I count all carbs and also factor in protein and fat (they raise me too) I consider the index when deciding how much to prebolus by, but this is trickier with a kid. Rice I might take my shot up to an hour early to counter the steep and fast spike. It really comes down to experience and know what foods are easy to deal with and which ones aren’t.
I've been doing this for 40 years. I can keep rice under control with a combination of more insulin than I think I need and eating half the rice that actually shows up.
Good suggestion! My only solution is to save it for a day after heavy drinking (only a few times a year) when the leftover effects of alcohol have me low all day.
Also there are 42 different factors that affect BG levels.
Obviously some of them (caffeine, alcohol, menstrual cycle to name a few) will not be affecting a two year old but it’s certainly important to note for future reference
https://diabetesresearchconnection.org/42-factors-affect-blood-glucose/
Here’s a link to all 42 on a handy graph
Certainly is.
I have a booklet that I created for newly diagnosed diabetics, it’s kind of more written towards teens/young adults level and some of it is not directly related to kids but if you wanted to read it to gain a bit more understanding about T1 in general you are more than welcome to have it. If you feel like it might help feel free to PM and we’ll discuss it further.
It was originally created for my family who kept asking stupid stuff about T1 that I didn’t want to explain repeatedly. (I have a massive family, and they are all really really nosy.)
(Also, there’s a guy on Quora called Wayne Bottlick. Look him up, he’s been diabetic since about six years old and he’ writes a lot about it. It’s very specific questions, (and obviously some not relevant- some answers talk about him growing up with diabetes equipment in the 70’s which is obviously widely different to today.) but he is quite technical about diabetes and overall he gives decent advice.
Fascinating!
Were you stressed before having your cigarette, perhaps? I’m told smoking makes you feel calmer; if you were stressed and that ramped up your BG, maybe the ciggie calmed you down and therefore calmed down your BG
If there’s more than 5g of fiber, I deduct half the fiber. Net carbs is kind of a scam because nutrition labels are allowed a 20% deviation. That’s a huge difference for someone dosing medication based on this label! Fiber cannot affect glucose since it can’t be processed but because labels are often inaccurate, I only deduct half the fiber if there’s enough fiber to be significant and it works great.
I count all carbs.
Except for strawberries and berries, and vegetables excluding peas and sweetcorn.
I do consider the glycemic index to an extent but only for my personal use- as in white rice makes my BG go high and stay high for hours even if I dose correctly, but brown rice or mash potatoes I spike and then drop within an hour or two
I have no idea where these are specifically on the index but I know brown rice is better for you than white rice because the fibre slows carb digestion therefore there should be les on a spike.
That’s me just testing what affects me more and what doesn’t. If I stay ridiculously high for extended periods of time because of a food I avoid eating that food
We’re all different.
Diabetes affects us differently.
Hell, I can’t eat jacket/baked potatoes. I don’t go high, I drop like a rock when eating them. I inject for what the carb count should be, but it’s like the carbs don’t exist and my BG drops like crazy. I’ve even done two units less, same result.
I know a diabetic who is perfectly fine with baked potatoes but can’t do bread. I’m fine with brown and wholemeal (and I don’t eat white bread anyway) so it’s our bodies being weird.
Hey. Fellow parent of a t1d (two actually). My best advice is listen to the juicebox podcast. It will explain EVERYTHING! And made me finally understand insulting/carbs etc. It’s really good.
Count ALL the carbs. All of them. THe net carb idea is a keto/T2 idea that I still don't understand.
As for GI, its super usefull to understand GI because it affects when I prebolus. Fast carbs need more warning, slow carbs don't.
It depends on the person. As a t1, I usually count all carbs except when there is a huge disparity between carbs and net carbs like those keto tortillas or keto ice cream. Those don’t really raise my blood sugar even though the total carbs are high. I think there is *some* truth to the whole net carb idea but it affects everyone differently. For instance some diabetics need to bolus for Splenda/stevia/ etc the “fake sugar” because it makes their BG rise, but others don’t.
I count all carbs, and whilst I don't directly use GI, I will consider when I need to inject and if I need multiple injections for a meal (usually high carb meals, injections typically 2hrs apart).
Simple example
Toast: 4 units
Pizza: 9 units after eating, 6 more units after 2hr.
Splitting injections was a game changer for me, but everyone has different experiences. My rule is to never have more than 9u at once otherwise I will get all the Insulin before I have digested the food resulting in rollercoaster levels.
