# How many grams of carbs do you eat in a day?



## artdecogran (Jul 17, 2022)

New to this diagnosis, but my question is how many grams of carbs do you eat in a day? I have seen people say only 20 gms a day but nhs says 45 gms per meal x 3 a day. I’m confused.


----------



## Leadinglights (Jul 17, 2022)

There are many factors which determine what people do, what their HbA1C is i.e. how far into the diabetic zone they are, what medication they are on, if any, if they need to lose weight, what approach they are taking to manage blood glucose.  Everybody has a different tolerance to carbohydrates so a one size fits all does not work.
A good starting point if following a low carbohydrate regime is less than 130g per day but many people do go lowere than that which is why you will see all sorts of amounts that people say they have. Often the amount they have will be something they determine by home testing before and 2 hours after meals to see how well they tolerate the carbs in that meal.
A good idea is to keep a food diary of what you eat and drink and estimate the amount of carbs then look to reduce that gradually by cutting down by one third for a couple of weeks then another third until you get to where you need to be.
That helps to prevent damage to the eyes, nerves and small blood vessels.
This link may help with some ideas. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/


----------



## Gwynn (Jul 18, 2022)

Yup, I have gone low carb since diagnosis. It has varied from 150g a day at the gentle start to less than 90g a day at the most intense. Now I try to keep it to below 130g a day.

What I have discovered is that I find it very hard to keep a balanced, interesting, diet on less than 100g carbs a day.

Meal wise I try to keep it to below 35g worst case in any meal.

What I did discover, that turned out to be important, was because I was reducing my carbs then I had to increase my protein and fats (whilst keeping the saturated fats down) to make up the calories (or lose weight if I didn't make up the calories).

How some people kerp their carbs to 30g or even 20g a day I do not know. Seems way too tough to me.


----------



## SB2015 (Jul 18, 2022)

Welcome to the forum @artdecogran 

As @Leadinglights says we are all different so there is no single answer that fits all.
The important things is to find how many grams of carbohydrate your body can process, ie matching the insulin that you are producing and how that insulin is working.

They also mention home testing your BG. Testing before a meal and again a two hours after a meal can show you the impact of the carbs that you have eaten.  Logging these readings along with a food diary can then show you any patterns in what is happening.  

Keep in touch and keep the questions coming.


----------



## nonethewiser (Jul 18, 2022)

Somewhere around 200g day at moment.


----------



## artdecogran (Jul 18, 2022)

Thank you all.
I have been on 20gms a day,which has bought my blood glucose down but I’m heartily sick of chicken and lettuce all day every day. I will now increase carbs and test.


----------



## Leadinglights (Jul 18, 2022)

artdecogran said:


> Thank you all.
> I have been on 20gms a day,which has bought my blood glucose down but I’m heartily sick of chicken and lettuce all day every day. I will now increase carbs and test.


That really is in the Keto region for carbs and many would find that a hard thing to maintain. Managing your blood glucose levels is better done gradually as many can get eye and nerve issues by reducing too quickly by cutting carbs to  such a low level.
I hope you have increased protein and healthy fats to compensate for the lack of carbs.
You can have plenty of fulfilling varies meals with meat, fish, cheese, dairy, eggs, vegetables, salads and fruit like berries.
No need for boring chicken and salad, you can add herbs and spices, and lots of things to your salads to make them more interesting. 
I think there is a thread in the food forum on a whole range of salad suggestions.


----------



## Inka (Jul 18, 2022)

It varies as I’m Type 1. I usually eat 150-200g carbs per day, but occasionally more and very rarely less.


----------



## Dave_Z1a (Jul 18, 2022)

About 60g per day. Max 10 at breakfast, Max 15 at Lunch, Max 25 at dinner plus snacks.
Keep my up and down readings on my meter in a band roughly the same as a "normal" person between 4 and 7.8 max and max 7.8 2 hrs after a meal although don't bother testing after breakfast. Averaging between 5.6 - 5.8 mmol/L. over the weeks.


----------



## Dave_Z1a (Jul 18, 2022)

I also eat pretty much as I used to do just substituting potatoes with 1 carb a slice bread or a 3 carb roll and rice with cauliflower rice. Don't eat pasta, swapped cereal with toast, avocados, protein yoghurts, full english breakfast or many types of eggs on toast. Eat more nuts, special crispy flat bread biscuits 0 carb made with pumpkin seeds and stuff with variety of toppings, if I have cheese I can tolerate branstone pickle with it as well, yum! Home made soups are good with a bread roll. Baked a few things with almond flour. Top tip, Lidl protein choc moose pudding, which I have half at a time is really really nice if you can find them before they get snapped up, job to keep my daughter from pigging them. All this I learnt through testing with my meter, been a godsend. Takes a few months to build up a picture of what I can and can't eat, now I can remember it quite easily. Can still have most currys, some chineese and lager beer so not too disappointed! The big problem is eating out on the hoof, not easy so I carry a bread roll with me if I am lunching out, get a few funny looks but all the burger vans have got to know me.


