REALAGE TIP

Low-Carb Diets and Your Blood Sugar

Do low-carb diets help reduce your risk of diabetes?

Not if the carbs are upstaged by meat, cheese, and other unhealthful sources of fat. A better plan? Get your protein and fat from vegetable sources. It could mean whittling your risk of diabetes along with your waist.

Return to Full Tip

Add Your Tip

Tips from the RealAge Community MemberTipsIcon

What's your top tip for keeping your blood sugar under control?

Sort by:

Slick55

1 of 1 people found this helpful.

7/8/2008 3:19:00 PM

New research is showing that a high fat/low carb diet is better for your heart than a low fat diet. I am Type II Diabetic and have lost 55 pounds on the high fat/low carb diet (or as I like to say "lifestyle") and my blood sugar is under much better control even though I have stopped my meds (over a year ago). On medication I never saw a reading under 120 but now I'm seeing between 75 and 90. I just turned 50 and had a complete physical with blood work and my doctor said everything was perfect and whatever I was doing to keep doing it and more of it. Google Dr. Mary Vernon for more information.

Hadra

7 of 8 people found this helpful.

5/18/2008 6:13:58 PM

Add nuts to your morning cereal, salads etc. Reduce the your salt intake - do not put salt shaker on the table! Take Probiotics X2 a day to reduce bloating and digestion problems to name a couple...
Walk never stop moving....

sugarbaby1

9 of 10 people found this helpful.

5/15/2008 8:06:40 PM

I found out that changing my eating habits, has kept my sugar level under control. I eat more vegetables and fruits, the only animal protein that I consume is fish.I eat whole grains and I stay away from refined carbohydrates. I exercise.

Sunmum

8 of 9 people found this helpful.

5/15/2008 5:36:39 AM

I have been hypoglycemic for 34 years and I have been having success using Agave nectar for my Rooibus teas, and Decaf. Green. Theres a new energy bar made with Agave Nectar called Raw Revolution developed by a nurse that is the first energy bar I've ever eaten that does not cause a low blood sugar reaction. There are alot of delicious flavors. I also have been eating gluten free for two years. Instead, I eat buckwheat, brown rice products, millet. I eat fish and eggs, but no soy products. I like eggplant or mushrooms as meat replacements. Hummus or guacomole as sandwich meat replacements.

[Edited by Sunmum on 5/15/2008 5:38:59 AM]

Karen_F

4 of 4 people found this helpful.

5/14/2008 7:05:40 AM

I have steroid, prednisone, induced type II diabetes. This is well controlled by low carb diet and exercise. I must watch my carb intake and the SIZE of my meals VERY, VERY closely when on Prednisone and the 6 weeks after. I think humans were meant to be "grazers", eating very small snacks/meals all day long. We were never intended to have this ready access to huge portion meals or gorge multiple times a day.

herbsgirl38

5 of 5 people found this helpful.

5/14/2008 5:39:01 AM

I found out I had diabetes back in Nov of 2002. I was seen by a dietician and she gave me ADA Diet(American Diabetes Association), which restricted carbs. By following this diet, I not only lost 60 pds, but also had my Hemoglobin A1C drop to normal limits within 3-4 months and was told I could discontinue my glucophage! I have maintained my diet and so far, so good, haven't had to restart meds!

clownfish

9 of 10 people found this helpful.

5/12/2008 7:06:11 PM

I have found that the best snack for controlling hunger and stabilizing blood sugar to be apples w/peanut butter.

shandu

4 of 6 people found this helpful.

5/12/2008 11:18:39 AM

Lets stop this fat is bad for you thing... fat is good for you, its very important for you, its essential for you. Of course there is fat and fat, some of the best fats are animal fats from normal animals ie not grain fed, hormone pumped animals, but from animals that eat what they are supposed to eat. Cholesterol is essential for our bodies, if you eat a well balanced diet, of normal grass fed meat or wild fish, veggies, and stay away from processed food and nuked food, your body will get what it needs take care of all your HDL, LDL, triglyceride levels. The fat is bad for you dogma is one of the reasons (along with processed foods and all the various sugars in food) everyone is sick. Let me point you to a recent study that just flies in the face of everything we though we had nailed, and proves that modern medicine is in a way still in the middle ages.
Animal trans-fats reduce your LDL and triglycerides, yes you can say "say waht!??" here is the link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402152140.htm

tropicgal

19 of 19 people found this helpful.

