Breakfasts. What can I eat?!

[LucySW]

I still need 2u NovoRapidt to cover two eggs/cream/butter/cheese. I can't get away without insulin.

 

[Katiesgran]

Eggs bacon mushrooms tomatoes. Feel fuller for longer than with cereal based breakfast and surprisingly my cholesterol has also dropped significantly. Just remove visible fat from bacon to prevent weight gain.

 

[Jdm163mo]

It's probably dawn phenomena (basically your body releases hormones to wake you up and these can spike your blood sugar) I've found that if I inject straight after getting up (as in before your feet hit the floor when getting out of bed) with an insulin to carb ratio of 2:1 (2 units of quick acting for every 10g of carbs) + 2 units to deal with the dawn phenomena my levels tend to be ok... Although to be honest I do always have 3 rounds of Burgen bread (the low gi linseed and soya one) with peanut butter. Just find it easier if I always have the same thing! Oh I always inject this on in my stomach as well (supposed to go in quicker than legs).

Of course this is if your levels are fairly stable through the rest of the day, if not you might need to look at your basal insulin dose...

Hope that helps.

Matt

Hi, just a quick question, still in honeymoon period however I thought it was 1 unit per 10g, perhaps this is where I am going wrong, still quite high readings, usually around 10 first thing in the morning,, a couple slices of toast with poached eggs or cereal goes up to about 15 at lunch time, then back down to 10 tea time.

 

[Juicyj]

I'm having the same problem - I've tried having omelettes or scrambled egg but my levels still creep up - is it because I still need to give a few units or is it because I eat at 6:45-7 and not again til about 12:50

You still need to take insulin only for omelette/breakfast, as your body will convert protein to glucose, I found this to be the case so take 2 units of qa with a 1 egg omelette and courgette/cheese, as someone told me 'there's no such thing as a free lunch with type 1' and eating a low carb diet this is very true, particularly in the morning when you are more insulin resistant.

I also found I need to adjust my morning qa ratios, I used to take 1 unit to 10g of carb but now take 1.5 units to 10g up until about 1pm. My insulin meter is a freestyle insulinx and you can program this into the meter when you tell it how many carbs you are on. So again if you high in the morning look at changing you ratios if all else fails, trust me it will come come down, it's just knowing which aspect needs the adjustment

 

[chl0ejasmine]

You still need to take insulin only for omelette/breakfast, as your body will convert protein to glucose, I found this to be the case so take 2 units of qa with a 1 egg omelette and courgette/cheese, as someone told me 'there's no such thing as a free lunch with type 1' and eating a low carb diet this is very true, particularly in the morning when you are more insulin resistant.

I also found I need to adjust my morning qa ratios, I used to take 1 unit to 10g of carb but now take 1.5 units to 10g up until about 1pm. My insulin meter is a freestyle insulinx and you can program this into the meter when you tell it how many carbs you are on. So again if you high in the morning look at changing you ratios if all else fails, trust me it will come come down, it's just knowing which aspect needs the adjustment

Thank you - I can have porridge or granola with about 4/5 units or insulin and be around 7-8mmol at lunchtime but ill perhaps try an omelette with 1/2 units - how often should I check my levels to see if that's the right amount?

 

[Robinredbreast]

You still need to take insulin only for omelette/breakfast, as your body will convert protein to glucose, I found this to be the case so take 2 units of qa with a 1 egg omelette and courgette/cheese, as someone told me 'there's no such thing as a free lunch with type 1' and eating a low carb diet this is very true, particularly in the morning when you are more insulin resistant.

I also found I need to adjust my morning qa ratios, I used to take 1 unit to 10g of carb but now take 1.5 units to 10g up until about 1pm. My insulin meter is a freestyle insulinx and you can program this into the meter when you tell it how many carbs you are on. So again if you high in the morning look at changing you ratios if all else fails, trust me it will come come down, it's just knowing which aspect needs the adjustment

Your above statement, that I highlighted, is so true. Funny thing is, I take a small amount of Insulin in the morning for breakfast ( normally 1 1/2 units) so I'm not so Insulin resistant and I very rarely eat a cooked brekki of protein.

Best wishes RRB

 

[Juicyj]

Thank you - I can have porridge or granola with about 4/5 units or insulin and be around 7-8mmol at lunchtime but ill perhaps try an omelette with 1/2 units - how often should I check my levels to see if that's the right amount?

