\[A1C 6.6 diagnosed in Oct\] I am waiting for a nutritionist appointment and my primary care just told me to keep my carbs to 1/4 or less but I am struggling with what my goal should be? I have been using AI generated suggestions of 90-125 grams of carbs and less than 15g of addded sugar (average is
Everyone is different.
For me, oatmeal is too many carbs. Instead now I make chia pudding or Greek yogurt with flax seed and berries for breakfast.
I also aim for zero grams of added sugar.
Depends on you, your body, and your meds.
Your A1c is just barely entering the diabetic range, I was diagnosed at 10.4. I remember feeling super nervous before I got started with treatment. If you aren't experiencing frequent urination, vomiting, other symptoms of dka - congratulations, you've already ordered a cgm, you're experimenting with your diet, and keeping up on testing. That's the work that will help you with this marathon!
I stick to around 30 to 45 g per meal. Just meeting the number isn't super accurate though. For instance if I eat mashed potatoes fresh, I get a bigger rise so I eat less. If I refrigerate them overnight, I can eat more. Some fruits I do well with too. Berries have less impact on me.
Your CGM will help you determine what foods work for you. You don’t have to wait for a prescription and with your A1C, it may not get approved. I used Stelo and Lingo which don’t require a prescription. Oatmeal is problematic for some, your CGM can confirm.
When it comes to carbs I feel the lower the better is best. The reason for me is that having ‘a little’ constantly keeps me wanting more. In fact I often think oh maybe today I can have this or that. It’s best, for me, to completely avoid these trigger foods as if im allergic to them
Exactly. I was a carb addict (as I suspect many others are as well). We don’t tell alcoholics to consume champagne or light beer moderately. I can’t moderate high carb foods like oats, bread, rice, potatoes etc. so it’s easier to give up completely.
I stay around 20-30g a day.
Honestly how? Just a bell pepper has 7 grams. I doubt I could at least in a level that is sustainable at 20 personally but I would love some tips on cutting back when possible.
My goal is to try to limit my carbs <30 grams a day. Typical day is 3 eggs and maybe bacon or ham for breakfast. I don’t always eat lunch but when I do it’s usually a couple of small pieces of protein left over from the previous day dinner. Dinner is always a protein (beef, pork, chicken, turkey or fish), almost always a vegetable (green beans, cauliflower or broccoli) and a green salad. I don’t eat any grains, no bread, no pasta, no fruit (occasionally berries), no starch (ie, potatoes or root vegetables), absolutely no added sugars to anything. I drink mostly water and coffee.
I ate “low carb” for years (maybe 80 grams a day) but managing my glucose was still a challenge (in actuality it still is but it has improved)…. It wasn’t until I got really serious about tracking carbs and eatin
Google keto or carnivore recipes/diets. You don’t have to follow it completely but it’s certainly possible as lots of people are currently doing it.
Everyone’s different. Eat to your meter.
Did they at least get you a meter?
My primary care didn't think I needed one, I just purchased one while I was waiting for primary care to approve the CGM. She's pretty nonchalant about it meanwhile I am losing my mind. I honestly have mixed feelings about how she's handling it she didn't even refer me to an endo which given I have PCOS and now diabetes seems nuts. I am actually afraid once she gets back from vacation she will veto the prescription the covering doc put in for the CGM. I am trying to give her the benefit of the doubt because she's been great in the past.
explain to your doctor your anxiety about figuring this out and that a CGM will help you to determine the effect that foods have. Have a conversation with her and let her know your thoughts.
If my doc refused a prescription for a CGM after I was diagnosed as t2 I would look for another doctor. I just had to explain I knew that insurance wouldn’t cover it but libre 3+ is available for 74.99 a month without insurance and it’s been the biggest help in maintaining a low A1C over the last year plus.
The current standard of care is to lump 6.5-7.0 into "Well Controlled". This might explain some of your doctor's nonchalance, but they do need to address your worries better.
One thing that you can do before your next appointment is to keep a little food diary and not which things give you a spike. I find that the same number of carbs in french fries pushes me a lot high than the same carbs in a baked potato. White rice is spikier than the same amount of bread. These numbers will also tell you if you've got your carbs amounts right.
There are a lot of good keto recipe sites/YouTube vids.
Though you are not on keto, they focus on very low carb meals.
I stick to only about 40-60 per day now that I'm off meds and down, after a year of adjusting and experimenting, to an A1C that stays at 5.3 pretty consistently. A wee bit more is okay, but I have to be pretty careful.
Everyone is different, though, as you've heard. And I get blindsided every now and then--it's a constant learning experience, finding out what your body can tolerate.
Eat to your meter.
I did <80g per day for the first 9 months after diagnosis and went from 9.6 a1c to 5.4 in that time. After that I went to <150g and have maintained 5.2-5.4 a1c since then.
Do you take GLPs or insulin? There’s no way I could maintain that level even though I’ve been at 50-60g a day for well over a year so just wondering.
1000mg/day metformin and 5mg mounjaro for the first 9 months, 500mg/day metformin and 5mg mounjaro since. In February they want to eliminate the mounjaro.