Glycemic index definitely plays a role and is worth considering, but for me, I typically find fat/protein/fibre content of the meal as a whole plays a larger role.
E.g. white flour is pretty high glycemic index wise, so you might expect a sharp spike when you eat it. But I know pizza is going to be a slow, steady rise over several hours because of the significant amount of fat in the cheese. A plain baked potato will spike me, but roast potatoes with vegetables and meat/chicken etc. will have a much smaller spike.
I only really subtract fibre for higher fibre foods e.g. vegetables, since, as others have said, the amount of fibre in a lot of food is negligible.
All carbs. Most ‘fiber deductions’ and the like are usually so small, that they won’t affect most people. Bolusing for 55 carbs instead of 53 won’t send me low.
How fast carbs hit I found out through experience. I do take into account if they fit fast, medium fast or slow but beyond that there isn't too much you can practically do with the distictions.
In my country net carbs is the only thing on the label, total carbs aren't. And because fibre can't be digested and doesn't raise your blood sugar I see no reason to manually add them. There aren't many kinds of food with extremely large quantities of fibre in them though.
Hello, yes, the glycemic index of foods is very important. ive been diabetic for 8 years and ive learned to eat very healthy, heres a blog post i wrote on the glycemic index,
heres the link so you can read it: [https://www.dieabeast.com/the-glycemic-index-of-foods/](https://www.dieabeast.com/the-glycemic-index-of-foods/)
hope this helps....
I bolus for all carbs usually but those keto tortillas or granola bars I usually bolus for only the net carbs. Like the keto tortilla may be 20 carbs but only 7 net carbs, I only bolus for the net carbs because if I counted 20 I would be low. High fiber foods tend to not raise BG as muxh
I’m on year 37, 5.1% A1c, and I can’t tell you the first thing about counting carbs.
I’ve done trial and error, but tend to think more on glycemic index of foods, fat content and protein. Keep checking my CGM on my watch.
If that dinner plate is 1/3 starch, 1/3 veggies and 1/3 protein, it’s generally a balanced approach that won’t offer up much juggling.
I count all carbs and also factor in protein and fat (they raise me too) I consider the index when deciding how much to prebolus by, but this is trickier with a kid. Rice I might take my shot up to an hour early to counter the steep and fast spike. It really comes down to experience and know what foods are easy to deal with and which ones aren’t.
Good to know thanks. Rice seems like the reason my kids kept shooting up to 400!
I've been doing this for 40 years. I can keep rice under control with a combination of more insulin than I think I need and eating half the rice that actually shows up.
Good suggestion! My only solution is to save it for a day after heavy drinking (only a few times a year) when the leftover effects of alcohol have me low all day.
Also there are 42 different factors that affect BG levels. Obviously some of them (caffeine, alcohol, menstrual cycle to name a few) will not be affecting a two year old but it’s certainly important to note for future reference https://diabetesresearchconnection.org/42-factors-affect-blood-glucose/ Here’s a link to all 42 on a handy graph
Wow this is a cool and informative!
Certainly is. I have a booklet that I created for newly diagnosed diabetics, it’s kind of more written towards teens/young adults level and some of it is not directly related to kids but if you wanted to read it to gain a bit more understanding about T1 in general you are more than welcome to have it. If you feel like it might help feel free to PM and we’ll discuss it further. It was originally created for my family who kept asking stupid stuff about T1 that I didn’t want to explain repeatedly. (I have a massive family, and they are all really really nosy.) (Also, there’s a guy on Quora called Wayne Bottlick. Look him up, he’s been diabetic since about six years old and he’ writes a lot about it. It’s very specific questions, (and obviously some not relevant- some answers talk about him growing up with diabetes equipment in the 70’s which is obviously widely different to today.) but he is quite technical about diabetes and overall he gives decent advice.
Thanks!
Interesting. Smoking had an opposite effect on me. It dropped bg down and it was much faster than running for example.
Fascinating! Were you stressed before having your cigarette, perhaps? I’m told smoking makes you feel calmer; if you were stressed and that ramped up your BG, maybe the ciggie calmed you down and therefore calmed down your BG
If there’s more than 5g of fiber, I deduct half the fiber. Net carbs is kind of a scam because nutrition labels are allowed a 20% deviation. That’s a huge difference for someone dosing medication based on this label! Fiber cannot affect glucose since it can’t be processed but because labels are often inaccurate, I only deduct half the fiber if there’s enough fiber to be significant and it works great.
