Alcohol

[cmor16]

I haven't had much alcohol at all in the past 2 months, in fact I'm becoming a cheap date!
Yesterday I went out for lunch and had two glasses of wine. I had told the waiter to give my fries to my husband but when our meals came, I thought I'd just try a few of them to see how it went as I've never had potatoes either. The rest of my meal was low carb apart from a couple of black beans. Two hours later my blood reading was 5.3 so I was pretty chuffed. Is that OK? I know alcohol lowers the BG but not sure if that's a good or bad thing in this case?

I always feel that I'm doing something wrong because I am doing this all without any professional help so would appreciate any comments.

 

[novorapidboi26]

A 5.3 is great two hours after a meal......even if the carb content was pretty low...

how many chips did you have....?

could the alcohol have been responsible for the number, well maybe, but two glasses isn't that much and the liver doesn't start trying to remove the alcohol straight away in most cases....

it seems like your meal was a success, so put that down as a winning combination for next time...

 

[cmor16]

Yeah that's what I thought! I had about half a dozen chips...very nice too

 

[Bluetit1802]

We all have different tolerances to foods. Some people are OK with small portions of potato. In fact, quite a few people on here are. I'm one of them. I can eat half a dozen chips without any effect on my levels, same with a couple of small new potatoes with butter, or roasted ones. The fat in the chips, butter, and roast helps. Grains are a different matter for me - but some people are fine with grains and not with spuds. This is why we have glucose meters - eating to our meter is the way to go unless you prefer to have none of the major carbs at all.

The alcohol may also have helped.

 

[Alexandra100]

Two hours later my blood reading was 5.3 so I was pretty chuffed

An unexpectedly low reading at 2 hours after a meal may mean bg peaked later. This can happen after a meal high in fat or it can be due to delayed stomach emptying (gastroparesis). This is a known diabetic complication and can happen even to people like me who are pre-pre-diabetic. Worth testing at 3 and even 4 hours when post prandial bg seems too good to be true.

 

[cmor16]

We all have different tolerances to foods. Some people are OK with small portions of potato. In fact, quite a few people on here are. I'm one of them. I can eat half a dozen chips without any effect on my levels, same with a couple of small new potatoes with butter, or roasted ones. The fat in the chips, butter, and roast helps. Grains are a different matter for me - but some people are fine with grains and not with spuds. This is why we have glucose meters - eating to our meter is the way to go unless you prefer to have none of the major carbs at all.

The alcohol may also have helped.

Being gluten free I'd rather have potatoes anyway so I'm happy that it appears I am OK having them occasionally as a treat.

 

[Birdwoman]

We all have different tolerances to foods. Some people are OK with small portions of potato. In fact, quite a few people on here are. I'm one of them. I can eat half a dozen chips without any effect on my levels, same with a couple of small new potatoes with butter, or roasted ones. The fat in the chips, butter, and roast helps. Grains are a different matter for me - but some people are fine with grains and not with spuds. This is why we have glucose meters - eating to our meter is the way to go unless you prefer to have none of the major carbs at all.

The alcohol may also have helped.

I know that the advice is for your BGs to be back near where you started 2 hours after a meal but if I eat a meal that I know is OK for me but add about 5 chips, my BGs don’t seem to move at all at the 1hour mark and peak just after 2hours and 2.5 hours are then coming down and back at 3hours. What does this mean please?

 

[Bluetit1802]

I know that the advice is for your BGs to be back near where you started 2 hours after a meal but if I eat a meal that I know is OK for me but add about 5 chips, my BGs don’t seem to move at all at the 1hour mark and peak just after 2hours and 2.5 hours are then coming down and back at 3hours. What does this mean please?

The 2 hour mark is only a guideline. The timing of any peak depends entirely on the contents of the meal - fats will slow matters down, low GI carbs release glucose more slowly, high GI carbs release glucose quicker, some of them very quickly. It also depends on your own insulin production - some people have a good first response insulin, others do not and need to rely on their second response. Some meals may also produce two separate upward bumps. It is not an exact science, sadly.

 

[Birdwoman]

The 2 hour mark is only a guideline. The timing of any peak depends entirely on the contents of the meal - fats will slow matters down, low GI carbs release glucose more slowly, high GI carbs release glucose quicker, some of them very quickly. It also depends on your own insulin production - some people have a good first response insulin, others do not and need to rely on their second response. Some meals may also produce two separate upward bumps. It is not an exact science, sadly.

Thank you for that as I am confused by this. By my BGs not peaking until after 2 hours does this mean I should not eat that food or it still OK?

Thanks for the help

 

[Bluetit1802]

Thank you for that as I am confused by this. By my BGs not peaking until after 2 hours does this mean I should not eat that food or it still OK?

Thanks for the help

It all depends on the levels you are peaking to, and how long you are "up there".

 

[Birdwoman]

It all depends on the levels you are peaking to, and how long you are "up there".

