[Emilia]

Hello All,

I am delighted to be able to be with you and share your experiences. I don't have diabetes but I am a Registered Dietitian and I teach nutrition to people with diabetes type 2. Please ask me any question on this health condition and I'll be happy to respond to you to the best of my knowledge.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank Marc for the trouble he went through with my logging issue.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Emilia Klapp, RD, BS

 

[breezeonby]

Hello All,

I am delighted to be able to be with you and share your experiences. I don't have diabetes but I am a Registered Dietitian and I teach nutrition to people with diabetes type 2. Please ask me any question on this health condition and I'll be happy to respond to you to the best of my knowledge.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank Marc for the trouble he went through with my logging issue.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Emilia Klapp, RD, BS

Welcome Emila! I have a question for you. How many carbs do you suggest that a diabetic eat per meal and for snacks?

 

[Shanny]

Hello Emilia, and welcome. You no doubt have things you could tell us, and perhaps you'll be able to learn from us too.

 

[Emilia]

Welcome Emila! I have a question for you. How many carbs do you suggest that a diabetic eat per meal and for snacks?

Hi Breezeonby,

The number of carbs will be based on the number of calories you ingest every day. Let us say your diet includes 2,000 calories. 50% of this amount should be carbs, meaning 1,000 calories. Divide 1,000 by 4 (a carb has 4 calories) and you get 250 grams of carbs. Now you have to split your 250 grams of carbohydrate among the number of meals, whether it is 3, 4, or 5 meals.

However, remember that different foods, such as bread, fruits, vegetables, have different amount of carbohydrates. If you are confused about this issue, which is kind of complicated, the best way to go is to talk to a specialist in nutrition in your area, such as your Doctor or a Registered Dietitian.

Have a great day,

Emilia Klapp, RD, BS
The DiabetesClub

 

[Emilia]

Hello Emilia, and welcome. You no doubt have things you could tell us, and perhaps you'll be able to learn from us too.

Hello Shanny,

There is no doubt in my mind that I am going to learn a lot from you guys.

Best wishes to all of you for a great weekend.

Emilia Klapp, RD,BS
TheDiabetesClub

 

[Shanny]

I have a question too, Emilia. Have you any opinion on the practice called "eat to your meter"?

 

[Diana]

I have a question too, Emilia. Have you any opinion on the practice called "eat to your meter"?

All of us agree and all of them agree, and never the twain shall meet!

 

[breezeonby]

Hi Breezeonby,

The number of carbs will be based on the number of calories you ingest every day. Let us say your diet includes 2,000 calories. 50% of this amount should be carbs, meaning 1,000 calories. Divide 1,000 by 4 (a carb has 4 calories) and you get 250 grams of carbs. Now you have to split your 250 grams of carbohydrate among the number of meals, whether it is 3, 4, or 5 meals.

However, remember that different foods, such as bread, fruits, vegetables, have different amount of carbohydrates. If you are confused about this issue, which is kind of complicated, the best way to go is to talk to a specialist in nutrition in your area, such as your Doctor or a Registered Dietitian.

Have a great day,

Emilia Klapp, RD, BS
The DiabetesClub

I am not confused about the issue of carbs and what they do to a diabetics blood glucose. I have seen my fair share of nutritionists and dietitians and I get the same answer that you gave me. First Emilia, I mean no disrespect, but 50% of your daily calories is alot of carbs. The vast majority of our members are on Metformin and diet to control their blood glucose and they eat very low carb. I know for a fact that one of our most respected members who is also a moderator, eats a mere 50-60 carbs PER DAY. I take insulin and do not get much mileage out of my Novolog, right now 1 unit only covers 3 grams of carbs and my Lantus dose is very large, I am very insulin resistant and the more insulin that I take the more weight I gain. I keep my carb intake to 130 grams per day and I really need to cut that down as well. Anyway, a dietitian is usually one of the first health care professionals that a new diabetic will be asked to see. I am just curious if you instruct all of your clients to eat 50% of their daily calories as carbs? And regardless of where your carbs come from, they all increase your blood glucose. Some with a low GI will cause less of a spike, but a carb is a carb. If I am wrong, please correct me so that I understand where you are coming from.

 

[ThoseBackPages]

250 grams of carbs in ONE day????

Are you insane???

That might be fine and dandy for non-diabetics, but for diabetics? No chance

 

[onaughmae]

Hi Breezeonby,

The number of carbs will be based on the number of calories you ingest every day. Let us say your diet includes 2,000 calories. 50% of this amount should be carbs, meaning 1,000 calories. Divide 1,000 by 4 (a carb has 4 calories) and you get 250 grams of carbs. Now you have to split your 250 grams of carbohydrate among the number of meals, whether it is 3, 4, or 5 meals.

However, remember that different foods, such as bread, fruits, vegetables, have different amount of carbohydrates. If you are confused about this issue, which is kind of complicated, the best way to go is to talk to a specialist in nutrition in your area, such as your Doctor or a Registered Dietitian.

Have a great day,

Emilia Klapp, RD, BS
The DiabetesClub

50% carbs? Surely that must be a mistake....

