Does Every Diabetic Diet Have to Include Carbs?

If you are a diabetic, your doctor or nutritionist may have told you that your diabetic diet must contain adequate carbohydrates, despite the fact that diabetes is a disease all about your blood sugars being too high and carbohydrates raise your blood sugars, because "your brain has to have 130 grams of glucose" every day. While it is true that your brain is a unique organ that can only burn glucose, other organs being able to use nutrients for energy, your body can get those 130 grams from foods that will not raise your blood sugars.

In the "old days," the only way most diabetics could measure their blood sugars was with little strips of paper they dunked in their urine. If the paper turned blue, then blood sugars were too high and they needed insulin. If the paper did not turn color, then blood sugars were not too high, but there was no way to tell whether they were normal or low.

To protect their diabetic patients against the dangers of hypoglycemia and insulin shock, they recommended every diabetic eat carbohydrate. Hypoglycemia can be immediately fatal, as in the case of a diabetic in insulin shock driving into a utility pole. High blood sugars were fatal only slowly, so eating carbs was better than not.

In modern times, however, diabetics can measure their blood sugars more precisely, so the old "insurance" of eating carbs with every meal is not necessary (unless, of course, you are taking too much insulin or too much medication). The human brain can get the glucose it needs in many ways that do not require eating sugary, carb-loaded foods.

The liver can convert up to 58 per cent of the protein you eat into glucose, slowly enough that it does not raise blood sugars, but fast enough to provide energy to the brain. About 10 oz (280 grams) of protein foods every day is enough to provide your brain with the energy it needs. If you just eat a measly half-ounce (15 grams) of carbohydrate at every meal, say a great big salad or one slice of bread, you still get all the carbs you really need. And if you eat the salad instead of the bread, you keep your blood sugars low while getting other important nutrients.

If you eat all the carbs recommended by the American Diabetes Association diet, you will go through a daily cycle of sugar high (as all the "healthy" carbs are converted to glucose) followed by adrenal crash, every single time you eat. Keeping your carbs to a minimum, even less than the 130 grams recommended by doctors before glucose meters or the 400-500 grams on the ADA diet, will keep your blood sugars and your brain on an even keel throughout the day.