Newbie looking for GL info.

JCRogers

Newbie
Messages
2
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
My name is Jerry, but everyone calls me JC (My initials). I am 80, a retired master carpenter. We live in the rural area of drought stricken Northern California in the US. I also have dementia and my wife takes care of me and my meds. I have been T2 since 1984 when a drunk driver crashed me and damaged my pancreatis. I take insulin and have a CGM which has been wonderful. Lately I have become VERY insulin resistent and my wife, a compulsive researcher, has been looking for ways to better manage my sugars through diet. We are learning about GL and how to apply this to our diet. We are glad to have found this website as we find UK sites more informative than the ones here in the USA.
 

ianf0ster

Moderator
Staff Member
Messages
2,429
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
exercise, phone calls
Hi @JCRogers and welcome to the forum.

The way we categorise the many different forms of Diabetes in this forum, you may find the posts for Type 3(C) to be of interest as well as those for Type2.

I'm strictly a T2 myself (in remission for 3yrs) - I know that isn't a possibility for you.
For me, and for me and others with a straightforward version of Type 2, we find that the Glycaemic Index of a carbohydrate food (be it sugary or starchy) is often misleading, when it comes to its effect on our Blood Glucose. We vary quite a lot between each other as to how we respond to carbohydrates in different foods. For example, I experience a Blood Glucose spike from Oats and from Carrots where others can eat normal portions of them. The same applies to a lesser extent to Glycaemic Load (which is what you are asking about).

So my advice is always to test foods with either a BG meter or with a CGM, not just accept a GI or GL number at face value.

Here is a blog post which I found to be particularly useful to me when learning about carbohydrates and Blood Glucose, though again it is aimed at Type 2's who aren't on insulin.
 

JCRogers

Newbie
Messages
2
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
Thank you so much for your comments! I will keep this in mind when charting my progress.
 

EllieM

Moderator
Staff Member
Messages
9,321
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
forum bugs
Hi @JCRogers and welcome to the forums.

A lot of the T2s here control their diabetes by reducing the carbohydrate in their diet. They can do this because their diabetes is caused by insulin resistance (their insulin does not work properly) rather than lack of insulin (T1s and also T3cs, whose pancreases don't produce as much insulin as they should).

Like @ianf0ster I am guessing you are in the T3c category. Can I ask what type of insulin you take and what sort of diet are you on to match that insulin? Do you count carbohydrates?

I had to look up the meaning of glycemic load (it's glycemic index multiplied by the carb value of the food eaten, then divided by 100)..

As a T1, I'm not sure how relevant it is to me because I make no insulin and have to inject for the total carbs, but I can see it may be relevant to other diabetics.

Once more, welcome