Food Metformin and hyperglycemia

Jus455

Active Member
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Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Tablets (oral)
Hi there,

I have been recently diagnosed with type 2.

My blood sugars have been quite high even though I have been on Metformin
2 times 500mg every morning.

I have gone more low carb lately and wondering why these foods are pushing my blood sugar levels up.

Juice: carbs: 1.9 per 100ml
Sugar: 1.3 per 100ml
Lasagna: carbs 10.8 per 100g
Sugar: 4.3 per 100g
Pumpkin ricotta cannelonca
Carbs: 11.1
Sugar: 4.1

Sodium is quite low on the nutrition values on the back of the packet as well.

It looks like on the back of the packet doesn't say whether it's low GI or not

Thanks
 
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EllieM

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My blood sugars have been quite high even though I have been on Metformin
2 times 500mg every morning.
Metformin reduces the amount of sugar pumped out by your liver but doesn't have much effect otherwise. The most important factor is what you are eating.

I am a little confused by your lists of food, as to what are ingredients and what is the food? (Most juice has a lot more than 2g of carbohydrate per 100ml.... )
Best to look at the total carbohydrate in whatever you eat or drink.
 

VashtiB

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Hello and welcome,

I am also confused about your post. What type of juice has less than 2 grams of carbs in 100ml? Sugar is all carbs etc.

Metformin does not help your daily levels it stops a bit of the liver dump.

Most of the type 2s here find that you need to dramatically reduce your carbs to reduce your blood sugar levels. For example I have less than 20 grams a day. Some have less than 50 grams and some go up to 100 grams a day. It all has to do with how our bodies handle carbs. The sort of carb can make a difference some can eat some carbs but not others.

Some don't realise that it is all carbs- not just sugars. The Gi is less important than the actual amount of carbs.

The morning reading can be the last to come down (dawn phenomena )

Good luck- it can feel overwhelming at first but you have come to the right place to get help and support.

Good luck.
 
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Jus455

Active Member
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Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Tablets (oral)
Unfortunately the site won't let me upload the label of the juice where I have taken a photo.
It's saying the file is too big
 

Jus455

Active Member
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Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Tablets (oral)
"Some don't realise that it is all carbs- not just sugars. The Gi is less important than the actual amount of carbs"

Im surprised the lasagna has such low carbs
 

JoKalsbeek

Expert
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I reversed my Type 2
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Hi there,

I have been recently diagnosed with type 2.

My blood sugars have been quite high even though I have been on Metformin
2 times 500mg every morning.

I have gone more low carb lately and wondering why these foods are pushing my blood sugar levels up.

Juice: carbs: 1.9 per 100ml
Sugar: 1.3 per 100ml
Lasagna: carbs 10.8 per 100g
Sugar: 4.3 per 100g
Pumpkin ricotta cannelonca
Carbs: 11.1
Sugar: 4.1

Sodium is quite low on the nutrition values on the back of the packet as well.

It looks like on the back of the packet doesn't say whether it's low GI or not

Thanks
Are you, by any chance, subtracting fibers from the carb total? Because in the US they don't subtract those, but in the rest of the world, they already are subtracted. There's no way juice or regular lasagna, or canellonni's are that low in carbs. Sorry.
 

Rokaab

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Do remember it also depends how much you eat, its all fine and well if 100g of something has 10g of carbs, but if you have 300g of it (like the ricotta portion) then that makes 30 carbs (the ricotta showed 31.1) - and then it all adds up - some of the members of these forums eat less carbs than that in a day.
You need to know the total carbs you're eating (this may involve some maths :)), not just how much per 100g each food item is :)
 
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Jus455

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Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Tablets (oral)
Your right, I do eat a large portion and it's probably contributing to the high sugar levels. If I don't eat enough though I find im hungry most of the time. Maybe I should snack on some dark chocolate or something to help with the hunger pangs
 

JoKalsbeek

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Your right, I do eat a large portion and it's probably contributing to the high sugar levels. If I don't eat enough though I find im hungry most of the time. Maybe I should snack on some dark chocolate or something to help with the hunger pangs
The juice is 3,8 per serving, the cannoli 31....! So yeah, you're getting the numbers wrong. Forget extra snacks, you need to change your main meals so you don't go hungry all the time. Less carbs, more fats, and a decent amount of protein. If you up the fats and cut the carbs, your blood sugars will normalise and you won't go hungry. https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html might help.
 
