# Low GI or low Carb diet?



## Darren Bennett (Nov 26, 2016)

Hi all, 
I'm confused, should I go low carb or low GI to manage my type 2?
I had shreddies the other morning and I spiked from 7.1 to 14.2! I thought shreddies were good for you?
Please advise
Darren


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## AlisonM (Nov 26, 2016)

LOL, that cereals for you. I can get away with proper oatmeal and small amounts of barley but anything else and the BGs are stratospheric. Low GI may be the better option, but pure low carb should work too, it does for me.

ETA. In addition many restaurants and shops have carb info, sort of, on their menus and packaging, making it easier to figure out.


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## Hazel (Nov 26, 2016)

Hello, are you T2 on tablet or insulin meds.

You will need some carbs though.     I have porridge/milk for breadfast and my other carb meal is in the evening, either boied new potatoes or pasta.

Bread is death for me levels rocket, so I no longer buy bread

Good luck


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## Ralph-YK (Nov 26, 2016)

Shredded wheat took me from 6.1 to 11.7.


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## Anthony Stirrat (Nov 26, 2016)

Shredded wheat has 79g of carbs per 100g, where as porridge is only 11g per 100g


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## Robin (Nov 26, 2016)

Anthony Stirrat said:


> Shredded wheat has 79g of carbs per 100g, where as porridge is only 11g per 100g


That sounds low? My packet of Quaker oats in the cupboard says 60g of carb per 100g


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## Radders (Nov 26, 2016)

Robin said:


> That sounds low? My packet of Quaker oats in the cupboard says 60g of carb per 100g


I'm guessing the 11g is the figure for cooked porridge. The trouble is that 100g of shredded wheat is rather a lot, whereas 100g of cooked porridge is not!


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## Darren Bennett (Nov 26, 2016)

Thanks all.
I'm type 2 on metformin 1000.
It's not shredded wheat it's shreddies, those small square malted wheat things. I've just had a bowl and will test in an hour to double check.
What is classed as low carb intake? Not sure if I can do that long term though.


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## Mark Parrott (Nov 27, 2016)

All cereals are bad for my blood sugar, including porridge.  Some people on here have Lizis Low Sugar Granola & find that's kinder to levels.  Haven't tried it myself, I find it a bit pricey.


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## grovesy (Nov 27, 2016)

Some count low carb as been as low as 50 grammes a day. I personally and some others can not go that low. As with most things am afraid it is a case of trying and see what works for you and can maintain long term.


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## Radders (Nov 27, 2016)

Darren Bennett said:


> Thanks all.
> I'm type 2 on metformin 1000.
> It's not shredded wheat it's shreddies, those small square malted wheat things. I've just had a bowl and will test in an hour to double check.
> What is classed as low carb intake? Not sure if I can do that long term though.


Even with insulin sadly I can't do Shreddies. Apart from anything they have quite a high sugar content which gives me a very rapid rise in blood sugar.


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## Darren Bennett (Nov 27, 2016)

Ok so I fell asleep after shreddies last night but was 9.1 this morning so it probably went high. I've just tested at 8.1 and eaten a bowl of porridge with semi skimmed milk, I shall test in an hour.
In theory it shouldn't go up higher than 10.5 ish. I really hope I can cope with oats so fingers crossed friends.
I think I'm going to test everything over a week and stick to what works as opposed to a label diet.


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## Darren Bennett (Nov 27, 2016)

OMG just over an hour after porridge and I'm reading 15.5! What the hell can I eat of regular food that isn't out of a fancy cook book grr.... must stay positive


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## cherrypie (Nov 27, 2016)

Try a smaller portion of porridge and add some seeds and crushed nuts to the mix.  This should lower the overall response.


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## grovesy (Nov 27, 2016)

Darren Bennett said:


> OMG just over an hour after porridge and I'm reading 15.5! What the hell can I eat of regular food that isn't out of a fancy cook book grr.... must stay positive


You have discovered that many have, although porridge is supposed to be heathy breakfast, not every one can eat without raising blood sugar too much. You could either try a smaller portion or try something else. if you like eggs why not try eggs ? Some have yogurt with berries.


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## Lindarose (Nov 27, 2016)

Hi Darren. Join the club being unable to cope with porridge. My absolutely favourite breakfast. I still sometimes have some especially before work as I know I'll be active and that will help lower the spike.


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## Darren Bennett (Nov 27, 2016)

Hello again, could someone scientifically/physiologically explain this to me please so I can connect the dots:
After that 15.5 reading this afternoon, I had very achy kidneys and a few hours later had a big wee. I then ate a low carb dinner and waited an hour and my prick test showed 5.2 as it still is now.
What just happened? Thanks.


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## Dave W (Nov 27, 2016)

Shredded wheat is fairly high in carbs and also the GI and more importantly the GL is fairly high and the GL determines how rapidly your BS is likely to spike.
I've given up on cereals. Tried porridge and wheatabix but both caused my BG to go higher than I wanted. Now stick to eggs and bacon!
Data below are from the CoFID (Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset 2015) and The Diogenese data. Both freely available on the web in Excel format and covering thousands of foods.



Sorry fist attempt at CoFID didn't work. Have posted it below


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## Dave W (Nov 27, 2016)




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## Robin (Nov 27, 2016)

Darren Bennett said:


> Hello again, could someone scientifically/physiologically explain this to me please so I can connect the dots:
> After that 15.5 reading this afternoon, I had very achy kidneys and a few hours later had a big wee. I then ate a low carb dinner and waited an hour and my prick test showed 5.2 as it still is now.
> What just happened? Thanks.


If your body is out of balance, it will do all it can to resolve the problem. So, with high sugars, if it hasnt got enough insulin, or can't use the insulin, to stash the sugar away in fat cells,or burn it up, it will take the only other option, which is to excrete it. This puts a strain on the kidneys, and dehydrates you ( hence the big wee) so not an ideal solution! If you then gave your pancreas an easy time by eating low carb, it had time to catch up, maximising the insulin capacity it still has, to fine tune getting rid of the excess sugar in your blood.


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## Darren Bennett (Nov 27, 2016)

Thanks friends, excellent responses. I feel a more informed and more emportantly, less worried.


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## Dave W (Nov 27, 2016)

Great you are feeling less worried Darren as worrying isn't productive and just induces stress. Knowledge on the other hand helps you make informed decisions, so hang on here and you'll find lots of help that will enable you to make sense of your situation and make your own informed decisions.


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## Martin Canty (Nov 28, 2016)

I find that my low carb diet is also naturally low GI, I think that part of this is that I make pretty much everything from scratch, all cereals are out for me (including porridge ), we only ever have them in the house for guests. I also don't eat bread, pasta, rice & starchy vegetables except on the odd occasion & firmly believe that this approach is helping my BG control & definitely weight management.


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