Hi Docs,
My wife recently went to see an endocrinologist about her hormone levels and generally not feeling well. After blood work the Dr. told her she has a high insulin level and her fasting glucose was 95. She gave her a prescription for Metaformin 500mg and told her to drop her weight. She has been weight training and doing cardio the last 2 years and lost 50 lbs but has gain 15 of it back the last 2 months. She was doing pretty good about tracking her food and marcos but the weight loss seemed to stop. She works a desk job so activity levels are pretty low. Other than telling her to lose weight the Dr. didn’t really have anymore guidance. She’s eating 1700 cal per day. What percentage of that should be carbs? Thank you
BHN597,
Thanks for the post. It is somewhat difficult to advise anything specific given the limited information here. However, your wife and others who are at risk for metabolic syndrome tend to benefit from weight loss, exercise, and potentially medications that help control blood sugar.
Low carbohydrate diets, e.g. those < 100g of carbohydrates per day or < 20-25% of daily energy intake from carbohydrates, can be used with EQUIVALENT LEVELS of success as low-fat or other types of diets. If she finds that adherence is better with a particular dietary pattern, that’d be the one we’d advise. I wouldn’t necessarily pick a specific level of carbohydrate intake, however.
-Jordan
Thank you much for the insight.