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resander

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What are your portion sizes in grams and bloodsugar values in mmnol/L for lasagna and ricotta?
 

Jus455

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Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
The serving size of both lasagna and ricotta would be around 300g. The blood suger values tested on the meter 2 hours after first bite anywhere between 12.3 and late 13's mmol
 

Jaylee

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Metformin reduces the amount of sugar pumped out by your liver but doesn't have much effect otherwise. The most important factor is what you are eating.

It can also increase sensitivity to endogenous insulin produced too.

But I would concur regarding the dietary factor, & testing it's effects on BG. :)
 
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resander

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Type of diabetes
Type 2
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I measured my blood sugar values for foods known to be troublesome for diabetics about 3 years ago and got (approximately, as far as I can remember):
White rice 200g -> 12-14mmol/L
New potatoes 200g -> 10-11mmol/L
Old/Baked potatoes 200g -> 12-14mmol/L
Instant potato mash 200g -> 11-12mmol/L
Pasta 200g -> 9-12mmol/L
White bread slice -> 9-11mmolL
Brown bread slice -> 8-10mmol/L

Lasagna 150-200g -> 10-12mmol/L

Non-diabetic blood sugar values 2 hours after eating should be lower than 7.8 mmol/L, so I decided to totally exclude rice, potatoes, pasta and bread. Replaced these with low carb celeriac and cauliflower mash.

My lasagna result is about the same as yours. Do you know your blood sugar scores for rice, potatoes, pasta and bread?
 

Jus455

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Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Tablets (oral)
Well I had some lasagna this afternoon and after 2 hours exercised for 1 hour. Then I tested 20 minutes after and it was 9.4. not sure it went down cause the exercise lowered it.

Not sure for the others. I'm trying to cut bread out completely but tommirtoi will have seen potato so I will test two hours after then
 

resander

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Your blood sugar measurement was 9.4 mmol/L measured 3 hours 20 minutes after the lasagna and exercise. Then perhaps your blood sugar value was around 12 mmol/L 2 hours after the meal (before the exercise).

Obvious maybe, my blood sugar values above were for cooked rice, potatoes and pasta. The rice was long grain rice (not basmati rice) rinsed in water and then cooked in water in a rice cooker or saucepan for 20-25 minutes. There is also Microwave Long Grain rice in Tesco, that has similar carbs to raw long grain rice (30g carbs per 100g), but we have never tried it.
 

Jus455

Active Member
Messages
26
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I haven't tested after rice yet. The ricotta cannelloni shot my blood sugar uP heaps.

I still haven't tried testing after rice and potato yet. I always thought sweet potato was good for diabetics, but just in case I don't have it much anyway.

Are you using brown rice now instead of the other rice
 

resander

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122
Type of diabetes
Type 2
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Brown rice also spikes blood sugar, but not as much as white rice. Also, I don't like the taste and texture of brown rice, so I am not missing it...
Have cauliflower rice (a misnomer) instead that is a bit grainy and white, but does not taste like rice at all.
 

Resurgam

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I don't understand why you are trying to eat those high carb foods - sweet potato has more carbs than ordinary. Brown rice is still rice, just with the fibrous coat still on it.
Any grain or high starch food will cause a spike, as will fruit or fruit juice, other than a small serving of berries type twos avoid them or eat very sparingly.
 

Jus455

Active Member
Messages
26
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I'll be trying strawberries tomorrow, see if they spike the blood or not!