Why Do I Have To Watch My Carb Intake?

Carbs! They’re our primary source of energy from food. We need carbs, but when you have diabetes, your body can have difficulty dealing with them, causing a rise in blood glucose  that can lead to complications and organ damage, or even unconsciousness and death. 

Some diabetics can control their blood glucose by reducing carb intake and getting more exericse, or with oral medications. Others may need insulin. There are various types of diabetes, and you'll need to follow your doctor's advise on how to keep your blood glucose levels within healthy limits. 

Type 1 diabetics and Insulin Dependent Type 2 diabetics must take insulin to stay alive. Type 2's in the early stages may be able to manage with diet and exercise alone, but later in life progress to oral medications and finally, insulin. Type 2 is a progressive disease.

Other types include gestational diabetes, brittle diabetes, LADA, and MODY.


So which carbs should we eat?  

Carbs or carbohydrates, are either simple carbs like sugar, honey, white flour, white rice, etc. or complex carbs like whole grains, starchy fibrous veggies, etc.  
 

I'd recommend that you stick with the complex, high fibre whole foods type of carbs as much as you can and limit your intake of sugars and starches.

Processed foods such as cookies, donuts, cake, pie, candy and other treats are very bad choices as they contain a lot of sugar, white flour, and fat, and contain may contain no vitamins, minerals or fiber. They consist mainly of simple sugars that make your blood glucose go sky high fairly quickly and provide little if any actual nutritional benefit. There are healthier alternatives you will discover along the way.

When you choose a meal or snack ingredient, stick with healthy whole foods, as much as possible. In other words, eat for health, not for convenience. Avoid fried foods, processed foods, frozen convenience meals, sugar, salt, and most white foods, including most baked goods.

Processed foods provide  “empty calories”. They don’t have vitamin, minerals or even fiber in them. All they do is make your blood glucose high, and contribute to weight gain and disease. Most will also contain unhealthy levels of sodium (salt) and will raise your blood pressure, which is a dangerous condition, especially when combined with diabetes.

You should also cut back on fruit until things are under control. Fruit is high in fast carbs (simple sugars, which are the ones you want to avoid). You can eat some fruit when your diabetes has stabilized, but you’ll find that fruit will not stick with you as long, and you’ll tend to get hungrier faster when eating simple sugars like those found in fruits.

When things are under better control you can start to add in fruits that are high in fibre and lower in carbs and therefore better choices from this food group. These include: FRESH berries such as strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, also watermelon, fresh pineapple, pears, and apples. The fiber in them will slow down absorption of the carbs a little bit, so you won’t get hungry so fast.  They are rich in nutrients.

Also look for high fiber veggies, and whole grains. If you eat potatoes limit the amount and avoid fried potatoes except for an occasional treat once or twice a year. Eat potatoes with the skins on for more fiber and a sensation of filling full longer.  There are some vegges which are low in carbs and high in nutrition: broccoli, greens, green beans, yellow wax beans, mushrooms, the list goes on.

Eat limited amounts of grains, as they are starches.  When you do choose grains, go for whole grains, not refined grains. Avoid white pasta, white bread, white rice, etc.

For treats, you can find recipes for low carb treats online. Just Google "low carb recipes".

I've learned to make cakes and muffins from almond flour, coconut flour, flaxmeal, and other high fibre/low carb ingredients. It takes time to get used to them and learn to bake with them, but its worth it for guilt free, healthy eating. I don't eat them very often, but at least when I do, I can stick with my carb count for the meal and eat in a healthy manner. I'm sure you'll find some new and healthier favourites when you have been doing this for a while.

I'd recommend the South Beach Diet Cookbook as a starting point for finding low carb recipes. There are several different version, all with different themes. You can probably borrow a copy from your local library. I haven't had to buy one, as I found all the recipes I needed online and then adapted them to suit my needs.

For example, my chocolate birthday cake is made from almond flour, and is very low in carbs, but still very rich tasting. Its a real treat!

And here's a couple of links on carb counting to get you started: 

http://www.diabetesnet.com/food-diabetes/carb-counting/how-count-carbohydrates

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarb101/a/carbintro.htm



I hope this information is helpful. Please always follow your doctors advice first, and take it slowly. 

YMMV
(Your Mileage May Vary)

I wish you success!

  The above information is my opinion, and should not be taken as medical advice. It is for entertainment purposes only. Always follow the advice of your doctor and medical team.