Hi Chloe,

Personally knowing what I know now I steer clear of carbs in the morning as they send me sky rocket, if you try something like an omelette or eggs/bacon then test again after 3 hours when the qa has worn off to see if the dose you took did the job. The reason I prefer not to take big doses of insulin or eat high carb is the room for error is greater and eating low carb means more stable BG, less hypos and for me personally that's a happier me ! My DSN really questioned me on this the last time we met saying I wasn't eating enough carbs but that's the nhs approach, it's finding what works best for you

 

[chl0ejasmine]

Hi Chloe,

Personally knowing what I know now I steer clear of carbs in the morning as they send me sky rocket, if you try something like an omelette or eggs/bacon then test again after 3 hours when the qa has worn off to see if the dose you took did the job. The reason I prefer not to take big doses of insulin or eat high carb is the room for error is greater and eating low carb means more stable BG, less hypos and for me personally that's a happier me ! My DSN really questioned me on this the last time we met saying I wasn't eating enough carbs but that's the nhs approach, it's finding what works best for you

Thank you! The only time I eat a carb filled meal is at breakfast, at lunch it's always salad and dinner meat and vegetables - I am the same and don't even enjoy carbs anymore! So it frustrates me when I want an omelette but my levels don't seem to agree..I still do some trial and error to get it right

 

[LucySW]

Thank you - I can have porridge or granola with about 4/5 units or insulin and be around 7-8mmol at lunchtime but ill perhaps try an omelette with 1/2 units - how often should I check my levels to see if that's the right amount?

You'll hit your peak at 45/60 mins after eating, if you want to know what your maximum was. Then it will all be over by 2/2.5 hrs, going by my experience with a Libre CGM.

Not that one should test at 1hr usually - it would drive you mad - but if it's for forensic reasons, i.e. wanting to know what happened, it's useful.

BTW, 2 units of rapid-acting for an omelette is just right for me every morning. Baffling, as my omelette contains only 1g carb (but 13g protein), but that's what I have to take.

LSW

 

[azure]

Hi, just a quick question, still in honeymoon period however I thought it was 1 unit per 10g, perhaps this is where I am going wrong, still quite high readings, usually around 10 first thing in the morning,, a couple slices of toast with poached eggs or cereal goes up to about 15 at lunch time, then back down to 10 tea time.

I hope I haven't misunderstood what you're saying/asking, but basically there's no set dose of insulin. Each person takes what they need to keep their blood sugar within as normal a range as possible.

The ratio of insulin to carbs can vary from meal to meal. For example, somebody's breakfast ratio might be 1 unit to 5g of carbs, lunch might be 1 unit to 10g, evening meal might be 1 unit to 8g.

Your readings do look quite high, especially at lunch. I think you're newly diagnosed? Maybe speak to your healthcare team about what to do? It takes a while to get the right dose so don't be disheartened.

 

[Wurst]

Carbs are lethal for me in the morning and the same for most of the afternoon. The evening is a different story though and my ratio changes to almost 0.5 unit of Bolus per 10 grams of Carbs.

For breakfast I eat either tinned sardines (in olive oil) or smoked mackeral typically with a couple of sticks of celery. I can't eat 'fatty' foods for breakfast as I have a cholesterol, otherwise I'd be on bacon and eggs everyday

 

[KazV1]

It annoys me no end when I see threads like this, the only logical solution to all of your problems is to not eat carbs in the morning, how much simpler can you get? You don't need carbs in the morning, eat fats and proteins in the morning, eggs, rashers, avocado, a handful of nuts, pumpkin seeds, people rely on carbs too much and it's really unnecessary. If you have a early morning spike, then you're going to fight the rest of the day to get them down. Stop eating carbs in the morning!!!!!

Also for those eating non carbs foods and blood sugars rising, that's because when you eat your body releases stored glucose from your body's stores, so a small amount of insulin may still be needed, if you follow a keto diet or something similar, this may not always be the case,

 

[azure]

No one diet suits everyone, and people are entitled to choose what they eat.

Lots of people with Type 1 can have carbs for breakfast with no problems once they get things right, so your answer is NOT the only logical solution.

When I was first diagnosed, my blood sugar after my breakfast cereal could be as high as 11. But, after some experimentation, it's now well within range eg this morning it was 5.3 afterwards.

