Eating protein - do you give a shot?

[sallymac65]

Hi, Ive been on a pump for a few years and had T1 for more than 30, long enough, but hey ..... I saw in another thread about the fact you should give a shot/bolus for when you eat protein. Ive never done this, the theory was I think that you calculate the protein value of a food, divide it by 4 and then thats the amount you give in insulin units.

It all sounds like black magic to me, but is this correct? Anyone know for sure? Perhaps thats where Ive been going wrong all these years?!

 

[noblehead]

Not sure on the calculation you've mentioned but the best way of finding out is through trial & error. I'd imagine just like insulin to carb ratio's it will vary from person-to-person and will also depend on the time of day you are eating your meals; for a meal like a 4 egg cheese omelette (or bacon & eggs)I need around 4 units of QA and have to take this in a split-dose to prevent a high bg levels 3 hours plus after eating.

 

[sallymac65]

Hi noblehead, ah v interesting about the protein at breakfast, that may well explain something. Thanks for your input

 

[Loobles]

As you know, I don't take insulin, but I low carb, having about 20-25g carb at lunch and dinner. However, I have been caught out when I've had a high protein low carb meal (with delayed but prolonged high BG the next day) and I've wondered if I should be factoring some of the protein grams into my carb allowance. It's interesting you should allude to BG rising in response to protein. I haven't heard of that calc, but I'd probably use a bit of trial and error anyway as your tolerance may be different.

In my own experience, the BG rise tends to take longer to peak and lasts for a long time (you probably know this already as you have lots of experience - more than I do anyway) but don't forget to factor that in

 

[sallymac65]

Hi Louise, thanks for your input on this. Its good to hear someone else's take on it,, I can just never understand why my BGs spike after having scrambled egg on a toast considering I know the carb value of the bread. So like you say a bit of trial and error to come, something to look forward to next week !

 

[Brunneria]

Hi,

Type 2 here, so no insulin (yet), but I have noticed that my BG rises are less about how many grammes of carb I eat, and more about the type of food.

Wheat spikes me higher than sugar, gramme for gramme. Potato is less than sugar. Pizza is slower than normal wheat, and so on.

I realise that glycaemic index and glycaemic load have a lot to do with it, but my wheat reaction is waaay out of proportion.

I just have to allow for it.

So while protein does keep my BG raised for a bit, it is raised by very little. I would be viewing the bread with more suspicion than the protein.

Have you tried 15g of a different carb with the same protein, to test it?

 

[Loobles]

It's funny how we're all so different. I'd say I'm definitely finding now that my sugar/carb spikes tend to be high and short lived but my protein ones just take forever to die down. It's like I have a really disproportionate response to protein. Weird...something else to experiment with perhaps. It has recently made me wonder though, whether I'd be better having a bit more carb and suffering a higher but shorter lived spike. Not sure I want to experiment with that though, especially since I'm having so few food cravings eating fewer carbs.

 

[sallymac65]

Hey yes but thats what makes us interesting eh? But like you say its takes ages to get the blasted protein spike down, hours for me, time to change breakfasts me thinks !

 

[noblehead]

Diabetes is one big learning curve, as type 1's we just assume that it's carbs that effect bg levels but nothing further from the truth can be said, the following article explains how dietary fat can influence bg levels several hours after eating:

http://www.mendosa.com/The-Fat-of-the-Matter-How-Dietary-Fat-Effects-Blood-Glucose.htm

 

[Nyxks]

SInce all the protein I take in has carbs attached to it, yes its all counted and factored into the mix when I give myself a meal time bolus (total carbs, plus half amount of the listed protein).

 

[ewelina]

Protein and fat has an effect on glucose levels. My consultant told me there is an undergoing research in UK but in country Im from (Poland) it has been proven quite a long time ago and people on pumps are advised to calculate protein and fat together with carbs. Its a bit of a hassle but not that difficult. You take 1u of insulin (or whatever your ratio is) for every 100kcal from protein and fat. You take it as a multi wave bolus (time depends on total amounts of fat and protein, the higher it is the later you take it).
Its rather difficult to do that with injections as you would have to inject several times a day and probably changing ratio. I do that to some extend when eating high protein and fat meals and splitting doses

 

[pankajpy98671]

A healthy food only can give proper nutrients of it. There are many types of recepies are there which are very helpful in some special types of and paleo recipes are also one of them. these types of recepies maintai proper proteins, carbohydrater as well as vitamins. so it needs great care in the food habitats.

 

[novorapidboi26]

I personally don't take for protein or fat.........

I have not noticed an effect on my BG when eating it on its own............a fluctuation of 1 - 2 mmol at the most, but this is acceptable for me............

test test test...................

I have heard of people on injection counting there proteins and fats too, although my experience has taught me that its the lack of a separate background insulin, which has been modified to absorb slower, that present the need for counting the very slowly converted proteins and fats to glucose......