A tale of oatmeal

[charliebarker]

At my DN visit on Thursday, she suggested I try to put some heavier carbs back in my diet.....I thought after 5 months of no oats, grains etc I thought I'd see if I could tolerate some porridge. Decided to have some in the evening as my tolerance seems better at that time. Anyway..... Made it with cream rather than milk and it was lovely (I'd really missed my morning porridge). Anyway, BSL before porridge: 6.2.... One hour later: 8.2...... 90 mins post prandial : 8.7... And then it kept going up! Went to bed with it at nearly 10!
This morning my fasting blood was 8 instead of it's recent 6.5 or so...and I was jittery and totally hyperactive all morning...it was like I was high on drugs. Is that what they mean by slow-release carbs....they keep releasing for about 12 hours!

Worryingly, I used to have porridge EVERY morning !
Shan't be doing THAT again....

 

[Resurgam]

I saw the same thing with anything high carb - including legumes. It put back my gently dropping blood glucose levels by four or five days each time I did an experiment with a food I knew had always stopped weightloss - so I stopped repeating the same error.
It still amazes me how people who really ought to know better blithely advise about diets - we can't be the only two diabetics to discover that a starchy food raises blood glucose levels.
I hope you tell your DN just what she can do with her higher starchy foods.....

 

[miahara]

Yes @charliebarker , I tried that too with all sorts of 'porridge things', thinking they'd be good for my BG. They were not!

Dave

 

[charliebarker]

I saw the same thing with anything high carb - including legumes. It put back my gently dropping blood glucose levels by four or five days each time I did an experiment with a food I knew had always stopped weightloss - so I stopped repeating the same error.
It still amazes me how people who really ought to know better blithely advise about diets - we can't be the only two diabetics to discover that a starchy food raises blood glucose levels.
I hope you tell your DN just what she can do with her higher starchy foods.....

I can't complain about her - she was so brilliant on every level - she agreed with low carb, but was just a little 'anty about nothing 'starchy' - but she was cool with me doing what was so obviously working - I thought I'd just try it out to see if anything had changed in five months - but clearly not ! ha ha Had some keto cake-in-a-mug instead this evening and my level DROPPED by 1mmol !! #justastasty

 

[wiflib]

I love porridge but I've not eaten it for almost 10 years. When I did, I'd be ravenous within the hour.

 

[Snapsy]

When I did, I'd be ravenous within the hour.

I love porridge, but I'd 'burn' it really quickly - ie be absolutely ravenous by 10.30am! I used to have a small bowl of it for breakfast before swimming, and be really hungry when I got home so I'd have a second breakfast of two eggs. Now I just have the eggs, and don't get hungry!

 

[kokhongw]

If Libre flash glucometer becomes more affordable and widely available, perhaps these DN will become more aware how damaging their complex carbs recommendation are. Till then...they will always assume that their patients have been non-compliant...and wonder why the medications are not effective.

 

[Bluetit1802]

@charliebarker

Are you aware of the last meal effect? The pancreas secretes the amount of insulin it is used to secreting, so after a while on low carb it is used to secreting very little. If you suddenly give it a bit hit, as you did with the porridge, the first phase will be pathetic and the second phase not much better. This is a known phenomenon. It is why, when we have an OGTT we are supposed to eat in excess of 150g carbs for 3 days prior to the test to get an accurate result. It gets the pancreas used to producing more insulin.

This could be one reason you had a disaster. I also suggest the cream held you up in the highs for a long time, although you may have been higher without it (but down faster)

 

[OrsonKartt]

At my DN visit on Thursday, she suggested I try to put some heavier carbs back in my diet.....I thought after 5 months of no oats, grains etc I thought I'd see if I could tolerate some porridge. Decided to have some in the evening as my tolerance seems better at that time. Anyway..... Made it with cream rather than milk and it was lovely (I'd really missed my morning porridge). Anyway, BSL before porridge: 6.2.... One hour later: 8.2...... 90 mins post prandial : 8.7... And then it kept going up! Went to bed with it at nearly 10!
This morning my fasting blood was 8 instead of it's recent 6.5 or so...and I was jittery and totally hyperactive all morning...it was like I was high on drugs. Is that what they mean by slow-release carbs....they keep releasing for about 12 hours!

Worryingly, I used to have porridge EVERY morning !
Shan't be doing THAT again....

