As a five-year low carb adherent who thought he could never give up bread, it *is* possible to change your diet and still eat well. I’ll admit that there’s times I cheat, but I’ve been able to keep 65 lbs off for almost half a decade, so from a weight reduction standpoint, low carb has worked for me.

I have recently seen my blood sugar numbers creep up past the normal range and as I have a strong family disposition toward diabetes, I hope that the low carb living will help keep the disease at bay for as long as possible.

You can visit my site at http://lowcarbconfidential.com for some of my recipes, but there is a *world* of creativity in the low carb world that is worth checking out – industrious low carbers have found substitutes for nearly everything.

Regards,

LCC

I was then, going around asking and getting the right infos to give to my parents on what do they have to eat.

And the thing I’ve learned that one diabetic should eat from every kind of food; from proteins [meat,fish,eggs], carbohydrates, fats. A only one type of food diet is not healthy. A diabetics body needs to have all kind of foods.
But, one diabetic should know what exactly to eat. For example, one diabetic can eat less than one teaspoon honey, but not more than that. Can eat meat, but have to choose a lean one, and so on.
That is the best diabetes diet.

One should always eat at least 45g of carbs with major meals, and 15g-30g for snacks, getting at least 120-150g a day.

I have seen three nutritionists since I was diagnose diabetic 7 years ago, and they have all warned me about the dangers of not eating carbs with every meal. Some of the menu items you posted have absolutly no carbohydrates at all.

This is dangerous for a diabetic. Not eating carbohydrates will cause your liver to produce extra blood sugar to cover the fact that you aren’t eating any. This makes your blood sugar rise even higher that it normally would, and give the insulin a more difficult time of attaching and synthesizing your blood glucose.

In essence, abstinence from carbs makes your blood sugar *higher*. Hyperglycemia is DANGEROUS and must be controlled properly.

You shouldn’t be looking for low carb options, you should be looking for complex carb options. There is a huge difference. One is healthy, the other is dangerous.

Educate yourself.

Background: Dad had pre-diabetic blood sugar. Then he saw a different doctor and was informed that the standard had changed. He started doing Atkins in 03, and has been roughly compliant since. Dad’s HbA1C is stable in the normal range since, and he hasn’t had to use any insulin, metformin or other external BG control. Dad also lost 40 lbs and is closer to 6 pack abs at 62 than he was at 26 (dad was never heavy, now he’s very lean.).

At any rate: Thoughts:
Anne’s post is far from anything on target, information wise. If you’re carb free, you don’t worry about fats. In fact, on a traditional low carb diet, you’re getting maybe 50-60% of your calories from fat. Sat Fat, Monounsat, poly unsat. No problem. It doesn’t convert to fat when you’re not flooded with insulin, and it doesn’t promote BG response. Easy Peasy. In fact, the fat will blunt the glycemic response to carbs. Not gonna lower glycemic load, but index, yeah.

Ketosis != Ketoacidosis. The former is the mere presence of partially burned fats flowing in your system. The latter is a potentially deadly condition that diabetics will find themselves in if they don’t manage themselves well. Both are marked by the presence of ketones in your emissions (urine, breath, sweat, etc). But that’s about where the similarity ends. One is harmless, maybe even beneficial (research pointing to a ketone fueled brain as being less likely to develop degenerative brain conditions), the other deadly dangerous. Be careful and know the difference. Consult your medical professional on the latter, but don’t get confused.

Exercise Energy and the LC: You tank for a week or so as your body switches to fat burning. Unless you are doing spinning classes or other long, intense muscle depleting exercise, your stored fat will eventually (after a week to a month) fuel your workout just as well as the carbage. There’s research with athletes on this. Average time for endurance athletes to make the switch and return to their form was about 2.5 weeks if I recall.

If you are doing Atkins, you are out on the fruit and peanuts for two weeks. Then you get to add them back. If you do other LC diets (plug for protein power here), you get your berries and your nuts, even peanuts, right up front. from day one. Don’t get confused. You get berries and other low sugar fruits in limited quantities. But if the trade off is pineapple and a bolus or blueberries and the benefits of low carb, I think I can live without the acid reflux I get from pineapple (most people who do the LC dance report reduction/elimination of acid reflux. When I was 55 lbs heavier, I had debilitating reflux 3-7 nights a week, and it was hard to do anything when I had a bad attack. In 13 months, I’ve had maybe two very minor incidences. It’s a nice benefit).

Last, I’m a steak and brie kind of guy. There are LC vegetarians. I couldn’t tell you how to start, especially if you are doing a protein powered LC diet. On snacks. String cheese or other single serving cheeses are great on the go. Beef jerky (12g carbs in a 3.5 ounce package of Jack Link’s Original). Baked pepperoni travels well. Marcona Almonds (fewer carbs and more protein than traditional almonds) are nice too. The deep deep dark chocolate (75%+ cacao content) is good in limited doses.

I hope this has been informative and not overly confrontational. Only trying to share some info in the hopes of being helpful.

The flax wraps from Joseph’s Middle East bakery are my lunch-time staple. Spread it with pesto, your choice of meat, avocado, and lots of salad and it’s great. They’re found locally in MA or in Walmarts (if you can stand to shop there) elsewhere in the country.

Nuts are another favorite. Also, fresh peanut butter on a GG Scandinavian Bran Crisp cracker is always a safe bet for me.

I think diabetics should take a common sense approach. Forget all the theories and low fat vs. low carb. Just use your glucose meter as a guide. If something jacks up your blood sugar, don’t eat it or eat it in smaller quantities. We all react differently to different foods. I adopted low carb shortly after being diagnosed type 2 and have relied on my meter to guide what I eat. I have to avoid some foods that are otherwise allowed in moderation on low carb.

There are a lot of misconceptions about low carb and you really need to understand what it is all about. While there are some strict carnivores out there, most of us don’t eliminate all carbs and enjoy plenty of non starchy vegetables. Atkins only restricts fruit and nuts in the “induction” phase, but allows them later. Atkins even praises berries as being highly nutritious. It’s NOT all about bacon & eggs, steak & butter, etc.

As far as rice, long grain rice is much easier to bolus for than short grain rice, of course brown long grain rice is the best but we all need some flavor!