Thank you for helping me sort this out. An example of a meal from 2 days ago -

Before my lunch - 102 (5.5), 2 hour after - 128(7.1), 2 and a half hours - 127 (7.0) and 3 hours - 118(6.5). I did not check after that, perhaps I should have done but other instances have told me they normally they go down fairly quickly after that.

Thanks

 

[Bluetit1802]

I really don't have an answer. What exactly did you eat and drink, and what were you doing from finishing the meal to the 3 hour mark?

 

[derry60]

Try again. Have your half a Dozen chips again, test 2 hours after, then an hour after that. If you feel like it test an hour after the last hour that you tested. This way you will see if you get a later spike.

 

[Birdwoman]

I really don't have an answer. What exactly did you eat and drink, and what were you doing from finishing the meal to the 3 hour mark?

It was lunch time and I had 2 eggs, 2 pieces of bacon and a tomato all fried in butter then the test was I had a small banana (100gm), and a cup of tea. I think we had to go out that day, so mostly in the car.

Thanks a lot

 

[Birdwoman]

Try again. Have your half a Dozen chips again, test 2 hours after, then an hour after that. If you feel like it test an hour after the last hour that you tested. This way you will see if you get a later spike.

Yes, I will try that thanks

 

[Bluetit1802]

It was lunch time and I had 2 eggs, 2 pieces of bacon and a tomato all fried in butter then the test was I had a small banana (100gm), and a cup of tea. I think we had to go out that day, so mostly in the car.

Thanks a lot

Well, the answer is right there. The banana. They are extremely high in carbohydrate, and very fast acting. Bananas are the worst fruit we can eat - athletes eat them during competitions for a quick boost of glucose energy. Your main meal of bacon, eggs and tomato won't have caused very much of a rise at all. Then you ate the banana and the fat from the other food will have slowed down the digestion of the banana. Then presumably some milk in your tea? But the banana is the main reason unless you swamp your tea in milk, in which case you could try cream instead. I suggest you put bananas on your list of foods to avoid in future. A small full fat unsweetened yogurt with a couple of strawberries chopped up, or half a dozen raspberries in double cream would have been much, much better.

 

[Birdwoman]

Well, the answer is right there. The banana. They are extremely high in carbohydrate, and very fast acting. Bananas are the worst fruit we can eat - athletes eat them during competitions for a quick boost of glucose energy. Your main meal of bacon, eggs and tomato won't have caused very much of a rise at all. Then you ate the banana and the fat from the other food will have slowed down the digestion of the banana. Then presumably some milk in your tea? But the banana is the main reason unless you swamp your tea in milk, in which case you could try cream instead. I suggest you put bananas on your list of foods to avoid in future. A small full fat unsweetened yogurt with a couple of strawberries chopped up, or half a dozen raspberries in double cream would have been much, much better.

Thanks for that. Now I have got my BGs down I am trying to add a few carbs back into my diet and it was the banana I was testing, I often eat the other things for a lunch and knew they were fine so banana is a no no. I have been eating 20 carbs per day but thought it would be nice if I could put it up to 50 a day, just to get a bit more variety but am not sure how to feel when like 1 roast potato added to a meal did not do anything for an hour but spike at 2 and a half hours but are back to where I started 3 hours? My BGs then were 89 before the meal, 89 1 hour after, 93 2 hours after, 102 2 half hours after and 90 at 3 hours. I have only just started this idea and thought I was fine as the 2 hour readings were OK I did not test after that but now realise that I should have done. I feel that this roast potato was fine but the time it took to back to normal I am not sure about?

 

[Alexandra100]

Thanks for that. Now I have got my BGs down I am trying to add a few carbs back into my diet and it was the banana I was testing, I often eat the other things for a lunch and knew they were fine so banana is a no no. I have been eating 20 carbs per day but thought it would be nice if I could put it up to 50 a day, just to get a bit more variety but am not sure how to feel when like 1 roast potato added to a meal did not do anything for an hour but spike at 2 and a half hours but are back to where I started 3 hours? My BGs then were 89 before the meal, 89 1 hour after, 93 2 hours after, 102 2 half hours after and 90 at 3 hours. I have only just started this idea and thought I was fine as the 2 hour readings were OK I did not test after that but now realise that I should have done. I feel that this roast potato was fine but the time it took to back to normal I am not sure about?

What are your target bgs?

 

[Bluetit1802]

One possibility is it isn't the food at fault, but your own insulin response. Your first insulin response may be very weak, which is often the case in diabetes. It may be something you just have to ride along with when introducing an extra carb. At least your levels are not that high.

 

[Birdwoman]

One possibility is it isn't the food at fault, but your own insulin response. Your first insulin response may be very weak, which is often the case in diabetes. It may be something you just have to ride along with when introducing an extra carb. At least your levels are not that high.

No, I do not normally get big spikes (only the banana) Thanks for all your help, it much appreciated.