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A simple choice? Apple or biccies?

P

peterlemer

Well-Known Member
If a rich tea biscuit has 5gm carbs, and a small apple has 10gm, which should I choose that's best for my bg?

the apple?
or 2 rich tea biscuits?

pete
 
Hi Pete. My guess would be that the apple eaten with the skin would be the better option. Skin provides the fibre which may slow digestion and perhaps lower spike. Also, I should think an apple has a wider range of vitamins than a biccie. Test and see what it does for you!
 
Apple I'd say - the biccie will give up its sugar quicker than the apple cos of the lack of fibre so although higher in carbs the apple would have a lesser effect
 
Hi. I'd go with the 2 biccies, have them with a cup of coffee made with double cream, and I think rich tea a 1/2 second dunk, possibly 1 second if you put them back to back. The fat in the cream will slow down carb effect, giving a lower spike.
 
Hi folks - thanks for your replies - goodstuff :-)

I ask this question as I am being invited to supply refreshments for a group of type-2 diabetics and the health professional who set this up has given me loads of teabags, coffee , and a packet of rich tea biscuits.

When I questioned the biscuits I was told that, effectively, that all carbs are the same.

My mention of GL didn't impress, and the temperature rose ever so slightly. :-)

I'm not happy to provide a diet element in a support situation which I wouldn't choose for myself for logical reasons.

mushroom: that's exactly what I think, although I am discounting the benefits of vitamins for the purpose of this thread.
A tea break might be a good place to forget about vitamins :-)

badcat: you echo my understanding

sid bonkers: AFAIK McVities and others ( including these freebies) have removed TFAs from rich tea biscuits

didie: me, too. But I'd love to have the sort of data for this that would move a health professional.
It seems as though Glycemic Load isn't recognised.

paraglider pete: now THAT is an interesting suggestion! Bit this raises a whole new area of enquiry - how much does the ingestion of the fat from the double cream increase the precursors for glucagon production in the liver? IOW, I might feel better for the rest of the meeting ( I love double cream on my strawbs) but would I wake with higher bg? In any case, they wouldn't stump up for a pot of cream so I have to pass on this one :-)

keep 'em coming!

:-)

pete
 
There's so much more goodness in an apple.

Sying that - personally - I'd go for a packet of Pork Scratchings... :lol:

Although, I HAVE eaten a couple of apples recently...
 
Patch said:
There's so much more goodness in an apple.

Sying that - personally - I'd go for a packet of Pork Scratchings... :lol:

Although, I HAVE eaten a couple of apples recently...
Click to expand...

No contest:
An apple is a whole food which is packed with fibre and nutrients.
A biscuit is made from grain and sugar and is therefore packed with antinutrients.
Like Pat, I'd much prefer to eat some dead animal or (failing that) some berries and cream.

I haven't tasted a Chocolate Hobnob in almost 18 months :(
 
1 apple is a lot more expensive than 2 Rich Tea biscuits! and I doubt you've been given cream for the coffee :roll:
:lol:

I don't really miss biscuits, except perhaps the occassional PACKET of Jaffa Cakes I used to eat :shh:
 
Well ...

the apple has a lot going for it ... it has nutritional value, it's less likely to give you a spike unless its VERY sweet and laced with custard ... you can have half an apple if you want to cut your carbs ... it has crunch and munch value so takes longer to eat ... fibre ...

Rich Tea biscuit ... has that element of naughtiness ... very little nutritional value ... has some munch and crunch but not if you dunk ... and if you're anything like me two wouldn't be enough you'd end up eating the whole packet ...

Personally, I'm not a lover of apple as it seems to make me hungry, so it's not a fruit I buy but I make sure that I have my peaches and strawbs which I love and those tubs of fruit in juice that you don't need to keep in the fridge. I've stopped buying biscuits because they're too tempting for me, I could give myself a coma with a packet of Ginger Nuts no trouble. So I stopped buying them ages ago. But I do keep some of those little mini sized sweet bars for when the sweety monster rears its ugly head - Crunchie, Twix etc. I find I can limit myself to ONE of those when the need arises whereas biscuits I can't stop until the pack is empty. :(

My biscuit addiction actually scared me so much when I found I'd gone through TWO packets of Ginger Nuts in one sitting! :roll:
 
peterlemer said:
how much does the ingestion of the fat from the double cream increase the precursors for glucagon production in the liver?
pete
Click to expand...

whoops! take 4 marks off for blooper. The liver doesn't make glucagon, that's made in the pancreas and it's function is to switch on /glycogen --->glucose/ production in the liver while we're asleep and not eating, according to this paper:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/ ... 040612.php

Caveat! the above link could be many months/years ahead of what your healthcare professional will deliver. There are good and bad reasons for this:

good: many research findings can be contradicted by other findings and a new 'discovery' may need further studies, perhaps larger scale, to be really useful.

bad: the NHS needs to work slowly to when deciding that existing advice/treatment needs to change, so really useful info might take a long to time to reach us.

<waffle switch OFF>

pete
 
Hi All.
Definetely an apple a day for me ! :thumbup:
No contest between the two for me...
Anna.
 
...so what /would/ the panel place on the back table along with the tea, coffee, water at a diabetics anonymous meeting???

( apart from double cream, NY Cheesecake, coffee eclairs from Louie's in hampstead etc etc )

;-)

pete
 
peterlemer said:
...so what /would/ the panel place on the back table along with the tea, coffee, water at a diabetics anonymous meeting???

( apart from double cream, NY Cheesecake, coffee eclairs from Louie's in hampstead etc etc )

;-)

pete
Click to expand...

MEAT!
Coldcuts.
Chicken drumsticks.

Dipping stuff - celery and carrots
Low carb dips - blue cheese and gucamole
Boiled eggs.

Salad and high-fat dressing.

Stawberries + Cream
Sugar free Jelly
IanD's low carb cake
WJ's low carb trifle
 
Etty said:
cocktail sticks with a cube of cheese and a strawberry?
Click to expand...

Now you're talking!! :thumbup:

I wouldn't pick the apple as they give me stomach ache and spike my bg somewhat!! So I would choose a biscuit given your selection.

Angie
 
At a diabetes forum I attended there were white bread and wholemeal bread sandwiches, samosas, bananas, apples, oranges, dried fruit, biscuits..... What can I say??
 
sallylondon said:
At a diabetes forum I attended there were white bread and wholemeal bread sandwiches, samosas, bananas, apples, oranges, dried fruit, biscuits..... What can I say??
Click to expand...

Maybe they were hoping to enroll some new members.. :(
 
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