Low carb - how many grams is important

Food & Diet Low Carb
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I hadn’t posted for a while on my low carb but wanted to give an update after getting back to work and having to deal with a schedule and grabbing food that isn’t like being at home all day and able to prepare the right food
My a1c has slipped to 5.5 which isn’t that bad but not the 5.0 I am after
I’ve really learned that the grams of carb you eat has an enormous effect on the amount of insulin you need at these low levels due to PIR (physiological insulin resistance)and gluconeogenesis
I started off with Bernstein at 30g a day but after 3 months as I reported before my insulin resistance while in keto state just increased rapidly - Bernstein will have none of this and doesn’t discuss in his books but other Bernstein followers have told me they experience the resistance also and raised their carbs a little to deal with it
The body is desperate to keep the carbs you have for the brain and needs loads of insulin to counter the smallest drop in BG and to deal with even foods like lettuce
At its worst I was using 75 units of humalog a day plus 24 to eat 30g of carb and as I was so low carb to also deal with the protein
It really was impossible to get my BG below 100 most of the time
I didn’t want to eat starch or sugar as I can’t control the rapid rise so I decided to raise my carb intake to 60g a day through eating two of the Vega protein and green shakes - I replaced my eggs for breakfast with a shake and added an avocado and some blueberries to it and I have an additional shake for pm
Raising to 60 has had some effects
1 - it took me out of ketosis and immediately dropped my insulin needs for bolus from 75 to 15 and put back my basal to 20 from 24
2 - it stopped the gluconeogeneiss so I didn’t need to inject for protein - when I’m on 60g carb then if I eat a sashimi meal or a couple of eggs - there is no need for insulin now - as my body has glucose from the carbs I guess. This makes my rise after eating shorter and more predictable and as I’m eating low GI foods easy to control
3 - I’ve started losing weight again - even though I’m eating slightly more calories as I’ve taken so much insulin out of my system which stops people losing weight I think
4 - my control has leveled out again and I can easily keep within the 70- 130 range -the drop down from 75 to 15 was a bit hectic as I had a bunch of lows but that seems to have resolved itself
The shakes are amazing / I’ve got a dose of all the good stuff that’s recommended for inflammation and raising hdl - as I add cinnamon / chia / kale / avocado oil / blueberries and it already includes a lot of good stuff

It’s interesting why Bernstein won’t even entertain that being st 30g creates severe insulin resistance in some people
Fingers crossed this 60g a day low GI will do the trick as it’s pretty easy to stick to
Two shakes / a salad for lunch and then some protein and some veg for evening meal - is all that’s required pretty much

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@Robellengold, this is a fascinating report. I am so glad you updated us! I would never have guessed this result.

I can’t get over how different all of our bodies are in responding to similar circumstances in different ways. it is really shocking.

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@Robellengold your experiences matches ours. I say this, not because we have tried to go keto (my teenager would have none of that), but because we have done extensive testing to land at our current ideal which is 100g - 120 grams of carbs per day. More than that and we lose control of his diabetes, less than that and we are worried about not having enough carbs for the body to grow correctly.

We also know from his Dia friends and our friends on FUD that we are abnormal both in our carb processing, but also in our carb response. i.e. my son can go from 50 - 300 on 15 grams of carbs, while his friends go from 50-100 and level off.

To me, it sounds like you have tested the options and have landed at a place that works well for you. I would politely say to anyone that doesn’t believe you, or believes we all react the same to carbs to @&#$ off.

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I agree. It’s not a regimen for me, but there are certainly some takeaways. Call me a fascinated observer! (And not just because Vega is :canada:)

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Thank you for this insight. I too am low carb and have found much success with it. But I was so puzzled how cut my carbs to 20/day lose weight and my basals have increased. This now makes sense to me! Thank you again.

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Yep Vega is awesome - I have gum surgery next week and will be eating them for 4 days straight !
Glad I could of help I searched the internet and asked my doctor for what was going on - but it was the keto diet websites not the diabetic ones that really helped this time to help me figure it out

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Welcome, @mindawhen, I am very glad to see you join here!

Do you follow Bernstein? How hard do you find it for you?

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i had this problem for years. the fewer carbs i ate, the more insulin resistant i became. if i did want some carbs, i ended up having to dose higher as well as doing a dual bolus (extended bolus) on my pump of 50/50% over 2 hours, just so i wouldnt spike. (and PS: the mornings were the very worst!!! OMG. )

as i began swimming, i had to add the carbs to my diet; i had to introduce them slowly, but once i achieved my carb goal, my insulin resistance went away and i need much less basal and bolus as i did before. so, it is possible to reverse this problem (IMHO and, YDMV)

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