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Carbs of which sugars

J

Jlewis12351996

Active Member
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so I've been told when looking at food the thing to look at is carbs of which sugars and not the overall carb number but since I've started on insulin I'm starting to believe that's not the case can anyone give any advice please
 
I use the total carbohydrate value from nutrition information when working out insulin doses. Not sure where you're located but worth mentioning the carb value does not include fibre in the UK but does in the US.
 
db89 said:
I use the total carbohydrate value from nutrition information when working out insulin doses. Not sure where you're located but worth mentioning the carb value does not include fibre in the UK but does in the US.
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Well I'm in long acting insulin and frankly I'm disgusted if that is the case as my diabetic centre said to only read the sugars label
 
All carbohydrates (except fibre) are reduced to sugar which raises blood glucose during digestion. Don't know their reasons for telling you to only look at sugar content - perhaps they are familiarising you with carb counting before adding bolus insulin later? Although it would still make more sense to count total carbohydrate in this case.
 
Jlewis12351996 said:
so I've been told when looking at food the thing to look at is carbs of which sugars and not the overall carb number but since I've started on insulin I'm starting to believe that's not the case can anyone give any advice please
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Carb content.
 
Well this explains a lot....I'd been told to only read the sugars but for the last year I haven't been on insulin I just needed to control my diet so I was just looking at the sugars number and I've been eating stuff that's only had 3 g of which sugars but now looking at the total carbs number they've had 20 g of carbs....no ****** wonder my test result numbers went higher because sometimes when my bs were lower (3s and low 4s) I'd eat a couple of things of low of which sugars but that's probably over 50 g of carbs in them

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db89 said:
All carbohydrates (except fibre) are reduced to sugar which raises blood glucose during digestion. Don't know their reasons for telling you to only look at sugar content - perhaps they are familiarising you with carb counting before adding bolus insulin later? Although it would still make more sense to count total carbohydrate in this case.
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Well I wish they'd ****** well told me if that was the reason. Extremely ****** of now tbh

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Sadly, this isn’t the first time people have posted to say that their health team have told them about sugar, not carbs. It is very frustrating, and extremely misleading!

I would be making an official complaint.
 
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Jlewis12351996 said:
for the last year I haven't been on insulin I just needed to control my diet so I was just looking at the sugars number and I've been eating stuff that's only had 3 g of which sugars but now looking at the total carbs number they've had 20 g of carbs....no ****** wonder my test result numbers
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I feel your anger. That's quite a jump from diet straight onto insulin but obviously I'm not a doctor and don't know all the facts. It must surely be worth your while actually asking why you were not told to look at carbs and only look at sugar. Even my diabetic relatives were carb counting decades ago.
 
dbr10 said:
One of the first things you learn is trust no one.
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Agreed,
I would probably say

‘Trust no piece of advice until you have verified it using more than one reliable and independent source and made sure the info is relevant to your personal circumstances’.

Of course that also includes information given out on Internet forums!
 
Hi @Jlewis12351996 ok I have responded to your other post about degludec which fits with what you’ve been told here - I would vent your anger into a complaint to your team as this advice needs addressing.
 
Jlewis12351996 said:
Well I wish they'd ****** well told me if that was the reason. Extremely ****** of now tbh

Post edited by moderator for language
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I understand your anger and frustration.
Please moderate your language.
The moderators of this site are volunteers who do a lot of work for us. I prefer not to add to their workload by getting them to tone down our language.
 
I remember being told the same thing years ago before I was carb counting properly, so was surprised when I was told to look at full carb value and not just sugar.
 
As a T2 I wasn't even told to look at the full nutrition label. I was told to look at the traffic light symbols for the sugar content. "Go for as many greens as you can and avoid too many reds"
 
I honestly beleive that the lack of information given boils down to the fact that many HCPs consider we patients too dumb to understand, bless em they think we would become confused. The confusion happens because we are given too little and, too often erroneous, info.
 
If you get yourself Carbs and Cals, as an app or text form, then that will also help you to calculate the carbs. And it’s the carbs that are important!
Have you seen the discussions on this site about the lchf (low carb high fat) diet? I think lots of T2s are finding it helps too but, like everything, you need to look at it for yourself.
 
Guzzler said:
I honestly beleive that the lack of information given boils down to the fact that many HCPs consider we patients too dumb to understand, bless em they think we would become confused. The confusion happens because we are given too little and, too often erroneous, info.
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I was at a first rheumatologist appointment yesterday, and after I’d asked a couple of pertinent questions, the doctor sort of looked at me with an impressed face and said “do you have a medical background?”. No, but a fair bit of science and background reading on the reasons I was referred in the first place. The appointment went at a much higher level of discourse after that. I suppose they have to assume the patient might not have a great deal of medical/nutrition/science/anatomical/immunological knowledge to start with. I’ve found the problems start when they don’t take on board that you can understand all the information and continue to talk at you like you’re six.

I’ve started asking to be copied in to the correspondence now, which means I can read things at my leisure and double check anything I’m not sure on.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
As a T2 I wasn't even told to look at the full nutrition label. I was told to look at the traffic light symbols for the sugar content. "Go for as many greens as you can and avoid too many reds"
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I'd posit that goes along with the demonisation of fat since it has 2 entries on the traffic light label smh.
 
Mel dCP said:
I was at a first rheumatologist appointment yesterday, and after I’d asked a couple of pertinent questions, the doctor sort of looked at me with an impressed face and said “do you have a medical background?”. No, but a fair bit of science and background reading on the reasons I was referred in the first place. The appointment went at a much higher level of discourse after that. I suppose they have to assume the patient might not have a great deal of medical/nutrition/science/anatomical/immunological knowledge to start with. I’ve found the problems start when they don’t take on board that you can understand all the information and continue to talk at you like you’re six.

I’ve started asking to be copied in to the correspondence now, which means I can read things at my leisure and double check anything I’m not sure on.
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I was also asked if I had a medical background by a consultant oncology breast surgeon. No, like you, I had done all my research and knew exactly what to ask and what to reply. Her tone also changed. To be honest, I think she was gobsmacked at first, but her attitude changed for the better, and she treated me like an intelligent, knowledgeable person that wanted to be empowered to take responsibility for my own health. From that time on I was given copies of everything, from biopsy lab reports and her own post surgery reports to letters and blood test results. I would never dream of accepting anything said to me verbally by any HCP without all the evidence available.
 
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