1. You Don’t Explore All Your Low-Carb Diet Options
There is no universally agreed upon recommendation for how many carbs to eat on a low-carb diet, says Patti Urbanski, RD, CDCES, a clinical dietitian and diabetes educator at St. Luke’s Hospital in Duluth, Minnesota. People who follow a low-carb diet have a lot of freedom to choose how many carbohydrates they’ll eat in a day.
Most Americans get about 45 percent of their total daily calories from carbs, Urbanski says. So, anything less than 26 percent of your daily calories from carbs can be considered low-carb. For someone on a 2,000-calorie diet, that would mean eating fewer than 130 grams (g) of carbs per day.
Very low carb diets, including the keto diet, run as little as 20 to 50 total g of carbs per day.
Which approach is right for you? “There are many factors that must be considered when deciding how many carbs an individual should consume daily,” says Lori Zanini, RD, CDCES, a registered dietitian in private practice who’s based in Manhattan Beach, California. “Some of these factors include how well-controlled blood sugar levels are, current medications or insulin, additional health conditions, food preferences, budget, and health goals.”
2. You Don’t Communicate Regularly With Your Healthcare Team
Your diabetes care team can help you determine the right low-carb approach for you. It’s also important to notify them of any diet or lifestyle changes to avoid any potential side effects.
“It’s recommended that someone on SGLT2 inhibitors should not go on a low-carb diet or should first discontinue and change medications under their doctor’s supervision,” Urbanski says. Examples of SGLT2 inhibitors include canagliflozin (Invokana), dapagliflozin (Farxiga), and empagliflozin (Jardiance).
Some people need annual appointments, while others can benefit from seeing a registered dietitian or diabetes educator every two to three months.
Search the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ Find a Nutrition Expert tool for a registered dietitian-nutritionist near you. You can also look for certified diabetes care and education specialists through the Certification Board for Diabetes Care and Education.
3. You Don’t Monitor Your Blood Sugar
While a low-carb diet can help stabilize your blood sugar, it’s still important to monitor it carefully to prevent periods of hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia, says Vandana Sheth, CDCES, a Los Angeles–based registered dietitian-nutritionist.
4. You Focus Too Much on Total Carbs and Not Enough on Carb Quality
A low-carb diet shouldn’t just be about what you cut. It should also be about what you add into your nutrition plan, Zanini says.
When following a low-carb diet, the more you can focus on whole, unprocessed foods, the better. These foods can include healthy high-fat foods, such as olive oil, avocado, walnuts, and salmon. But the exact amount of fat you should eat depends on whether you are following a keto diet or trying to build lean muscle through an increase in dietary protein, Urbanski says.
If you become too focused on reducing carbs, you may end up replacing them with high-calorie fats, as well as sugar-free foods that contain artificial sweeteners, which may encourage you to eat more.
5. You Get All Your Carbs at Once Rather Than Spreading Them Out
Evenly distributing carb intake throughout the day can prevent these dips and stabilize your levels.
Sheth recommends that most people with type 2 diabetes aim to consume 30 to 45 g of carbs per meal. To figure out the right balance for you, divide your goal number of daily carbohydrates by the number of meals and snacks you plan to eat throughout the day.
6. You Miss Out on Fiber, Which Is a Powerhouse Nutrient
Fiber is critical to overall health: It lowers blood pressure, improves insulin health, and encourages weight loss by stabilizing blood sugar and increasing satiety, Zanini says.
But Americans aren’t getting enough fiber, even when eating carb-rich diets. On average, male adults with type 2 diabetes typically consume 4.2 percent of the recommended amount of fiber, while female adults with the condition consume 8.1 percent.
The recommended daily amount of fiber for adults up to age 50 is 25 g for women and 38 g for men. Women and men older than 50 should have 21 and 30 g daily, respectively.
When following a low-carb diet, try to add plenty of high-fiber foods to your meals. Low- to moderate-carb options include leafy greens, berries, legumes, and low-carb, high-fiber breads and tortillas, Sheth says.
7. You Drink Too Little Water, Increasing Your Risk of Dehydration
If you’re aiming to eat less food as part of your low-carb plan, this can lower your sodium levels even more. Dehydration and too-low sodium levels can cause lightheadedness and dizziness, and prevent your cells from functioning optimally, she says. These dehydration symptoms are a part of the so-called keto flu that often afflicts new low-carb dieters.
The Takeaway
- Consuming a low-carb diet can help people with type 2 diabetes effectively manage their blood sugar levels.
- When starting out, it’s important to avoid some common low-carb diet mistakes, such as not focusing on carb quality and not drinking enough fluids, so that your diet can work most effectively to protect your health.
- Work with your healthcare team to determine which type of low-carb diet may be right for you. Too few carbs can make it tougher to stick to your diet, while dehydration can lead to uncomfortable symptoms, such as dizziness and fatigue.
- While a low-carb diet is generally beneficial for managing blood sugar levels, it’s still important to monitor your blood sugar levels. If you detect very high or low blood sugar levels, you may need to adjust your portion sizes or medication.
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