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Food eating order

lesfingal

Member
Messages
16
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
Evening All (as PC Dixon used to say.....) I struggle with evening spikes and highs. I've read the order one eats the food on a plate can keep spiking down. I had salad leaves, tomatoes, cous cous, grapes, orange segments , 2 x pizza slices and a few chips. Actually forgot what I was doing, thinking a mixed salad on a warm night was a positive thing. Now, I begin to wonder and worry about a later spike. Any practical real world advice would be appreciated. Thanks Les
 
I have to be careful as you’re on insulin & I'm diet only also I don’t know anything about eating in order,but I think the salad is the least of your concerns. Grapes, orange segments, pizza, chips are very carby, when I was on Gliclizide 3 grapes would pull me out of a hypo. Also the amount of fat in your food from the pizza & chips could give you a rise that goes on for longer & stays higher for longer

I’ll tag one of our members who is T2 on insulin that may have more help & advice for you @Lakeslover
 
I find the order of eating foods doesn’t make much difference for me.

From what you ate couscous, grapes, oranges, and chips would all produce a spike. pizza does tend to give me a delayed spike. I think probably because of the amount of fat involved.

Eating all of those carbs together would give me a significant spike and over a fairly long period (if I didn’t take my fast acting insulin).
 
Ok thanks I don't over eat and thought a mixed salad was a good idea,seems not. I only have Toujeo which I don't find of much use, far too slow acting.
 
Ok thanks I don't over eat and thought a mixed salad was a good idea,seems not. I only have Toujeo which I don't find of much use, far too slow acting.
Toujeo is a long acting insulin, it’s designed to keep your blood sugar steady when you are not eating. But it’s not intended to deal with blood sugar spikes after meals.

Salad is fine (leaves, onion, cucumber a few tomatoes). But it doesn’t act to reduce the effect of anything else you eat.
 
Ok thanks I don't over eat and thought a mixed salad was a good idea,seems not. I only have Toujeo which I don't find of much use, far too slow acting.
A mixed salad as in lettuce, egg, tomatoes, celery, onion, cucumber, feta, pork rashers etc is very unlikely to raise your blood glucose by a lot.

But you added a lot of carby stuff like cous cous, grapes, orange, pizza slices and chips. All of those will increase blood glucose, no matter the order they are eaten in.


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Thanks for the responses. I don't feel I have done wrong nor is it the crime of the century to have carbs. It is a struggle to know what to eat and it's a tough learning curb that some people here certainly have mastered. Some of us though are starting out on the journey....and need practical advice.
 
Sorry if you feel offended or upset @lesfingal - not my intention at all. No you haven’t done anything wrong. Your food choices are your own choices and no one here can tell you what to do and it is a massive learning curve & takes time to master.

None of us are experts and even after 16 years I’m still learning, but we do have practical real world knowledge which is what you asked for :) what you do with the shared knowledge is entirely your choice & what works for those sharing their own “real world knowledge” may not work for you, & that’s ok :) but you may also find some of it helpful
 
Thanks for the responses. I don't feel I have done wrong nor is it the crime of the century to have carbs. It is a struggle to know what to eat and it's a tough learning curb that some people here certainly have mastered. Some of us though are starting out on the journey....and need practical advice.
It's certainly not a crime to have carbs. The point being made is that carbs in food have the biggest single impact on blood glucose levels, so if you're looking to control these, reducing carb intake would usually be a good place to start.

The internet is full of claimed "hacks" and suggestions about how to eat carbs and not have BG be affected - see Reddit for any number of these. They seem to be wishful thinking, very often. I've never found any of these to be of any use. What worked and works for me is significant reduction of carb intake.
 
I follow a Low carb protein diet for the past 5 years and what the others have said, too many carbs in your meal. Even though I’ve followed the Low Carb diet I’m still learning and not got all the answers either. I try not to start a meal later than 7pm, looking at the length of fasting time till breakfast.
Of course lots of things affect the blood glucose like heat, water, exercise and emotions
I got 2 books to help me and I’ve found them very useful

Carbs & Cals, Carb & Calorie counter by Chris /Cheyette & Yello Balolia

And an older book: GI & GL Counter - Dr Wynnie Chan
 
Thank You for the book suggestions. I'm afraid eating before 7pm just wouldn't suit my lifestyle. I also think it's a very long fast until breakfast. However, as you say you are still learning.....though sometimes I feel it's "beyond my ken".
 
Thank You for the book suggestions. I'm afraid eating before 7pm just wouldn't suit my lifestyle. I also think it's a very long fast until breakfast. However, as you say you are still learning.....though sometimes I feel it's "beyond my ken".
I'm another who likes eating later at night, but I tend to keep my late night eating lower carb to not create issues in the night.
Nuts, pork scratchings, an evening meal of protein and veggies with cheese or cream, cheese crisps, chicory dipped in hummus or aioli, eggs, those are the things I tend to eat later in the evening to avoid glucose spikes.
 
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