5/11/2008 9:22:06 AM

What are the veggies that we can get protein and fat from? I didn't see any specific mention of them in the article or links.

[Edited by tropicgal on 5/11/2008 9:24:49 AM]

weegeordie

5 of 5 people found this helpful.

5/10/2008 10:33:17 PM

I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned the recent book "Good calories, bad calories: challenging the conventional wisdom on diet, weight control and disease" by Gary Taubes, an award-winning science writer. In 600 pages, it reviews the research on diet and obesity over the last 100 plus years, and comes down firmly on the side of Atkins-type diets. It also traces the origins of the "fat is bad for you, complex carbs are good" fad, and notes that since it became popular in the 60s obesity and other disorders have run rampant. I strongly recommend this book to the owners of this site. It will be difficult of course at this time for them to change their tune. Good luck!

CaliDarin

3 of 3 people found this helpful.

5/10/2008 9:36:53 PM

Articles like this do people a diservice. On a few of the low carb plans out there, even with the increase of fat from animal products, cholesterol numbers in case studies have dropped in those tested. In fact, there are cardiologist who will recomend an atkins like plan for their patients. On the Atkins plan in particular, the diet must include suppliments, including fish, flax and borage oils. These are in fact, adding fat to the diet, but these fats have been shown to reduce cholesterol.

locarbs4me

6 of 6 people found this helpful.

5/10/2008 6:58:40 PM

One word: hooey (my opinion). Actually, there are independent articles on the Atkins website (as in, not written by that site) *endorsing* Atkins for people with diabetes--it makes sense when you think about it, because it's a low/no-sugar diet. As for having a low-carb diet *without* eating meat, cheese, etc.--all that leaves you is veggies and beans, which I like, but not something most people can make a meal off of. BTW, it's not about "loading up" on high-fat foods, as this site claims, it's about *reasonable* amounts, and avoiding sugar at all costs. I have turned to this diet after being on the type of diet RealAge recommends for ages and not losing squat (also having developed a severe starch allergy, which makes it all but impossible for me to eat bread, grains and most of the foods on the low-fat/high-carb diets). Bottom line: not all diets work for everybody, but please investigate the diet yourself before just taking this site's word that Atkins, South beach or any other low-carb diet won't work. For many people, it *does*, when no other diet did.

[Edited by locarbs4me on 5/10/2008 7:01:34 PM]

4mailcme

11 of 11 people found this helpful.

5/10/2008 12:51:05 PM

I reduced my arthritis joint pain simply by reducing my intake of sweets. I began by reading the lable of everything I ate - if it says High Fructose Corn Syrup I won't even touch it! ANYTHING that ends in "ose" in the ingredient list likely is some sort of sugar to be avoided or consumed in moderation. You will not believe how much sugar is in what we eat and how bad it is for everyone! Read Sugar Shock! for lots more information. Google Dr. Nancy Appleton as well, and you will see what I mean.

Arvilla

14 of 16 people found this helpful.

5/10/2008 1:21:39 AM

I want to just say that I am 59 yrs. old. and have been a border-line diabetic for 25 yrs.and controled it with my diet,but 6 mos.ago I went into full blown diabetises and have to take 4 shots a day. My point is, take care of yourself and give your children fresh fruit or a great snack is to save your dill pickle juice and cut carrots into strips, put into the dill juice and let stand for about a week in the fridge. They are great.Everyone can eat these.

letseathea...

11 of 16 people found this helpful.

5/9/2008 9:44:55 PM

I was reading an old Dr. Atkins book and it's probably possible to lose on that diet, but I can't see how he ever thought it could be healthy. I agree with the low fat and vegetables and grains for carbs and lean meat within moderation. I also believe in walking often. I lost about 25 lbs. a couple yrs ago and I've kept it off. I think that balance is the answer to losing weight and keeping it off.

eileenfb

7 of 8 people found this helpful.

5/9/2008 9:05:08 PM

Why are animal fats to be avoided in relation to blood sugar levels?

What is meant by animal protein being a better quality! Meat contains all the essential amino acids which we need to make protein; eating plants require a combination of foods to get the same range of essential amino acids. Quality is not in question, surely. It is well known that eating beans on toast gives us all the essential amino acids we need; there are also other food combinations which result in us having "first class" protein.