don’t know if I’ll get it to that but I try to get at least over half. The fat was high - like 144 or something. I noticed if I changed the exercise thingy the fat changed. I don’t think I eat that much fat - I am not really needs to lose pounds but I do need to lose the fat around my middle so I’ll stick with the lower fat number. Although, I could weight less and it would be OK. At one time, in my 20’s I weighed 100 and had lots of energy and stamina. I was very active at that time. So, I guess I could lose another 10 pounds and that would be OK. I have a feeling that will happen without me even trying (lost 10 pounds the first diagnosis week without wanting too - from stress!
At my diabetes class, the nutrionist calculated me for a 1500 - 1600 calorie diet, so this website was pretty close. I haven’t gotten into counting the calories yet because I just getting the hang of the carbs. I am still not sure how protein and fat relates to each meal and the 2 hour numbers. I am just thinking I need some protein and fat with each meal. Do I need to even out my protein and fat throughout the day too like I do my carbs?
You are an inspiration with your success! Congrats! I'm hoping you can answer questions about LCHF. I'm a T1 diabetic and finally found that eating this way, not only helps my appetite tremendously, but the amount of insulin that is used is so much less! My average numbers are always around 90...that's amazing! You mention that you've lost weight and I'm wondering how long had you started, when you noticed the weight loss. I've decided to take this on and need to show results to my Dr.....they strongly suggest the food pyramid. UGH! I did really well the first 10 days, with lower numbers, but gained 4 lbs. Wasn't expecting that at all, from all the posts that I have read. My carbs daily were no more than 20 grams. I'm just looking for some insight to help me understand. Yikes!
