Back on the Low Carb!

Posted on by Emma
picture of chorizo sausage, the Diabetes Diet
I could probably eat this Every. Single. Day.

Goodbye carbs. It was fun while it lasted, particularly that beef mac and cheese*, but you and I need to rethink our relationship…

While practising for a half-marathon, I upped my carb intakes. Some type 1s have managed endurance training on a low-carb diet, but I wasn’t one of them. My body refused to put one step in front of another without fruit, bread, protein flapjacks or potatoes, but now I’m fed of blood sugar levels that rollercoaster all over the place, and the particularly nasty lows you get thanks to too much rapid-acting insulin where you eventually surface from mental fog surrounded by sweetie packets and the sinking feeling, ‘Blast. I’ve completely over-treated that hypo.’

Hello cheese, meat, eggs and fish! Welcome back butter, cream and mayo in lavish amounts. And planning of course—the writing of endless lists, shopping, menu plans, revisiting old low-carb favourites. I haven’t eaten chorizo for a few months and my mouth waters at the thought of it, dry-fried crispy in the pan, oozing red oil that coats mushrooms and salad leaves… yum.

a picture of a blood testing machine on The Diabetes Diet
This will be my blood sugar levels from now on. All the time. Yes sirree.

I’ve eaten low-carb on/off (and mostly on) now for almost ten years. Whenever I come back to it after spells on the bread, a few weeks of super-strict low-carbing make me feel I can conquer the world. I get a rush of energy and mental clarity. Give it a month or so and I’ll be banging on the door of Number 10. Step aside, Theresa May. I’ll deal with Brexit for you!

[Perhaps I should write to Theresa, a type 1 herself, and suggest she try 14 days on a keto diet to help with the thorny issue of how the UK exits the EU. Or keto clarity might give her the strength to say, ‘Citizens! Remain calm. We’re staying in.’]

Then there’s the other thing. Between you and me, reader, the digestive issues of the higher carb diet are a LOT to contend with. We’re talking bloating, rumbling noises and let’s not be coy here—gas. After one race, I ate fish and chips and delicious as it was, the heartburn was horrific. Low carb, high-fat meals don’t make me uncomfortable most of the time. A sore, bloated stomach or having to spend a lot of time trying to hold in gas make a person tired and very grumpy. One of the case studies in our book, the Diabetes Diet reported that several months on a low-carb diet cut out the farting issue for her, much to the relief of everyone around her…

So, full charge forward on the low-carb meal making front. Moussaka via the Diet Doctor, cauliflower cheese, peanut butter cookies via Fit to Serve, lamb with hummus, low carb chicken wings via Yummy Lummy, and crust-less pizza.

Good times!

 

*For the love of food, good people, please try this. Ragu sauce, macaroni and cheese, topped with bread crumbs and yet more cheese. What’s not to love?

Published by Emma

Emma Baird is a type 1 diabetic and a writer, specialising in romcoms and fiction that focuses on relationships. She is also the co-author of The Diabetes Diet and she runs her own blogging/PR business. Most importantly, she is the guardian of two very spoiled cats…

12 thoughts on “Back on the Low Carb!”

  2. It’s remarkable how a low carb diet reduces the bloating and for me the faecal urgency that makes going for a walk or thinking about a long drive anxiety-filled. While low carb often leads to constipation, I’d prefer that than always wondering when the urge to purge is suddenly going to hit me.

    Liked by 1 person

    2. Low carb fixed a lot of things for me, but it was giving up wheat that dealt with the years of GERD and the decades of blowing off like a carthorse. There’s a distinct threshold effect, I can get away with tiny quantities when eating out, more and the farting returns, more still and the GERD and general intestinal grumbling come back.

      If you need to up your carbs again you might try sticking to things like rice, potatoes, oats etc. Just a thought . . .

      Liked by 2 people

      2. Lots of responses are individualistic – I am pretty much limited to berries for fruit – but I know people who can eat what I can’t, and vice versa. The wheat thing is surprisingly common though. And when dieticians sternly tell you you must not avoid gluten unless you are diagnosed coeliac and it’s important to eat wheat, my spidey senses start tingling. I’m not sure how much it’s the gluten and how much other things like wheat germ agglutinin which is probably what makes it spike my glucose so badly, but it’s a simple N=1 test to avoid it and see what improves.

        Liked by 1 person

    1. It’s individual, isn’t it? I don’t think it’s for everyone and we ought to eat the stuff that keeps us ‘healthy’ and we like, and that varies for us all.

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