Lower Carbohydrate diet

My advice in diabetes, think lower carbs. Eating fewer carbohydrates with every meal is one of the most important changes in your diet that you can make to control blood sugars. Eating fewer carbohydrates sounds restrictive but meals can be made tasty and think about the benefits that come with it.

How many carbohydrates should you eat per day

While reducing carbohydrates will help with blood sugars, it is a very personal journey to find what foods work for you. Based on a 2500 calorie per day diet, I would recommend 100-150 gm of carbohydrate per day. If you want to lose weight reduce not only your calorie intake but also your carbohydrate intake down 75-110 per day.

Is there a diet that is better for diabetes?

The best diet is the one that works for you, your goals and activity. Everyone is different, the diet that works for you might not work for someone else, and vice versa. If you are trying to build strength and muscles, you shouldn’t follow the same diet as when you are trying to lose weight.
In the same way, someone who runs every day has different dietary requirements than someone who sits in an office all day and doesn’t exercise.

Moderate carbs

The general recommendation for a non-diabetic person is to get 40-60% of their daily calories from carbs. If you eat 2,000 calories a day, that’s between 200 and 300 grams of carbs a day.
For people with diabetes, this is generally too many carbs, but for people with diabetes that exercise a lot and/or are trying to build muscle mass 30-50% might be better than low carb.
One possible problem is that if you do not maintain the high level of exercise your blood sugars can go out of control easily.

Low carbs

There is no clear definition of exactly what a “low carb” means, low carb can be approximately 50-90 grams of complex carbs a day (not including vegetables). Patients with diabetes go this low when they want to slim down, like when wanting to drop a few pounds.

The benefits of lower carbs

The benefits of lower carbs are not surprising, Carbs raise blood sugars far more than fat and protein do. Limit the amount of carbs to get blood sugars under control, to use less insulin, avoid weight gain and avoiding the complications of diabetes.
Eating less carbs is one of the most important changes patients with diabetes can make. Lower carbs can make their blood sugars steady and will help avoid the roller coaster ups and downs that come with eating a high carb diet. For patient s with Type 2 diabetes this should be the first approach to manage high blood sugars effectively. For type 1 diabetes is the best way to manage it along with insulin.
Eating fewer carbs will lead to less insulin and less oral medications use. Eating just one low carb meal per day can make a difference, especially if it is the largest meal of the day. Reduce carbs slowly and be patient, it takes your body about 2-3 weeks to get used to it.
Other benefits are lower cholesterol, lower triglycerides, lower weight, and reduction in cardiovascular disease. For a place to start healthy eating refer to the plate method. Combine lower carbs with lean protein and good fats, to see low or no blood sugar fluctuations after meals.

The negatives of low carbs

Low carb is great for weight loss and can help with blood sugar control, but it also decreases your metabolism and energy levels. If you live an active lifestyle (and especially if you do resistance training), the moderate carb diet provides you with the energy you need to fuel your workouts, while still allowing for great blood sugar control.

The no-carb (ketogenic) diet

The theory behind the ketogenic diet is that by consuming almost no carbs (less than 5% of your total calories), your body will start converting fat into fatty acids and ketones.

Benefits of no-carb

Ketones can replace glucose as your body’s main energy source, meaning that your body mainly relies on fat for energy. In theory, this should make it very easy to lose excess body fat if you limit your calorie intake at the same time. By eating almost no carbs, you also, in theory, need very little insulin, making blood sugar control easier.

The negatives of no-carb

For most insulin dependent patients their insulin sensitivity fluctuates. Since he theory is that fat is released more slowly into the bloodstream than complex or refined carbs, there should be no blood sugar fluctuations. Insulin resistance is based on the amount of fat you have specially in your abdomen, for those with little or no fat the increase in fat intake can lead to fluctuations in insulin needs.
Many patients also experience weight gained from the increase fat intake. For patients with type 2 diabetes wanting to lose weight this maybe an alternative for a short term. Long term will lead to little energy level and can induce patients to end up eating more because they feel hungry all the time.

As I wrote in the beginning, what the optimal diet depends on your goals.