----------



## DeeM (Jul 26, 2022)

Dave_Z1a said:


> I also eat pretty much as I used to do just substituting potatoes with 1 carb a slice bread or a 3 carb roll and rice with cauliflower rice. Don't eat pasta, swapped cereal with toast, avocados, protein yoghurts, full english breakfast or many types of eggs on toast. Eat more nuts, special crispy flat bread biscuits 0 carb made with pumpkin seeds and stuff with variety of toppings, if I have cheese I can tolerate branstone pickle with it as well, yum! Home made soups are good with a bread roll. Baked a few things with almond flour. Top tip, Lidl protein choc moose pudding, which I have half at a time is really really nice if you can find them before they get snapped up, job to keep my daughter from pigging them. All this I learnt through testing with my meter, been a godsend. Takes a few months to build up a picture of what I can and can't eat, now I can remember it quite easily. Can still have most currys, some chineese and lager beer so not too disappointed! The big problem is eating out on the hoof, not easy so I carry a bread roll with me if I am lunching out, get a few funny looks but all the burger vans have got to know me.


Hi @Dave_Z1a - would you mind posting a link for the special crispy flat bread biscuits made with pumpkin seeds and stuff? My friend bought some like this for me when I was first diagnosed out in Australia, but that brand isn't available here in the UK as far as I can see - I would love to track some down that are similar as they were delicious!


----------



## Drummer (Jul 26, 2022)

artdecogran said:


> Thank you all.
> I have been on 20gms a day,which has bought my blood glucose down but I’m heartily sick of chicken and lettuce all day every day. I will now increase carbs and test.


There are far more things to eat on a low carb diet - why not see if you like them?


----------



## travellor (Jul 26, 2022)

I never count them.


----------



## Leadinglights (Jul 26, 2022)

DeeM said:


> Hi @Dave_Z1a - would you mind posting a link for the special crispy flat bread biscuits made with pumpkin seeds and stuff? My friend bought some like this for me when I was first diagnosed out in Australia, but that brand isn't available here in the UK as far as I can see - I would love to track some down that are similar as they were delicious!


I bought some nice ones in Sainsbury's Karg's pumpkin seed protein thins. 5.9g carb per cracker reasonably big at 19g.


----------



## DeeM (Jul 26, 2022)

Leadinglights said:


> I bought some nice ones in Sainsbury's Karg's pumpkin seed protein thins. 5.9g carb per cracker reasonably big at 19g.


Thanks - I'll seek those out. The ones in Australia were very low carb. Not sure how they managed it.


----------



## DeeM (Jul 26, 2022)

DeeM said:


> Thanks - I'll seek those out. The ones in Australia were very low carb. Not sure how they managed it.


Actually I have just managed to track down the brand after all. Just 1.3g per cracker, although admittedly they are probably a bit smaller than the Sainsbury's ones:
https://www.realfoods.co.uk/product/42573/simply-seed-crackers-natural-gluten-free 

This website above doesn't have the full nutrition breakdown, but there was another more expensive supplier that listed it all as follows (a bit strange because that's even lower than the 1.3g per cracker which it clearly says on the side of the box):
Servings per Package 4 Serving size 20g Per 100g Energy 2454 kJ 587 kcal Fat, total 51 g Of which saturated 7.1 g Carbohydrates 2.4 g Of which sugars 1.2 g Fibre 18 g Protein 23 g Salt 0.8 g 
Per Serve Energy 491 kJ 117 kcal Fat, total 10 g Of which saturated 1.4 g Carbohydrates 0.5 g Of which sugars 0.2 g Fibre 3.7 g Protein 4.6 g Salt 0.2 g


----------



## Dave_Z1a (Jul 26, 2022)

@DeeM Seriously low carb food company, they do three types, the pumpkin seed ones are the lowest, which I like, just checked and they are not listing them only the other two so may be out of stock, maybe because of me as an expecting 7 packets on my monthly order








						Search: 3 results for "seeded crackers"
					

Award Winning. Consumer brand of choice. Real food that's Keto and Low Carb friendly. The home of the Seriously Low Carb Loaf, the Seriously Low Carb Pizza and now lots of other products too.




					seriouslylowcarb.com
				



made in Australia.


