HELP! CARBS A DAY
crazysquaw51
Posts: 67
So confused on how many carbs a day I should be allowed, my understanding is that I can have between 45 and 60 per meal, is this correct? what happens if I don't have enough carbs a day, will my count go way down when I check my sugar? this whole carb thing is so so confusing to me.
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It will take some time for you to find out how the carbs affect your blood sugar readings. If you shoot for the recommended 45-60 carbs per meal, and your blood sugar is within acceptable range afterward, you're good. If not, you'll have to adjust up or down accordingly.0
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Hi crazysqaw51, I like your name btw
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It can be very confusing no? A Carbohydrate is our bodies chief source of energy.
When I first started out on my journey living with type 2 diabetes I adopted the habit of eating to my blood glucose meter.
I tested just before my first bite of food to establish what my blood sugar level was as a starting point before I ate anything
I then tested at 1hr, then again at 2hrs (recording the results) after I finished eating to learn what effects my food choices I made effected my blood sugars and how much they increased over my starting reading. With that information I was able to determine
if it was within the acceptable and healthful range for me. It takes some carbohydrates longer to rise our blood sugars than others.
For me, some if not most of the "white foods" such as breads, rice, pasta etc. don't peak until 3-4 hours after I'm finished eating!
How much carbohydrate should we be eating in a day?
This is not a simple question and the answer varies from person to person. It isn't necessarily important to know simply how much carb to eat in a day, but rather how that carb is distributed throughout the day in meals and snacks to keep blood glucose in a healthful range.
Your healthcare team will work with you to determine the amount of carbohydrate allotted to a given meal or snack based on such things as:
Weight/height
When and how much physical activity you do
What medications you are taking for your diabetes, and when their action peaks
Weight goals
Age
Laboratory values like cholesterol, triglycerides, microalbumin (a measure of kidney function), and A1C
Personal preferences
Other medical issues
Hope this helps to clear some of the fog for you. Good luck!0 -
Cut your meals to three a day for a while, so you won't be spending a mint on test strips. Then log your carbs for each meal, what and how much. Then test one hour after each meal. This is usually when your BG is the highest after a meal. Then lower or eliminate any carbs that put you over 140, This is the level where the blood sugar starts to damage your body. 45 to 60 carbs per meal is 135 to 180 grams of carbs per day which would probably put me in the 200's. My best control (on Metformin) is 25 grams of carbs per DAY, not meal.
Are you on any meds? Metformin supposedly won't let you go too low.0 -
Thanks your information is very helpful:happy:0
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Thanks for the information, helpful....and no not on any meds, she is giving me 3 mos to try and do with foods, then if that don't help, meds.:happy:0
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My recommendation - if you want to stay off meds - is go with as low a carb diet as possible... and try to have all the carbs come mostly from veggies. Read up on Atkins/keto/paleo to see if they strike you as something you can live with.
I wish my doc had given me a chance... but he didn't, and instantly put me on meds. 3 doctors later, after I've requested to be put on insulin, I'm finally working on adjusting the eating to something as low carb as possible.0