Yep. I tried porridge again for breakfast. It was like a warm plate of loveliness with a drug like sugar high for over an hour. Mmmmm. ....But high 8's for 4 hours and a lousy come down

 

[Deleted member 371625]

I often have porridge made with unsweetened almond milk for breakfast with fruit (pear & blackberries or peach & raspberries are favourites). After 90 minutes exercise BG is between 4 and 4.5, no exercise and 90 min BG is about 6, but drops below 5 within 3 hours.
I only eat porridge if I am about to go for a long walk or spend time on my rowing machine. If I have to sit in a meeting or at a computer I have eggs & bacon or something similarly low carb. I find that I can exercise more easily on carbs than fats.

 

[charliebarker]

I often have porridge made with unsweetened almond milk for breakfast with fruit (pear & blackberries or peach & raspberries are favourites). After 90 minutes exercise BG is between 4 and 4.5, no exercise and 90 min BG is about 6, but drops below 5 within 3 hours.
I only eat porridge if I am about to go for a long walk or spend time on my rowing machine. If I have to sit in a meeting or at a computer I have eggs & bacon or something similarly low carb. I find that I can exercise more easily on carbs than fats.

Lord - that breakfast sounds like my blood sugar's idea of hell !!! Very jealous that you can tolerate pears or peaches let alone oats !!

 

[Buttons11]

I'm one of those people who can tolerate porridge I buy mornflake oatbran, and usually have it with a chopped up apple or some peanut butter (sometimes both if I'm feeling greedy! They reckon a 40g portion is 18.9g carbs, but I found that quantity was physically too much to eat, so I have half that amount, made with half full fat milk, half water. Last weekend I was 4.1 before I ate it, and 5.0 2 hours after.
To be honest, since getting into berries and plain yoghurt,(which I detested before I was diagnosed) I much prefer that for breakfast.

 

[Ross.Walker]

hello

what "volume" did you eat? 1 slice of brown bread is ok for me but a normal breakfast of old being 4 is now way to much.

 

[Cap'n M]

I'm one of those people who can tolerate porridge I buy mornflake oatbran, and usually have it with a chopped up apple or some peanut butter (sometimes both if I'm feeling greedy! They reckon a 40g portion is 18.9g carbs, but I found that quantity was physically too much to eat, so I have half that amount, made with half full fat milk, half water. Last weekend I was 4.1 before I ate it, and 5.0 2 hours after.
To be honest, since getting into berries and plain yoghurt,(which I detested before I was diagnosed) I much prefer that for breakfast.

I, like you, find plain wholemeal porridge a problem and for me , oatbran has been the solution. On a low C/H diet it's difficult to get enough fibre but oatbran is typically 50% C/H, which must be modulated by the high beta glucan content and is easy to manage with my modest a.m. Insulin, plus exercise. I have 50gm with 220 ml boiling water/full-cream milk, microwaved. It turns out to be a similar experience to standard porridge, particularly if I use coarser ground oatbran such as H&B White's Medium Cut. Mornflake oatbran is OK but it is a fine milling and doesn't have the same texture.
My HbA1c of 37 makes me think I'm doing something right

 

[GerryDavies]

I, like you, find plain wholemeal porridge a problem and for me , oatbran has been the solution. On a low C/H diet it's difficult to get enough fibre but oatbran is typically 50% C/H, which must be modulated by the high beta glucan content and is easy to manage with my modest a.m. Insulin, plus exercise. I have 50gm with 220 ml boiling water/full-cream milk, microwaved. It turns out to be a similar experience to standard porridge, particularly if I use coarser ground oatbran such as H&B White's Medium Cut. Mornflake oatbran is OK but it is a fine milling and doesn't have the same texture.
My HbA1c of 37 makes me think I'm doing something right

This flour is mainly oat bran and can be used for bread, pizza, pancakes,etc
FIBERFLOUR NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION PER 100G

Energy 333 Kcal /1337 KJ

Fat 9.3g: of which Omega3 alpha-linolenic acid 4g

Carbohydrates 15.9g of which: starch (from oat bran) 14.9g

Fibre 41.3g Protein 24.5g


INGREDIENTS

Oat bran, golden linseed meal, wheat gluten, resistant wheat starch, oat fibre, wheat fibre, inulin (soluble fibre), resistant polydextrin (soluble fibre), guar gum (soluble fibre), HPMC (soluble fibre), vitamin C (E300 antioxidant).