----------



## Dave_Z1a (Jul 26, 2022)

Not sure why but the site has seriously reduced the picture quality of photos i posted, here is a close up of nutritional info. 1 cracker 0.2 g. Well its not a cracker, the other two types are, i.e. round, these are flatbread biscuits, think riveta shape.


----------



## DeeM (Jul 26, 2022)

DeeM said:


> Thanks - I'll seek those out. The ones in Australia were very low carb. Not sure how they managed it.


Actually I have just managed to track down the brand after all. Just 1.3g per cracker, although admittedly they are probably a bit smaller than the Sainsbury's ones:








						Simply Seed Crackers Natural in 80g from Olina's Bakehouse
					

Simply Seed crackers are packed full of wholesome flavours. Carefully baked ...




					www.realfoods.co.uk
				




This website above doesn't have the full nutrition breakdown, but there was another more expensive supplier that listed it all as follows (a bit strange because that's even lower than the 1.3g per cracker which it clearly says on the side of the box):
Servings per Package 4 Serving size 20g Per 100g Energy 2454 kJ 587 kcal Fat, total 51 g Of which saturated 7.1 g Carbohydrates 2.4 g Of which sugars 1.2 g Fibre 18 g Protein 23 g Salt 0.8 g
Per Serve Energy 491 kJ 117 kcal Fat, total 10 g Of which saturated 1.4 g Carbohydrates 0.5 g Of which sugars 0.2 g Fibre 3.7 g Protein 4.6 g Salt 0.2 g


Dave_Z1a said:


> @DeeM Seriously low carb food company, they do three types, the pumpkin seed ones are the lowest, which I like, just checked and they are not listing them only the other two so may be out of stock, maybe because of me as an expecting 7 packets on my monthly order
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes! Those are the ones my friend bought for me! Thanks 
The link I posted above does them even cheaper, so I've made sure to order some before you go and clean them out!


----------



## Dave_Z1a (Jul 27, 2022)

DeeM said:


> Actually I have just managed to track down the brand after all. Just 1.3g per cracker, although admittedly they are probably a bit smaller than the Sainsbury's ones:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Lol! Thanks for the link, I will investigate that!


----------



## wass71 (Aug 22, 2022)

Dave_Z1a said:


> About 60g per day. Max 10 at breakfast, Max 15 at Lunch, Max 25 at dinner plus snacks.
> Keep my up and down readings on my meter in a band roughly the same as a "normal" person between 4 and 7.8 max and max 7.8 2 hrs after a meal although don't bother testing after breakfast. Averaging between 5.6 - 5.8 mmol/L. over the weeks.


Hi dave, why do you not bother testing after bfast? I'm trying to sort my levels out at the mo myself, have found Rice spikes the most


----------



## Leadinglights (Aug 22, 2022)

wass71 said:


> Hi dave, why do you not bother testing after bfast? I'm trying to sort my levels out at the mo myself, have found Rice spikes the most


If people tend to have the same thing for breakfast and have tested to see if it is OK then there is no real need to test that meal again. The same is the case for other meals and people only test something new as they have built up a repertoire of meals they tolerate.


----------



## grovesy (Aug 22, 2022)

Leadinglights said:


> If people tend to have the same thing for breakfast and have tested to see if it is OK then there is no real need to test that meal again. The same is the case for other meals and people only test something new as they have built up a repertoire of meals they tolerate.


Not totally true, I personally don't get the same results eating the same every time, and at the same times.


----------



## wass71 (Aug 22, 2022)

Leadinglights said:


> If people tend to have the same thing for breakfast and have tested to see if it is OK then there is no real need to test that meal again. The same is the case for other meals and people only test something new as they have built up a repertoire of meals they tolerate.


Thanks dave


----------



## Mrs Mimoo (Sep 11, 2022)

Dave_Z1a said:


> About 60g per day. Max 10 at breakfast, Max 15 at Lunch, Max 25 at dinner plus snacks.
> Keep my up and down readings on my meter in a band roughly the same as a "normal" person between 4 and 7.8 max and max 7.8 2 hrs after a meal although don't bother testing after breakfast. Averaging between 5.6 - 5.8 mmol/L. over the weeks.


me too 60g is my aim every day and with livlife bread and 1 or 2 finn crisp I can even have a crunch in my diet.


