ice cream

[steb]

i know this sounds unlikely, but can ice cream lower blood / sugar levels? after two weeks of getting BG readings between 9 and 13, yesterday I got a reading of 7.5, and today i got a reading of 7.0. i gave in to temptation and ate a banana for breakfast (bad, I know, but i'm weak), then had a fairly normal dinner of chicken korma and pizza. the only out of the normal factor is both days I had mint choc chip ice cream for afters. I've noticed my BG readings are often lower when i've had ice cream - is it just a coincidence? has anyone else noticed something like this?

 

[ally1]

Am also interested
I did have a small amount of raspberry ripple ice cream a few days ago and post meal reading was 11.4 but I also had some baked beans

 

[SockFiddler]

Food with a high fat content will slow carb absorption and, thus, delay your BG spike. The sugar is still there, causing mischief, but it's not there in one big rush.

So, no, it won't lower your BG, but it will make the sugar in it hit your BG more slowly.

Hope that helps!

 

[Just_Me_Rachel]

Could it be that the ice cream is just slowing the digestion of the other food down, because it's fat? I would check your sugars later on too and see where you're holding.

I was eating chocolate and thought it didn't affect me at all! My sugars stayed the same. Until one time I ate only chocolate and I noted (with my CGM) that 2 hours later I had a blood sugar raise.

I'd suspect that is what is happening with you. If you eat, your sugars will be affected - but it may just be later on. Additionally, eating fatty food is actually something I do especially when I eat food with a high glycemic index, so that it will slow down the digestion and avoid the spikes in my blood sugars.

 

[SockFiddler]

Completely agree! I can think I'm sneaking in a cheeky Magnum and getting away with it because my 2-hour test is relatively low, but the downside is my BG will be slightly elevated for the next 12 hours.

 

[steb]

Could it be that the ice cream is just slowing the digestion of the other food down, because it's fat? I would check your sugars later on too and see where you're holding.

I was eating chocolate and thought it didn't affect me at all! My sugars stayed the same. Until one time I ate only chocolate and I noted (with my CGM) that 2 hours later I had a blood sugar raise.

I'd suspect that is what is happening with you. If you eat, your sugars will be affected - but it may just be later on. Additionally, eating fatty food is actually something I do especially when I eat food with a high glycemic index, so that it will slow down the digestion and avoid the spikes in my blood sugars.

hmm - you could be onto something. i always test about two hours after eating. i just tested again (six hours after dinner) and got a reading of 10.6

 

[Just_Me_Rachel]

Steb, are you on the CGM or can you get one for a few days? In the end, I self-fund mine, so it helps me to see my body's response to the different foods I'm eating.

Think like a Pancreas by Gary Scheiner is an excellent book for understanding the details in living with diabetes. I'm sure he talks there about the length of time it takes for different type of foods to digest - and how it affects the blood sugars accordingly.

 

[DCUKMod]

i know this sounds unlikely, but can ice cream lower blood / sugar levels? after two weeks of getting BG readings between 9 and 13, yesterday I got a reading of 7.5, and today i got a reading of 7.0. i gave in to temptation and ate a banana for breakfast (bad, I know, but i'm weak), then had a fairly normal dinner of chicken korma and pizza. the only out of the normal factor is both days I had mint choc chip ice cream for afters. I've noticed my BG readings are often lower when i've had ice cream - is it just a coincidence? has anyone else noticed something like this?

If I had to take a stab at this, I would say that pizza, plus ice-cream could have something to do with it.

Many people find pizza difficult to predict in terms of how their blood numbers will work out - lots of carb (suggesting a rise), plus lots of fat (suggesting a slower, and sometimes sustained rise), then add in more fat from the ice cream and who knows what actually went on in between tests.

 

[steb]

Steb, are you on the CGM or can you get one for a few days? In the end, I self-fund mine, so it helps me to see my body's response to the different foods I'm eating.

Think like a Pancreas by Gary Scheiner is an excellent book for understanding the details in living with diabetes. I'm sure he talks there about the length of time it takes for different type of foods to digest - and how it affects the blood sugars accordingly.

what is CGM? I'm using a GlucoRX blood glucose monitoring system.

 

[SockFiddler]

Heya @steb , it stands for "Continuous Glucose Monitoring":

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/cgm/continuous-glucose-monitoring.html