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MyFitnessPal Community

Macros for a diabetic

Strudders67

I know it's only calories that are important for weight loss but, as I'm getting closer to my goal, I'd like to ensure I'm eating a balanced diet too.

I'm female, 52, 157cm tall and my cw is 57kg (125lb). I'm now in Normal BMI, but would like to get to the middle of Normal. MFP gives me 1200 calories and I eat back my exercise ones. Just over a year ago I was told I'm diabetic. By April of this year, helped by the weight loss (about 25lb) and learning from this forum that I should be focusing on carbs not sugar, my HbA1c number had reduced to non-diabetic level. I'm not on any medication as my doctor (rather reluctantly) gave me the chance to prove I could sort myself out via diet - and I want to keep it that way.

I typically eat around 105g of carbs a day, which is 35%. I keep reading forum answers about aiming for 0.8-1g of protein per 1lb of body weight, but I always fall short. Searching for suggestions for snacks, I came across something today that says The Institute of Medicine recommends 0.8 - 1g per kilogram of body weight. That's quite different and, based on that, suddenly my ~78g of protein is an overdose. The article continued by saying that eating protein makes the kidneys work harder and those with diabetes (or kidney disease) need to watch their intake to make sure they don't overload their kidneys. A different article also says 0.8-1g per kg, but then suggests that older people should aim for 1.2g per kg of body weight. It didn't clarify what was meant by 'older people'.

For those that have been tracking their food intake for a long time or any diabetics on here, do you look at your macros? If so, how do you have them set? I've now changed my goals to 35% carbs (105g), 20% protein (60g) and 45% fat (60g), but that doesn't seem very balanced. I'm assuming that carbs are key, given my diabetes diagnosis.

Replies

jgnatca

Frankly I think the default settings for macros work just fine for a diabetic. I made one adjustment. I split the snacks in to AM, Aft and PM. Here are the factors that mattered most for keeping my sugars stable:

1. Eat on a schedule. This will help you also schedule your blood sugar checks, two hours after you eat.
2. Eat frequent small meals. It’s all about balance.
3. Try and fit all the macros in to every meal to naturally balance out your energy release.

Here’s how different foods metabolize from fastest to slowest: whey protein, sugar, carbs, proteins and finally fats. Fats can take eight hours or more to metabolize so they have the least effect on your sugar highs and lows. Protein is also a nice slow release macro.

I found a protein heavy breakfast with a good dose of fiber gave me a nice long energy burn that lasts me through the morning. Oatmeal is good. Oatmeal with an egg even better.

An ideal midday snack might be edamame, peanut butter with an apple, cheese and crackers, or half a protein bar.

Strudders67

Thanks for this, although I've modified the macro settings so often that I don't know what the default was. The metabolism info is helpful.

I should add that as well as not taking any medication, I also don't do any testing and haven't been asked to. I've had three HbA1c tests and the numbers went down between the first and second and then dropped a lot between the second and third. My next one will be in September. I'm aiming to stay in non-diabetic range, hence the focus on my carbs.

My go-to snack, if I'm low on calories eaten, is a handful of nuts. I'm reasonably fine with what I can eat, but wasn't as high on protein as suggested (when I thought I was aiming for over 120g a day) which is why I went hunting for more ideas. I don't want to increase one macro and cause a different problem though. Adding avocado to my daily salad would boost my fat numbers if needed.

concordancia

Yes, American weight lifters often distort the 1g/ kg and spread that as gospel. Think of your new protein goal as a minimum and the carb goal as a maximum.

Strudders67

Thank you both for your responses.

I did a bit more reading this morning and, further down the same report I was looking at yesterday (put out by MedicalNewsToday), it says that "People can typically consume 2g of protein per kg.....without any significant side effects". That roughly ties in with the 1g per 1lb suggestion. However, it goes on to say that eating more than 2g per kg, for a long time, can cause health problems and lists a set of potential issues.

On the evidence of the past 9 months or so, I doubt I'll be going over 2g per kg for protein but if I aim to get somewhere between 1g and 2g, that'll be fine. The carb goal that I already have set is already my maximum - and I spread that through the day.

rheddmobile

I don’t worry about macros, I worry about the number of carbs I can tolerate at each individual meal without spiking my glucose. If 105g is working for you I would focus on that, get enough protein, and not worry about anything else.

The thing about damage from protein is theoretical - according to what I’ve read, research hasn’t found any evidence that excess protein is harmful. Since you are diabetic you will automatically get regular testing and will have plenty of warning should there be any evidence of poor kidney function.