 

[onaughmae]

250 grams of carbs in ONE day????

Are you insane???

That might be fine and dandy for non-diabetics, but for diabetics? No chance

I am not even sure its good for non-diabetics. I am thinking in my mind what amount of starchy food I would have to eat to get 250gms of carbs. Seems like you would gain weight on that. I could be wrong...it just boggled my mind for a minute LOL

 

[Richard157]

Carbs

If I ate 250 carbs per day I would gain so much weight. Weight gain in the 1990's is what caused my insulin resistance. I am a type 1 with insulin resistance which makes me a double diabetic. If all type 1 diabetics ate half their calories as carbs, they might all gain much weight with their extra insulin, and develop insulin resistance. That makes their diabetes more serious and much harder to control.

To lose my weight gain, I had to reduce my daily carb intake to a maximum of 130 grams. If I ate 2000 calories per day and 25% was carbs, then I would take 25% of 2000 and get 500 calories as carbs, then divide by 4 to give 125 carbs. For me, 25% of my calories as carbs worked well. I lost my extra weight, and I was much healthier.

Many type 2 diabetics have much more weight to lose. 25% of their calories as carbs might be too much for them to lose the weight. They might need 10% or 15% as carbs in order to lose the weight. It varies from one diabetic to another. Setting one particular percentage for ALL diabetics does not work. It is an individual thing, and each diabetic should determine their appropriate percentage by trial and error.

 

[Diana]

50% carbs? Surely that must be a mistake....

does this sound familiar: The most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans suggest that about half of your daily calories come from carbohydrates. A person who eats approximately 2,000 calories per day should take in about about 250 grams of carbohydrates.

That was from 2005. I haven't had a chance to find the updated info for 2010 but here's a start in the right direction: Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010

 

[Emilia]

Eat to your meter

I have a question too, Emilia. Have you any opinion on the practice called "eat to your meter"?

Hi Shanny,

What I teach my clients is to eat based on the glycemic index and I am getting very good results. It has also been my experience that teaching people how to count carbs does not work for them. Most people either do not get the complete idea or they get tired of doing it and abandon the practice which leads to disastrous results.

Have a great weekend

Emilia Klapp, RD, BS
TheDiabetesClub

 

[Emilia]

This is just the amount of grams, not the amount of carbs.

Emilia Klapp, RD,BS
TheDiabetesClub

 

[Emilia]

If you eat only 25% carbs in your meals, how do you distribute between protein and fats the remaining 75% that makes up for your meal?

Emilia Klapp, BS,RD
TheDiabetesClub

 

[Emilia]

This is what I meant. That 50% of the meal should come from carbohydrates, which in a 2,000 calories-diet amount to 250 grams of cerbohydrates.

Emilia Klapp,RD,BS
TheDiabetesClub

 

[Shanny]

And what we're trying to tell you is that there isn't enough exogenous insulin in the world to allow all diabetics to eat 250 GRAMS (yes, thank you, we are quite aware of the distinction between "carbs" and "grams of carbs") of carbohydrate every day.

When you say you get good results teaching this method, I'd like you to tell us your students' average blood sugar levels. My own average happens to be 110 mg/dl, and I don't use insulin. What kind of readings do your patients have eating 250g of carbs every day? How much insulin/oral meds do they require to maintain a safe doing-no-damage (under 140 at all times) level of blood glucose?

 

[Diana]

Hi Shanny,

What I teach my clients is to eat based on the glycemic index and I am getting very good results. It has also been my experience that teaching people how to count carbs does not work for them. Most people either do not get the complete idea or they get tired of doing it and abandon the practice which leads to disastrous results.

Have a great weekend

Emilia Klapp, RD, BS
TheDiabetesClub

Emilia, so are you still going by the 2005 recommendations? And if you don't teach people how to count carbs, how would they know to eat 250 a day? When I tried eating what the dietician recommended, I could not get my average daily bs lower than 130. I cannot eat oatmeal, whole wheat anything, most fruit and many other things that were in my meal plan. It was only by experimenting (eating something and then testing) that I was able to determine what I could eat to maintain levels between 90-110. The support here from other diabetics has been the most helpful and informative resource I have found since April when I was diagnosed. I thought I was going crazy when I kept trying to follow the dietician's recommendations! So I feel that all of you are being taken in by the government and mainstream medical "industry" and you need to listen more to the people who HAVE diabetes and also realize that we're all different.

I totally believe we don't need ANY carbs! Here's a very good explanation why: How Many Carbohydrates Do You Need | BodyRecomposition - The Home of Lyle McDonald

 

[Joshua Shorter]

I personally eat 180 GRAMS of carbs a day, give or take a little. I do carb counting and I am not the smartest guy in the world (don't tell my friends, they have a very high preception of me ). I actually eat the same amount of carbs for each meal every day (45 GRAMS for breakfast, 60 for lunch and dinner and 15 for dessert). This allows me to give myself the same amount of insulin every meal every day of the week. This is by far the easiest and most convenient method for me to control my type 1 diabetes.