 

[pinewood]

It annoys me no end when I see threads like this, the only logical solution to all of your problems is to not eat carbs in the morning, how much simpler can you get? You don't need carbs in the morning, eat fats and proteins in the morning, eggs, rashers, avocado, a handful of nuts, pumpkin seeds, people rely on carbs too much and it's really unnecessary. If you have a early morning spike, then you're going to fight the rest of the day to get them down. Stop eating carbs in the morning!!!!!

Also for those eating non carbs foods and blood sugars rising, that's because when you eat your body releases stored glucose from your body's stores, so a small amount of insulin may still be needed, if you follow a keto diet or something similar, this may not always be the case,

Not sure why it annoys you, no need to take it personally! Some people enjoy carbs and there is absolutely no reason to avoid them in the morning if you're able to manage your levels well. Many of us can keep our levels in-range regardless of whether we have carbs or not - it's not about not "needing" carbs in the morning but about looking for ways to be able to eat what you enjoy. Should not be restricted if you can manage it well.

 

[Robinredbreast]

It annoys me no end when I see threads like this, the only logical solution to all of your problems is to not eat carbs in the morning, how much simpler can you get? You don't need carbs in the morning, eat fats and proteins in the morning, eggs, rashers, avocado, a handful of nuts, pumpkin seeds, people rely on carbs too much and it's really unnecessary. If you have a early morning spike, then you're going to fight the rest of the day to get them down. Stop eating carbs in the morning!!!!!

Also for those eating non carbs foods and blood sugars rising, that's because when you eat your body releases stored glucose from your body's stores, so a small amount of insulin may still be needed, if you follow a keto diet or something similar, this may not always be the case,

Sorry, but you should not be telling people what to do or what to eat. I have carbs in the morning, every morning, a small yogurt, or some GF cereal, a small piece of fruit maybe, and I take less for that than a cooked breakfast, which I rarely eat for a breakfast meal, but I do for lunch or a lazy small dinner, then yes. Also, my best BS level is normally at lunchtimes as mornings are when I am at my most active. One size definitely does not fit all.

RRB

 

[raf716]

[QUORevitalise? kaihau, post: 835174, member: 177752"]Besides wholemeal or rye bread/toast (for some strange reason that I hope can be explained...), whenever I eat carbohydrates in the morning, no matter how much insulin I inject, my blood sugar levels shoot through the roof! All kinds of cereals, muesli, porridge, potato salad, fruit... they're all poison for me for breakfast (but I'd have no trouble eating them later in the day). As you can imagine, I am getting tired of munching on bread morning after morning before leaving the house, so today I stubbornly thought "oh, what the heck? I will try this once more...", and cooked myself a small bowl of porridge. Bad mistake. My levels jumped to as high as 24 (!), and has hung around that level all day. I've felt like crying, wanting to kick diabetes right in the teeth if I could, wondering "should I just not eat ever again?". I do love food, but if I could create a world where we didn't have to eat... I wouldn't hesitate.

What am I to do for breakfasts? Avoid carbohydrates at all costs? I'll definitely not try porridge ever again... Do any other diabetics have this trouble? If so, what do you eat for breakfast?

In the past I have tried eating eggs every morning. For my diabetes, that was fine. Surprisingly not boring either, because you can put so many things with eggs, in an omelette, say! But I did worry about how many eggs I was eating... I have also tried running as soon as I've woken up, THEN eating "normal" breakfast (e.g. cereal) afterwards. No difference, my sugars would still go high. For over a decade of having diabetes, I've found no solution... besides bread!

I don't tend to think about it... but today, I had to ask myself all day: "WHY THE F*** DO I HAVE DIABETES?"

EDIT - Oh, and this is my first post. Hello everybody![/QUOTE]
Try Rivita

 

[jrussell88]

In the past I've also had problems with rising blood glucose levels in the morning, but my breakfast is typically black coffee unless I'm low, so here are a few suggestions which helped me.

Do you count carbs? Try a fixed amount for breakfast (if you're not already) to control one variable, then check the others
The Dafne course may help with this
Your overnight basal dose may well be lower than your daytime one, in other words if your sugar is level overnight, it may be rising during the day, adding to your morning problems. I split my basal dose to correct night and day separately
First thing in the morning you may need an extra unit or two as Staffsmatt says
I found the Freestyle Libre very helpful in getting to grips with overnight trends and what was going on in the morning.

@LucySW One unit for the omelette, one unit because your body is switching to daytime mode?