----------



## void (Sep 15, 2022)

bear in mind i'm a type of t1. I think it's a bit different for t2 there's more going on.

In general, the easiest thing for me is to avoid white foods and cereals. It's just easier. The rest, I'll calculate from the weight, generally just counting the most proportionally carby things. In terms of grams carb per day, it varies a lot. If I wake up on the low side, I'll have a bacon butty for breakfast (so about 15g carb on home-made brown bread). But breakfasts for me are usually 0-carb, and I don't eat till the early evening. But if most of the carb isn't in my dinner, I'll have a sweet, this evening it was eves pudding and custard, about 90g carb right there. So for today, about 120g carb

At a guess I'd say 50-200g carb per day.


----------



## void (Sep 15, 2022)

grovesy said:


> Not totally true, I personally don't get the same results eating the same every time, and at the same times.


yeah. it's unreasonable to expect a broken mechanism to work in a predictable way.


----------



## travellor (Sep 15, 2022)

void said:


> yeah. it's unreasonable to expect a broken mechanism to work in a predictable way.



No one gets the same results.


----------



## void (Sep 15, 2022)

travellor said:


> No one gets the same results.


and that, too!


----------



## donerg (Sep 17, 2022)

Inka said:


> It varies as I’m Type 1. I usually eat 150-200g carbs per day, but occasionally more and very rarely less.


That's good to hear as I usually eat between 130 to 180g carbs, sometimes more as well but not that often, can't seem to eat less as I love food now.  Think now I have that part pretty much under control need to start looking at what carbs I eat as I thought carbs are just carbs.


----------



## donerg (Sep 17, 2022)

void said:


> bear in mind i'm a type of t1. I think it's a bit different for t2 there's more going on.
> 
> In general, the easiest thing for me is to avoid white foods and cereals. It's just easier. The rest, I'll calculate from the weight, generally just counting the most proportionally carby things. In terms of grams carb per day, it varies a lot. If I wake up on the low side, I'll have a bacon butty for breakfast (so about 15g carb on home-made brown bread). But breakfasts for me are usually 0-carb, and I don't eat till the early evening. But if most of the carb isn't in my dinner, I'll have a sweet, this evening it was eves pudding and custard, about 90g carb right there. So for today, about 120g carb
> 
> At a guess I'd say 50-200g carb per day.


I am going through a big learning curve at the moment as I was diagnosed with LADA around 3 months ago, and carbs are a huge part of this curve.  Found it difficult to eat properly for years and now am picking my way through finding the right insulin and not knowing how my body reacts to certain foods and I think that is what I should look at as well.  Is this correct?  I am working my way through Bertie online as I do not think I will ever have enough information if it helps me makes better choices to keep me healthy.  I do believe I was blessed with a good sense of humour which has got me through many difficult times as well.


----------



## Eddy Edson (Sep 17, 2022)

Fwiw, I eat about 200g per day.


----------



## Felinia (Sep 17, 2022)

I tested between 50gm and 130gm a day and settled on 90gm +-15gm.  I get a good variety so am not bored.  But I cut right back on bread, potatoes, rice and pasta, switching to soybean pasta, cauliflower rice, bread less than 10gm a slice, max 2 new potatoes.  I still measure everything daily.


----------



## Leadinglights (Sep 17, 2022)

donerg said:


> I am going through a big learning curve at the moment as I was diagnosed with LADA around 3 months ago, and carbs are a huge part of this curve.  Found it difficult to eat properly for years and now am picking my way through finding the right insulin and not knowing how my body reacts to certain foods and I think that is what I should look at as well.  Is this correct?  I am working my way through Bertie online as I do not think I will ever have enough information if it helps me makes better choices to keep me healthy.  I do believe I was blessed with a good sense of humour which has got me through many difficult times as well.


Picking through all the information is a minefield as people will have different amounts of carbs per day depending on how they manage their diabetes, diet only, oral meds, different insulins and regimes so you really have to do lots of experimenting to find what works for you and you will gain the confidence to make those decisions. Often it is very much trial and hopefully, not too much error.


----------



## Inka (Sep 17, 2022)

Exactly @Leadinglights Anyone reading this thread should check the diabetes type the poster has. Type 1s can eat a pretty normal diet so will often eat more carbs than a Type 2. Some Type 1s eat 300g plus carbs a day but that might be far too many for a Type 2.


----------



## Prickles (Sep 17, 2022)

I think it also depends if trying to lose weight as part of the diabetes management. I'm trying to limit carbs for that reason and from the forum have found it more helpful than calorie counting. I vary from 90 - 140 depending on many things!


