Can Type 1 Diabetics eat Chocolate ?!

[CarbsRok]

There's no reason what so ever for not eating chocolate. It doesn't matter whether you have diabetes or not moderation is the name of the game.
I can remember years ago being told not to deny myself anything as all it does is make you crave the item even more. I'm very lucky as not that keen on chocolate, so can take it or leave it but the advice I was given is relevant fo any food types

 

[Nyadach]

Bolus for it and carry on. It's a food, we deal with it like anything else...although you making me drool for some now thinking about it

 

[Sally49]

I'm Type 2 but insulin dependent. I'm a shocker for chocolate, always have been. It's not unknown for me to eat 4 x bars a day, and it's not the good expensive stuff either. I've had no choc though now for 2 weeks, and being very diligent with the Levemir and Novorapid, plus the metformin but my readings are still in the teens and twenties - in other words no difference. Anyone got any thoughts as to why that is?

 

[tim2000s]

@Sally49, multiple reasons spring to mind, starting with your level of insulin resistance and potentially your diet and BMI as the first check boxes followed by amounts of insulin you are taking secondly.

There are many possible reasons.

 

[PepperTed]

Another chocaholic here! What helps me is buying individually wrapped 'funsize' or 'kids size' portions of chocolates / sweets. I find it very hard to eat a part of anything and then put the rest back (probably from growing up in a "you will finish everything on your plate" house), so I need to limit my portions.

 

[CarbsRok]

I'm Type 2 but insulin dependent. I'm a shocker for chocolate, always have been. It's not unknown for me to eat 4 x bars a day, and it's not the good expensive stuff either. I've had no choc though now for 2 weeks, and being very diligent with the Levemir and Novorapid, plus the metformin but my readings are still in the teens and twenties - in other words no difference. Anyone got any thoughts as to why that is?

If you are still in the 20's @Sally49 the things you need to look at are the amount of insulin you are using and or the amount you are eating. The other option which does seem to becoming more common is that the insulin you are using is not right for you as in causing resistance, so worth looking into all options.

 

[Wurst]

I eat chocolate but mainly the 90 % cocoa or higher variety i.e. low carb around 16 g per 100 g.

 

[sao sebastiao]

surely it is the worst thing a diabetic person can eat (1 or 2) is to eat chocolate since that is what your body can,t handle.to manipulate your insulin
so you can is obviously wrong.Would you do it to your child if they were diabetic? Imagine if you got it wrong!

 

[phil1966]

surely it is the worst thing a diabetic person can eat (1 or 2) is to eat chocolate since that is what your body can,t handle.to manipulate your insulin
so you can is obviously wrong.Would you do it to your child if they were diabetic? Imagine if you got it wrong!

What exactly can't your body handle in high cocoa content chocolate? There are a lot worse things for many diabetics than high cocoa content chocolate

 

[lollyann1]

Do you like dark chocolate? I was never a fan of it but since being diagnosed with T1 I tried Lindt's 90% bar and it is really delicious and has MUCH less sugar/carbs than regular milk chocolate. Worth a try!

I love Lindt and sometimes eat a very small amount of 85%. However, even with just 1 unit Novorapid, my sugars go way too low. As written in a separate Thread, I have now been prescribed a half unit Novorapid pen so will see what happens when I use that. I suppose I could keep on eating a very small amount of 90% Lindt. I did try that and the same results happened.

 

[nmr1991]

I rarely have chocolate, but as many have said both diabetics and normal people shouldn't have these things cos they aren't good healthwise until there is proof that there is some miraculous cure to disease from chocolate in the future or something like that. I back the motion of removing all the sweet aisles from supermarkets or at least on the top shelf so children can't get at them.

 

[birchy66]

I rarely have chocolate, but as many have said both diabetics and normal people shouldn't have these things cos they aren't good healthwise until there is proof that there is some miraculous cure to disease from chocolate in the future or something like that. I back the motion of removing all the sweet aisles from supermarkets or at least on the top shelf so children can't get at them.

Yeah and why not remove McDonalds, Burger King, KFC and all the other rubbish fast food chains that spell trouble for people with diabetes. In the meantime I shall also eat the occasional couple of squares of 90% cocoa content chocolate.

 

[CarbsRok]

I rarely have chocolate, but as many have said both diabetics and normal people shouldn't have these things cos they aren't good healthwise until there is proof that there is some miraculous cure to disease from chocolate in the future or something like that. I back the motion of removing all the sweet aisles from supermarkets or at least on the top shelf so children can't get at them.

This wasn't what was said at all.
The general opinion is that chocolate is fine in moderation as are all things nice.

 

[tim2000s]

I love Lindt and sometimes eat a very small amount of 85%. However, even with just 1 unit Novorapid, my sugars go way too low. As written in a separate Thread, I have now been prescribed a half unit Novorapid pen so will see what happens when I use that. I suppose I could keep on eating a very small amount of 90% Lindt. I did try that and the same results happened.

90% Lindt only has 14g of carbs in a 100g bar and splits into ten pieces. If you are having one piece, which is 1.4g of carbs, you shouldn't need any insulin.

Even eating the whole bar, if your insulin/carb ratio is 1u/10g carbs, you'll only need 1.5u of insulin. But be careful though, dark chocolate is pretty slow at raising blood glucose levels because it has so much fat.

It sounds like your carb counting may be a bit off if you are taking 1u for 1 square.

 

[ChrisMaleType1]

I personally think type 1s can have chocolate unless you've been told specifcally not to eat it because of cholesterol or something. I carb count and I personally eat quite a lot of chocolate and my bg levels are pretty good most of the time

 

[donnellysdogs]

surely it is the worst thing a diabetic person can eat (1 or 2) is to eat chocolate since that is what your body can,t handle.to manipulate your insulin
so you can is obviously wrong.Would you do it to your child if they were diabetic? Imagine if you got it wrong!

I would allow my child to eat choc if they were T1. We are capable of handling chocolate, cake, biscuits.. Anything so long as we are totally able to bolus a correct amount of insulin for food.

Blimey, there's a lot more difficult food to handle as a T1 such as pizza's n pasta n rice that have worse effects than a simple chocolate bar.

Yes, I wld definitely allow my child to have chocolate rather than making my child feel "different and alienated" from my childs friends. Alienating my child would make them feel worse than a chocolate bar would.

 

[ChrisMaleType1]

I would allow my child to eat choc if they were T1. We are capable of handling chocolate, cake, biscuits.. Anything so long as we are totally able to bolus a correct amount of insulin for food.

Blimey, there's a lot more difficult food to handle as a T1 such as pizza's n pasta n rice that have worse effects than a simple chocolate bar.

Yes, I wld definitely allow my child to have chocolate rather than making my child feel "different and alienated" from my childs friends. Alienating my child would make them feel worse than a chocolate bar would.

Hi donelly, i would have said that pasta/spaghetti is one if the best foods a diabetic can have. In fact i have it everyday for lunch. I have wholemeal spag or fetuccine (the egg sort). The great thing is its healthy, you can choose the sauce and you can slow the carb effect with a good portion of delicious fatty cheese. My bg levels haven't been quite so good lately so i might try a low carb diet sometime, I've never tried it before.