 

[Jeannie87]

I agree @ Robinredbreast what suits one diabetic doesn't necessarily suit another. I've always eaten carbs for breakfast because that's what suits me. With me, it's a variable feast of blood sugar results mid morning, it usually spikes then comes down before lunch, but it's not always the same, but that's diabetes for you. If there's one thing I find disturbing about this forum is some people get a bee in their bonnet, be it being on the pump, or LCHF, and think as it suits them, it's for everyone. I know this doesn't apply to everyone on here, but I do find it intimidating sometimes when I read some posts. And I've been diabetic type 1 for 43 years. I feel for new diabetics as if they read all this stuff on here, I think some of it may make them think life with diabetes is very very difficult. Sometimes I don't come on here as it makes me feel like I am a bad diabetic. And yet I get fairly good results and few hypos. I must be doing something right but not always. I am just back from a night away in a really nice hotel, celebrating my birthday......and my blood sugars were all over the place and way too high despite a huge effort to keep pace with it all. But my attitude is, ok, a bad few days with it, now back on to a more normal path, what's done is done and look to improving. I am not going to stress about it, nor obsess. Sorry this turned into a bit of a rant, which I didn't mean it too. It's just I do really get fed up with people thinking their "way" is the best way. I have found my own way, through trial and error, and in the words of Elton John - "I'm still standing" - so far......

 

[Bogeyhole74]

Besides wholemeal or rye bread/toast (for some strange reason that I hope can be explained...), whenever I eat carbohydrates in the morning, no matter how much insulin I inject, my blood sugar levels shoot through the roof! All kinds of cereals, muesli, porridge, potato salad, fruit... they're all poison for me for breakfast (but I'd have no trouble eating them later in the day). As you can imagine, I am getting tired of munching on bread morning after morning before leaving the house, so today I stubbornly thought "oh, what the heck? I will try this once more...", and cooked myself a small bowl of porridge. Bad mistake. My levels jumped to as high as 24 (!), and has hung around that level all day. I've felt like crying, wanting to kick diabetes right in the teeth if I could, wondering "should I just not eat ever again?". I do love food, but if I could create a world where we didn't have to eat... I wouldn't hesitate.

What am I to do for breakfasts? Avoid carbohydrates at all costs? I'll definitely not try porridge ever again... Do any other diabetics have this trouble? If so, what do you eat for breakfast?

In the past I have tried eating eggs every morning. For my diabetes, that was fine. Surprisingly not boring either, because you can put so many things with eggs, in an omelette, say! But I did worry about how many eggs I was eating... I have also tried running as soon as I've woken up, THEN eating "normal" breakfast (e.g. cereal) afterwards. No difference, my sugars would still go high. For over a decade of having diabetes, I've found no solution... besides bread!

I don't tend to think about it... but today, I had to ask myself all day: "WHY THE F*** DO I HAVE DIABETES?"

EDIT - Oh, and this is my first post. Hello everybody!

 

[Bogeyhole74]

Besides wholemeal or rye bread/toast (for some strange reason that I hope can be explained...), whenever I eat carbohydrates in the morning, no matter how much insulin I inject, my blood sugar levels shoot through the roof! All kinds of cereals, muesli, porridge, potato salad, fruit... they're all poison for me for breakfast (but I'd have no trouble eating them later in the day). As you can imagine, I am getting tired of munching on bread morning after morning before leaving the house, so today I stubbornly thought "oh, what the heck? I will try this once more...", and cooked myself a small bowl of porridge. Bad mistake. My levels jumped to as high as 24 (!), and has hung around that level all day. I've felt like crying, wanting to kick diabetes right in the teeth if I could, wondering "should I just not eat ever again?". I do love food, but if I could create a world where we didn't have to eat... I wouldn't hesitate.

What am I to do for breakfasts? Avoid carbohydrates at all costs? I'll definitely not try porridge ever again... Do any other diabetics have this trouble? If so, what do you eat for breakfast?

In the past I have tried eating eggs every morning. For my diabetes, that was fine. Surprisingly not boring either, because you can put so many things with eggs, in an omelette, say! But I did worry about how many eggs I was eating... I have also tried running as soon as I've woken up, THEN eating "normal" breakfast (e.g. cereal) afterwards. No difference, my sugars would still go high. For over a decade of having diabetes, I've found no solution... besides bread!

I don't tend to think about it... but today, I had to ask myself all day: "WHY THE F*** DO I HAVE DIABETES?"

EDIT - Oh, and this is my first post. Hello everybody!

Small glass of milk, banana + few almonds