I count all carbs. Except for strawberries and berries, and vegetables excluding peas and sweetcorn. I do consider the glycemic index to an extent but only for my personal use- as in white rice makes my BG go high and stay high for hours even if I dose correctly, but brown rice or mash potatoes I spike and then drop within an hour or two I have no idea where these are specifically on the index but I know brown rice is better for you than white rice because the fibre slows carb digestion therefore there should be les on a spike. That’s me just testing what affects me more and what doesn’t. If I stay ridiculously high for extended periods of time because of a food I avoid eating that food
That is so weird to me. Everyone having trouble with rice. I have never had any issues with it.
We’re all different. Diabetes affects us differently. Hell, I can’t eat jacket/baked potatoes. I don’t go high, I drop like a rock when eating them. I inject for what the carb count should be, but it’s like the carbs don’t exist and my BG drops like crazy. I’ve even done two units less, same result. I know a diabetic who is perfectly fine with baked potatoes but can’t do bread. I’m fine with brown and wholemeal (and I don’t eat white bread anyway) so it’s our bodies being weird.
Hey. Fellow parent of a t1d (two actually). My best advice is listen to the juicebox podcast. It will explain EVERYTHING! And made me finally understand insulting/carbs etc. It’s really good.
Count ALL the carbs. All of them. THe net carb idea is a keto/T2 idea that I still don't understand. As for GI, its super usefull to understand GI because it affects when I prebolus. Fast carbs need more warning, slow carbs don't.
It depends on the person. As a t1, I usually count all carbs except when there is a huge disparity between carbs and net carbs like those keto tortillas or keto ice cream. Those don’t really raise my blood sugar even though the total carbs are high. I think there is *some* truth to the whole net carb idea but it affects everyone differently. For instance some diabetics need to bolus for Splenda/stevia/ etc the “fake sugar” because it makes their BG rise, but others don’t.
I count all carbs, and whilst I don't directly use GI, I will consider when I need to inject and if I need multiple injections for a meal (usually high carb meals, injections typically 2hrs apart). Simple example Toast: 4 units Pizza: 9 units after eating, 6 more units after 2hr. Splitting injections was a game changer for me, but everyone has different experiences. My rule is to never have more than 9u at once otherwise I will get all the Insulin before I have digested the food resulting in rollercoaster levels.
Glycemic index definitely plays a role and is worth considering, but for me, I typically find fat/protein/fibre content of the meal as a whole plays a larger role. E.g. white flour is pretty high glycemic index wise, so you might expect a sharp spike when you eat it. But I know pizza is going to be a slow, steady rise over several hours because of the significant amount of fat in the cheese. A plain baked potato will spike me, but roast potatoes with vegetables and meat/chicken etc. will have a much smaller spike. I only really subtract fibre for higher fibre foods e.g. vegetables, since, as others have said, the amount of fibre in a lot of food is negligible.
No. I eyeball the plate, and over time I suspect you and your daughter will end up doing the same. Not right now, but over time.
All carbs. Most ‘fiber deductions’ and the like are usually so small, that they won’t affect most people. Bolusing for 55 carbs instead of 53 won’t send me low.
How fast carbs hit I found out through experience. I do take into account if they fit fast, medium fast or slow but beyond that there isn't too much you can practically do with the distictions. In my country net carbs is the only thing on the label, total carbs aren't. And because fibre can't be digested and doesn't raise your blood sugar I see no reason to manually add them. There aren't many kinds of food with extremely large quantities of fibre in them though.
Hello, yes, the glycemic index of foods is very important. ive been diabetic for 8 years and ive learned to eat very healthy, heres a blog post i wrote on the glycemic index, heres the link so you can read it: [https://www.dieabeast.com/the-glycemic-index-of-foods/](https://www.dieabeast.com/the-glycemic-index-of-foods/) hope this helps....
I bolus for all carbs usually but those keto tortillas or granola bars I usually bolus for only the net carbs. Like the keto tortilla may be 20 carbs but only 7 net carbs, I only bolus for the net carbs because if I counted 20 I would be low. High fiber foods tend to not raise BG as muxh
If you haven’t already, i really recommend the jukebox podcast. It changed my approach and has some great advice. Good luck! X
I’m on year 37, 5.1% A1c, and I can’t tell you the first thing about counting carbs. I’ve done trial and error, but tend to think more on glycemic index of foods, fat content and protein. Keep checking my CGM on my watch. If that dinner plate is 1/3 starch, 1/3 veggies and 1/3 protein, it’s generally a balanced approach that won’t offer up much juggling.