Hey there. I was diagnosed with a 6.8 A1C in November. For the last month I’ve cut from 300g daily to 100g daily. I eat mostly plant based whole foods, so it’s difficult for me to go lower, though some days have been as low as 60g. My PCP had been very happy with these changes, and my CGM average is in the mid-90s with very few spikes. I highly recommend getting a CGM or at least testing your sugars immediately before your first bite and ~2 hours after your meal.
General rule of thumb for a diabetic is no more than 40g per meal, but that varies so much from person to person based on medication, genetics, activity levels, the type of carb (not all are equal), time of day, and meal composition (such as high protein/fat meals can usually allow for more carbs during that meal as it slows digestion).
Only you will be able to figure out "how many carbs", but your nutrionalist or dietitian can help.
For me i cant have more than 10g for breakfast, maybe 15 or so for lunch, and usually whatever i want for dinner as long as their isnt any/much refined sugar.
It depends I can manage most carbs okay but any rice or sweet potatoes will bring me up super high. A CGM will help you determine carbs you can tolerate.
You’re already making a lot of the right choices for someone just recently diagnosed & you’re on the bottom of the diabetic range so not as bad as it gets – I believe that’s a plus. Once you get your CGM, you’ll start to learn which and how much of your faves your body can tolerate. Anxiety before follow‑up labs is relatable, we all want to do our best. But for me, the learning‑curve burnout was real & while aggressive carb cutting looked ideal on paper, I burn out easily. Btw, just curious why you doctor isn’t able to prescribe a cgm now.
Long but in case it helps, here's some stuff I learned if you to verify with your doctor.
It’s different for everyone. I was diagnosed with T2 in April. A1c over 12! Fasting blood sugar 333! I thought I was gonna die. I’ve cut back on carbs. I eat about half of the carbs I used to. One thing my doc said that helped me a lot was “everything in moderation “. He said if I trif giving up everything bad I would just fail. So I cut back. One thing I did give up was my beloved Coca Cola. I used to drink nothing but coke. For years. Never water. And now at 40 I’m paying for it. I only drink water now and coffee. Not even sugary drinks. I tried Coke Zero but I still felt back drinking that so I gave it up too. Only water and coffee like i mentioned. My a1c is now at 5.7 8 months later. I still have work to do. TBH I don’t exercise at all. But rybelsus, taking
my dietician said at least 30 carbs a meal (30-45) and 25 carbs in a snack.
I keep my carbs limit to under 25 a meal. I usually just have carbs at supper time really. I've been a diabetic for 6 months. A1C has gone from 12.6 to 5.9 and I've lost 30 pounds.
Everyone is different but I've found that 150g to 170g carbs a day is more than enough to keep my blood sugar and overall A1C in check (for me any lower than 100g of carbs a day and I tend to get headaches and very moody). I do try to limit sugar as much as possible and try to workout (strength train and 3 mile walk) multiple times a week. By no means am I perfect and I've really struggled during the holidays (Christmas and New Years) but I'm still trying to keep myself honest and on target.
I highly recommend you stop asking"AI" for anything health related. It really anything, but especially stuff that involves your health. You're just asking for trouble
I mean I agree it’s just a stop gap measure while I wait for an appointment. I will say the one thing it’s actually really good at is helping me plan low carb meals and helping me brainstorm when I feel stuck. I definitely take any guidelines with a huge grain of salt and I look forward to the day I can have guidance from a medical professional instead of a machine guessing the right words to say.
Too many carbs imo. Anything with added sugar would be out for me. No carbs at all for breakfast. No fruit really either. Stop snacking between meals. I do about 50-60 carbs a day mostly in the form of veggies, nuts, or Fairlife milk in protein shakes after dinner before workouts. I try to walk a little bit after every meal. Even 10 minute helps. But longer the better. That’s how I got to 5.0.
Thank you. My advice for a new diabetic is intended to get bs under control. This is not the time to try a new diet before understanding how food and bs interact. Plus popular weight loss a d low carb diets require a lot of effort to do
It’s rough for sure. I weigh about 320 lbs, on insulin, and eat about 60 carbs with each meal. For me it’s finding what works but sometimes with my standard chicken bowl meal I make it barely makes my numbers jump. I found that I can have rice (my fave) and as long as I put it in the fridge before eating (meal prep and such) it makes it better for my sugars (something about becoming starch resistant in the fridge or something). If you can, get a CGM and see how your foods are affecting your sugars. Unfortunately everyone’s unique so it’s a lot of trial and error
Skip all that. 20 year diabetic. Eating is one component of bs control. Here is how you start
Eat smaller portions of what you eat now. Reduce high glycemic foods and carbs, no need to stop them.
Do not change your diet. Low carb diets are dangerous health wise and not suitable for T1. Hypoglycemia is one concer. Most people cannot chance how they eat.
There is no quick cure. It is a serious ilness that is slowly destroying organs
I’m curious what “do not change your diet, they are dangerous health wise” means? If I hadn’t changed my diet I’d be at higher risk for dietetic complications. Changing diet considerably is the most important thing a dietetic can do. Any time I spend over 140 is damaging my beta cells and making my condition worse.