3 ms·
First of all - my sympathies - it's hard enough managing this condition in yourself, and controlling it for someone too young to communicate must add a whole ex
by Jarmsy 4y ago
First of all - my sympathies - it's hard enough managing this condition in yourself, and controlling it for someone too young to communicate must add a whole extra level of difficulty.
What's the current thinking on a low carb diet for T1 infants?
I'm T1 and during the periods when I've eaten very low carb I had amazing control - once I got my basal adjusted right I was using only tiny amounts of Humalog and my curve was the flattest it has ever been. It felt more like very occasional nudges to something that wanted to move straight, rather than constantly batting back and forth between 2 lines.
That said, I do eat moderate carb these days, because I find that I can still manage good enough control - after decades of practise and with close monitoring and a fair bit of work - and it's more convenient for eating with others, not to mention cheaper. I found my energy levels and concentration on low carb were good after a while, but the process of switching is tough, and it's not something you can easily dip in and out of. If my highest priority was easier and more reliable control with minimal treatment though I would absolutely choose low carb.
I realise that for a growing child, the nutritional concerns would probably be rather different though.
- devilbunny 4y agoYou would definitely need to find the right pediatric endocrinologist with dietician support - preferably a dietician who has constructed and managed true ketogenic diets (for epilepsy, as the primary goal thereis to produce maximum ketone bodies as antiepileptics, not just cut carbs) for a good while. Those can be structured to provide all the necessary nutrients for growing children; infants would be hard even for someone with a lot of experience. For teenage and adult T1’s, simply being low-carb is often enough to greatly improve glucose control.
- vallassy 4y agoThis is the comment I was going to write. I am not a parent and I have no experience with diabetes, but in my simple mind, if insulin's main role in the body is to control blood glucose, and the main trigger of blood glucose is carbohydrates... why not restrict carbohydrates? As with parent comment, it would just eliminate the blood glucose level rollercoaster that diabetics are otherwise expected to endure. You probably would not be able to find a nutritionist that would recommend such a diet for a toddler though, given the current mainstream recommendations on meat, fat and low carbohydrate diets.
- grahar64 4y agoAll food rises blood sugar and going low carb can have all sorts of weird effects in BGL. Keto/paleo/low carb is also not fun for a kid. If it takes a bit more work and he is safe he can eat some cake
- grahar64 4y agoYeah. There is a balance between being a normal kid and going for 100% TIR everyday. No carb would help, but what would the trade off be. We let him have cake (without icing) and let him have banana and all sorts of carby food. I understand adults that want that extra control for themselves, but I think it is another thing to make someone else do it. Like training for a marathon might be cool if you do it for yourself, but would be torture if someone else was making you do it.