Blog About Diabetes

Managing diabetes requires a toolbox of strategies. Taking your medications as prescribed, getting screening tests done in a timely fashion, monitoring blood sugar levels on a daily basis, are a few of these tools. Another tool to add to your box is carbohydrate counting.

Carbohydrate counting helps keep your blood glucose levels under control whether you take oral medications like metformin or use insulin. A study done at the University of Texas School of Allied Health Sciences in Galveston found that eating the same amount of carbohydrates each day gave people with Type II diabetes improved glucose control. They dropped their average blood glucose reading 55 mg/dl and their hemoglobin A1c by almost 2 points.

In order to start counting carbs, you need to know what a carbohydrate is. Carbohydrates includes sugars and starches. The source does not matter because both raise blood sugar levels. What is important is the total carbohydrate content of a food.

The nuts and bolts of carb counting:

Reading Labels

All packaged foods have food labels. Look for the total carbohydrate content of the food you are looking at. The total carbohydrate includes everything in the food that is carbohydrate, sugar, fiber, starches. Now look at the serving size listed on the package. The total amount of carbohydrate amount is based on that serving size. So if you eat more or less than that serving size you need to adjust your carb number.

For example: if a serving size is half a cup and you are going to eat a full cup, you will need to double your carb amount. There are two adjustments that you can make for fiber and sugar alcohols like mannitol, sorbitol, and xylitol. If the package lists fiber grams, subtract the number from the total carb amount. Subtract ½ the grams of sugar alcohols from the total carb content. For example : a food contains 4 grams of mannitol, subtract 2 grams from the total carb content.

Check nutrition listings

Get carbohydrate content information for unpackaged or restaurant food by carrying a printed or electronic database. There are many available some you can download onto your phone for easy access.

Learn to estimate portion sizes

An easy and quick way to count carbohydrates is called portion conversion. Portion conversion is when you compare a serving of food to a common object such as a ball or a deck of cards. Then take that amount and convert into a carbohydrate count based on the typical carbohydrate content for a a known amount of that food.

For example: one cup of cooked pasta has about 40 grams of carbohydrate. You estimate the servings on your plate to be 1 and ½ cups because a 12 ounce can of soda is approximately equal to the serving on your plate. So 1 and ½ cups of pasta has 60 carbs in it. You will need to have a list of standard food portions and their carb content.

Some common “measuring” devices:

adult fist = 1 cup

baseball = 1 cup

deck of cards =1/3 cup

12 ounce soda can =1 ½ cups

The best way to improve your skills is to practice. Estimate the volume of a food item and then compare it the food label or measure it out manually.

Carb counting may seem difficult at first but with practice you can get better. And the result will be better blood sugar control overall.

Eating right for diabetes comes down to three things:  

• What you eat. Your diet makes a huge difference!! You should eat mostly plant foods, cut back on refined carbs and sugary drinks, and choose healthy fats over unhealthy fats.

Refined carbs and sugary drinks create a quick spike in your blood sugar and may cause an over secretion of insulin with resulting hypoglycemia in Type 2 Diabetics.  This results in eating more to overcome the low sugars which results in weight gain as increasing insulin levels also results in increased fat storage.  This results in increase insulin insensitivity which worsens the diabetes.  Dizzy yet!

• When you eat.Diet is part of it, but keeping regular meal and snack times also affects your blood sugar levels and will help to keep them more constant.

Spacing small frequent meals regularly helps level out insulin levels and decreases weight gain.

• How much you eat. Portion sizes matter. Even if you eat very healthy meals, if you eat too much you will gain weight, which is a factor in diabetes.

Focus on SMALL frequent meals.  Unfortunately, small and American don’t coincide!  But we must change our way of thinking about food.  We don’t need all you can eat to get our money’s worth.  We don’t need to have it our way.  Split a meal with your spouse or friend.  You’ll be surprised how satisying it is.  We do need to be healthy!

You do not need to eat special foods, but instead simply emphasize vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. A diabetes diet is simply a healthy eating plan that is high in nutrients, low in fat, and moderate in calories. It is a healthy diet for anyone!

Source : http://www.helpguide.org/life/healthy_diet_diabetes.htm

Live long and prosper,

Dr. Ray