Controlling diabetes

1luckyduck · January 2015

I have been trying to manage my diabetes with better food choices. I am still confused as to how to count carbs....grams or total carbs and how many carbs per meal/day?? I need to lose weight and control sugar levels. Berries are supposed to be good for lowering blood sugar. Now berries are my new "candy". But wondering if I should stay away from fruit altogether. So much on the internet is conflicting. Would like to hear success stories from any other diabetics. Thank you!

Lizzy622 · January 2015

I was pre diabetic and have been able to get out of that category through diet and weight loss. I try to look at all three macros and keep it all balanced at each meal. 40% carbohydrates, 30% fat and 30% protein is my ideal. (% by calories) When I first started I pre logged every meal and tweaked it until my macros were where they needed to be.

NikiChicken · January 2015

Honestly, your best bet is to talk to your doctor and see if he/she can recommend a good nutritionist. Someone who can create a meal plan for your specific issues. Beyond that, there is some trial and error.

I have had diabetes for almost 6 years. It took a long time for me to understand and control my own blood sugar. For ME, exercise plays a far bigger role than food in maintaining my glucose. Losing weight has also had a profound affect. I have gone from an A1C of 6.5 (clearly diabetic) to 5.6 (high normal) in 3 years using weight loss and exercise combined with healthier eating.

abatonfan · January 2015

I am assuming that you are a pre-diabetic or a type 2 diabetic who is not controlling their BG with insulin.

The American Diabetes Association recommends portioning meals so that they have between 45-60g of carbohydrates and portioning snacks to 15-20g of carbohydrates (and hypoglycemia treatment 15-20g of fast-acting carbohydrates) as a starting off point. As you continue to check your BG before and after meals and note trends, your total carbs consumed per meal and per day may increase or decrease as you figure out how many carbs you can consume without crazy BG spikes. I'm a Type 1 diabetic, and I personally try to keep my carbs around 150g and need to consume more carbs during the evening in order to prevent overnight hypoglycemia (my before bed snack is typically around 30g of carbs because of it).

Fruit can be incorporated into a diabetic's diet, but it does not mean that you are given a free pass to eat all the fruit you want. Fruit is still broken down into glucose during digestion, and that glucose can bring up your blood glucose. In order to fit in other nutrient-dense foods that also add to my total carbs (whole-grain bread, vegetables, dairy), I personally limit my fruit to about 50-60g of carbs per day.

In regards to weight loss, it's all about calories in versus calories out. Assuming there's no underlying issues, as long as you consume less than what your body burns per day, you will lose weight.

When counting carbs, you can be the most accurate by using a food scale, followed by using measuring cups, and then guesstimating. If you look on the nutrition facts panel for what you want to eat, there will be a section called "total carbohydrates." That is the total amount of carbohydrates in one serving of that item (net carbohydrates is total carbohydrates minus the amount of fiber and sugar alcohols listed on the nutrition facts panel). You can then determine how many servings you want to eat, weigh/measure you food, and then multiply the total/net carbohydrates (I personally use net carbs) by how many servings I am eating.

For instance, let's say I am having mashed potatoes for dinner (note that I am making up nutritional information). The nutrition information says that 1 cup (150g) is 30g of carbs and also has 2g of fiber in each serving. The total amount of net carbs would then be 28g for one cup of mashed potatoes. Let's say that I want to have two servings as my meal. I weigh out my mashed potatoes (300g) and multiply the net carbohydrates by 2. I then get 56g of net carbs for my meal.

Yourebeautiful2day · January 2015

I've been diabetic for 6 years now and I've been off all medication for 4 years and just controlling my condition with diet and exercise. I watch my carbs closely. I was given a chart from my nutritionist that had measurements for common foods on it and they equaled 30 grams of carbs. I was to have those 30 grams per meal and snack. That's how I started out.

Now, I will say this....I had to learn what types of carbs my body reacted to. I found that I am better off avoiding rice (even brown rice), pasta, most fruit, and sweet potatoes because these foods spike my glucose levels, and for me the sugar produced from these foods lingers in my bloodstream a whole lot longer than it should. I do just fine though with regular potatoes, apples, low carb bread (sarah lee 45 cal), cherries, bran cereal, cream of wheat, oatmeal etc. Your meter will be your guide for learning what carbs your body works best with.

As another poster already commented, exercise is the real key. Without it, no matter what you eat, your meter readings could be that much better with an exercise regimen. 30 minutes 3 times a week will give you noticeable results in just a couple of weeks. I say this with confidence because that's how I started out. Granted, YMMV.

RodaRose · January 2015

Reduce carbs, sugars, fruits, cereal, bread, pizza, pasta, popcorn.
Eat meat, eggs, seafood, dairy, nuts.
Eat vegetables, esp low carb veggies like romaine, kale, swiss chard,. . also cucumbers, bell peppers, zucchini, cabbage, onions, broccoli and cauliflower, . .
Eat fat, butter, oils.
Most of the time, when you lose weight, your blood sugar levels go down too. Focus on the calories since this is the best place to do that.

zipitzippy · January 2015

Is there a dietitian you can speak to?

I find fruits too sugary and they spike my blood sugar, along with carbs. If you reduce these factors, you'll need less insulin to control. Add in some daily exercise and your sugars will start to decrease and lead to better control. It can be difficult balancing food/insulin/blood sugars but you'll figure out what works for you. Just keep monitoring your blood tests! V important. Remember, everything in moderation.

kayeiam · January 2015

I am a type 2 diabetic here... this is a diabetic type 2 group here on MFP

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1772-type-2-diabetes-support-group

... lots of people with good advice here and going through the same things, some on meds, some insulin etc. We all seem to agree to lower the carbs. and for a diabetic you should look at net carbs.. your carb total minus your fiber total. You also should try to eat a bit more in protein, to balance out the carbs per meal... if 20 carbs and fiber is 5, then net carbs is 15, your protein should at least match that or be higher. Check out the site. I also have an open food diary. I eat 5 to 6 times a day. (they say diabetic's should eat every couple hours and 6 times a day.). I also am lower carb (to keep my blood sugars down) and higher fat. I hope this helps you. Do check out the group, lots of good info. Also another good website is www.bloodsugar101.com

johncartor · January 2015

Thanks my dear friends to share your tips with me. i thing diabetes patients was use tea and coffee with sucral diet .that control your sugar level

1luckyduck · February 2015

Thank you all for your input. I am doing a better job counting my carbs, and I am going to focus on adding more exercise. I hope to be able to say someday what you said, brenlikethat....someday to be off my meds and controlling it with diet and exercise.

Controlling diabetes

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