Another dodgy reading

[IanBish]

Last night I had a small chicken tikka fried rice. Partly as an experiment, but partly because I used to enjoy it. Anyway, the reading before was 4.3 and two hours later was 6.4, which wasn't too bad, I thought, given it was mainly basmati rice.

Then today I had 10% Greek yoghurt with blueberries, and a shaved scotch egg (I know). My reading before was 3.7 and two hours later was 7.7!

Today, I had to use six strips to get the two readings, for whatever reason. Can I assume that there was something wrong with today's blood samples, given that the rise was 4.0, which I wouldn't have expected, and given the fact that I had to use three strips for each reading?

Does anyone have any ideas, or should I just chalk it down to bad luck or bad blood?

 

[Hopeful34]

If you get a reading that you weren't expecting, the only way of knowing is to wash your hands again, and test again immediately.
As for the basmati rice, your blood sugar could well have continued to rise after the 2 hour mark.
Were you adequately hydrated, as that can cause problems with blood tests.

 

[Rachox]

and a shaved scotch egg (I know)

This could be the problem, you’ve taken off the breadcrumbs but there may still be high carb fillers in the sausage meat, as discussed in a previous post of yours. Is that why you put “(I know)”?

 

[IanBish]

As for the basmati rice, your blood sugar could well have continued to rise after the 2 hour mark.

So the two-hour rule is only for certain foods?

What I have learned is that being hydrated makes such a difference to readings, just as hopefull34 said.

Well, I was well-hydrated today (when I wasted strips) but probably a bit less hydrated yesterday (when they worked first time). So normally-hydrated blood is better?

This could be the problem, you’ve taken off the breadcrumbs but there may still be high carb fillers in the sausage meat, as discussed in a previous post of yours. Is that why you put “(I know)”?

I seem to have had issues with shaved scotch eggs before. It wasn't that high, though. Maybe 15g unshaven.

 

[catinahat]

So the two-hour rule is only for certain foods?

There is no 2hr rule, our bodies don't do rules. The 2hr thingy is because someone who doesn't have diabetes will usually (depending on what they have eaten) see their levels return to pre meal values within 2hrs. Obviously it's our wish to stay as close to normal as possible so the 2hrs makes a pretty good guide. Also if you think about it you have to be consistent when testing, otherwise it would be impossible to compare results. You can choose any time that suits you, 90min, 120min even 150min if you want. It's just the time that you are happy with.
The 2mmol rise limit is also not really set in stone, it's just a rule of thumb mainly to account for the inaccuracies of our meters.
The thing to bear in mind is that different foods are digested at different rates, if you tried to have a time for each item of food it would quickly become a nightmare trying to interpret any results, especially when our meals are usually made up with several different types of food.
The point is if a meal causes your levels to be higher than you would like after 2hrs, maybe that meal needs rethinking.

 

[KennyA]

Last night I had a small chicken tikka fried rice. Partly as an experiment, but partly because I used to enjoy it. Anyway, the reading before was 4.3 and two hours later was 6.4, which wasn't too bad, I thought, given it was mainly basmati rice.

Then today I had 10% Greek yoghurt with blueberries, and a shaved scotch egg (I know). My reading before was 3.7 and two hours later was 7.7!

Today, I had to use six strips to get the two readings, for whatever reason. Can I assume that there was something wrong with today's blood samples, given that the rise was 4.0, which I wouldn't have expected, and given the fact that I had to use three strips for each reading?

Does anyone have any ideas, or should I just chalk it down to bad luck or bad blood?

The shaved scotch egg..... haven't we been here before? I guess you like scotch eggs, I do too, but I've not had one for four years.

he other thing is that blueberries are reasonably high carb ( I think about 12% carb) and that plus whatever filler there was in the sausage meat gave you the blood glucose doubling. I don't think you can say this was necessarily anything wrong with the blood samples. Your reported readings otherwise seem really good and maybe you have a scotch-egg-shaped decision to make?

 

[lovinglife]

The scotch egg - is it that you love them or it’s an easy grab & go? If it’s because you love them then there are lots of low carb recipes for scotch eggs, if it’s for the easy life option then I think you have to go for another grab & go choice - maybe chicken drumsticks or cook some heck sausages and keep in the fridge to get your sausage fix

 

[Paul_]

maybe you have a scotch-egg-shaped decision to make?

@IanBish - Maybe you could try making these?

Best Easy Keto Scotch Eggs (Without Breadcrumbs)

Delicious Keto Scotch eggs wrapped in ground pork and herbs have almost ZERO carbs. Perfect for a high-protein diet and can be frozen.

www.ditchthecarbs.com

Seeing as you're spending time shaving pre-packaged scotch eggs, might as well spend that time making them from scratch with a low carb recipe!

Just make sure the sausage meat you're using is higher meat content, such as this one from Waitrose (84% meat, 4.5g carbs per 100g):

Waitrose & Partners

Buy quality groceries and wine from Waitrose Partners

www.waitrose.com

Or find some 97%+ meat content sausages and remove the skins.

 

[IanBish]

Thanks for the replies. I thought shaving the scotch eggs would help, but obviously not enough. I do have a weakness for them, and I've abstained for a while, but I just gave in to temptation this time. My decision is to either abstain completely (is there a support group for this?), or make my own. Home made is normally better anyway.

 

[filly]

@IanBish - Maybe you could try making these?

Best Easy Keto Scotch Eggs (Without Breadcrumbs)

Delicious Keto Scotch eggs wrapped in ground pork and herbs have almost ZERO carbs. Perfect for a high-protein diet and can be frozen.

www.ditchthecarbs.com

Seeing as you're spending time shaving pre-packaged scotch eggs, might as well spend that time making them from scratch with a low carb recipe!

Just make sure the sausage meat you're using is higher meat content, such as this one from Waitrose (84% meat, 4.5g carbs per 100g):

Waitrose & Partners

Buy quality groceries and wine from Waitrose Partners

www.waitrose.com

Or find some 97%+ meat content sausages and remove the skins.

Sorry I am now crying with laughter.... I like salmon scotch eggs. They started to put chilli in them so stopped eating them.

 

[Paul_]

Thanks for the replies. I thought shaving the scotch eggs would help, but obviously not enough. I do have a weakness for them, and I've abstained for a while, but I just gave in to temptation this time. My decision is to either abstain completely (is there a support group for this?), or make my own. Home made is normally better anyway.

Don't punish yourself, we all have our food demons. I've put many of mine to bed with low carb alternatives, but I still can't guarantee that I won't one day spend the month's mortgage payment in Hotel Chocolat, before being found in a diabetic coma, surrounded by the empty, overly-expensive chocolate packaging on the driveway of my repossessed house!

Just do your best, it's all you can do.

 

[IanBish]

Don't punish yourself, we all have our food demons. I've put many of mine to bed with low carb alternatives, but I still can't guarantee that I won't one day spend the month's mortgage payment in Hotel Chocolat, before being found in a diabetic coma, surrounded by the empty, overly-expensive chocolate packaging on the driveway of my repossessed house!

Just do your best, it's all you can do.

I can take or leave chocolate. Even the expensive French ones. I do however remember the carb comas, which don't happen any more. We're all human and fallible, so our best is all we can do.

 

[Daphne917]

The shaved scotch egg..... haven't we been here before? I guess you like scotch eggs, I do too, but I've not had one for four years.

I make my own with high meat content (90-95%) sausage meat and breadcrumbs made using lowish carb bread.