----------



## donerg (Sep 19, 2022)

Thank you I have been losing weight without trying for such a long time and have only just started putting it back on again.  I think I was put off a bit by a scary looking dietician who talked about moving my carbs about at a later date.  This was back in July and still waiting.  Do not feel so worried about the amount of carbs I am eating now.


----------



## void (Sep 19, 2022)

donerg said:


> I am going through a big learning curve at the moment as I was diagnosed with LADA around 3 months ago, and carbs are a huge part of this curve.  Found it difficult to eat properly for years and now am picking my way through finding the right insulin and not knowing how my body reacts to certain foods and I think that is what I should look at as well.  Is this correct?  I am working my way through Bertie online as I do not think I will ever have enough information if it helps me makes better choices to keep me healthy.  I do believe I was blessed with a good sense of humour which has got me through many difficult times as well.



You'll probably find it useful as I have having a reference for g carb in common foods.

The definitive guide for grams carbs per 100g foodstuff for the UK can be found on part of the uk gov website at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/composition-of-foods-integrated-dataset-cofid it's the "McCance and Widdowson's composition of foods integrated dataset". Make *sure* to read the user guide first and be sure to read tab 1.1 "Notes" on the spreadsheet

I loaded a copy of the spreadsheet locally then stripped out the superfluous information like trace elements that kind of thing, leaving me with 1 column of food name and a corresponding column of grams carb. Then saved that as pdf and sent it to my phone. So it's easily searched for foods right when I'm scanning a reading before a meal.

It's easier and more portable than relying on a live website or app that might need to communicate via mobile internet for example.


----------



## donerg (Sep 19, 2022)

Thank you I will read with interest and will be very helpful.


----------



## Birdsong (Sep 19, 2022)

Dave_Z1a said:


> I also eat pretty much as I used to do just substituting potatoes with 1 carb a slice bread or a 3 carb roll and rice with cauliflower rice. Don't eat pasta, swapped cereal with toast, avocados, protein yoghurts, full english breakfast or many types of eggs on toast. Eat more nuts, special crispy flat bread biscuits 0 carb made with pumpkin seeds and stuff with variety of toppings, if I have cheese I can tolerate branstone pickle with it as well, yum! Home made soups are good with a bread roll. Baked a few things with almond flour. Top tip, Lidl protein choc moose pudding, which I have half at a time is really really nice if you can find them before they get snapped up, job to keep my daughter from pigging them. All this I learnt through testing with my meter, been a godsend. Takes a few months to build up a picture of what I can and can't eat, now I can remember it quite easily. Can still have most currys, some chineese and lager beer so not too disappointed! The big problem is eating out on the hoof, not easy so I carry a bread roll with me if I am lunching out, get a few funny looks but all the burger vans have got to know me.


Hello! You sound like you have a really good diet. Can I ask where do you get the 0g carb crispy flat breads? I’m really stuck when it comes to meals etc. especially when I need a carb snack. Thank you


----------



## Leadinglights (Sep 19, 2022)

Birdsong said:


> Hello! You sound like you have a really good diet. Can I ask where do you get the 0g carb crispy flat breads? I’m really stuck when it comes to meals etc. especially when I need a carb snack. Thank you


I think zero carb is a bit of an exaggeration as even pumpkin seeds have some carbs.
If you want low carb snacks than nuts are good, or Nature Valley or shops own protein nut bars.
www.sugarfreelondoner has good low carb recipes or look for keto or low carb on the internet.


----------



## Jenny65 (Sep 19, 2022)

For me personally I stick to 100g a day or under (if I go over by about 10 I am not overly concerned and I am testing which carbs cause me to spike and avoiding them)  Potato in moderation seems to be OK for me, but pasta, bread and rice isnt.   Today I am testing my potato carbs further as had a spanish omelete for brunch, in total with the veg and benecol drink it was 38 carbs so still OK, but a lot more potato than I have had previously so I am keen to check out the BG in a couple of hours time.


----------



## Dave_Z1a (Oct 2, 2022)

Birdsong said:


> Hello! You sound like you have a really good diet. Can I ask where do you get the 0g carb crispy flat breads? I’m really stuck when it comes to meals etc. especially when I need a carb snack. Thank you


Hi Birdsong, yes get my bread, rolls and flatbread biscuits from here on a rolling monthly order. Bread is really nice abd 1 gran a slice, rolls a couple of grams, would be lost without it!


----------

