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Carb Carb counting/conversion to amounts insulin to cover them

ron45

Member
Messages
12
Location
Central New Mexico
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
I am an old but card carrying hippie so the things I don't like are too numerous to mention. I am not a patriot of any kind. My country continuously shames me and themselves.
There is probably a page for this kind thing. My wife is insulin dependent and brittle like crazy. I have been asked to oversee her meds practices. If she is too low or too high mistakes are very dangerous. We have had diabetes since `74 but Jennifer being a nurse took care of that herself up until recently. There have been so many insults to her brain chemistry and physiology that there isn't much resiliency left there. Over the years I haven't said much if she wants a few beers in the evening.

However, I don't know how to evaluate their presence in our life these days. I think we must differentiate between simple and complex carbs and favor the complex for reasons we all know. She knows this at some level since we have a history of paying attention to what we eat. She is rightfully fed up with the whole thing and who can blame her. Still I'd like to know the degree of harm/ simple carbs in a beer. In this case I doubt there are any complex carbs since it's all liquid and I like to know how concerned I should be about two or three beers ...... but then there is cookies pretty soon we are talking mainlining glucose in mass quantities to quote Dan Akroid. The thinking is I'll cover this w/insulin. Fine and dandy at 20, 30, 40, 50, but at 72 there be dragons!

Can anyone point me to reliable info on how many carbs in which foods, and how much insulin to cover them. I have a million questions and I don't seem to be getting notified of answers so maybe I'd missed something in the registration process. I have a bit of a problem navigating this site because someone may be trying to reinvent the wheel. I'll try to find out where I went wrong on the notifications. I apologize in advance if my nearly terminal dyslexia rears it's homely head. I try to check everything but you know how that is. I have spell check on and have selected follow and notify below.





Thank you very much,

Ron
 
Hi @ron45 ,

It's difficult to be specific about dosing because we all have different insulin to carb ratios and it can even vary during the day. It's not unusual to need more insulin per carb for an evening meal than breakfast or lunch. As a very general rule, people usually start off on this path with a ratio of 1 unit of insulin to 10g of carbs. Plenty of testing before and after meals will help you modify this ratio to suit your own requirements.

If you can find it, there's a book called Carbs and Cals which shows a picture of a food item and explains the nutritional values, it's quite comprehensive. On a more basic level, just ask Dr Google how many carbs are there in (insert food type - even beer) and you'll usually find out what you want to know.
 
Hi Ron, lovely guitar btw.

The authoritative book on carbs, cals and fat is aptly titled "The Calorie Carb and Fat Bible and the 2016 (latest) edition is available her https://www.amazon.co.uk/Calorie-Ca...67&sr=1-1&keywords=calorie+carb+and+fat+bible
ISBN: 9781904512158
Obviously other sellers are available



I also saw a 2011 edition at Amazon from £1 plus P&P https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-l...ie=UTF8&condition=used&qid=1490518867&sr=1-11

As I said the carb values dont change year by year although possibly more accurate data is revised so an older version would be fine if you dont mind buying a second hand book, the choice is yours.

Although a T2 myself I was on MDI insulin for 12 months after diagnosis which is why I needed the book.

As urbanracer has said it is virtually impossible to advise on a ratio as we are all different but a book a lot of T1's recommend is "Think Like a Pancreas" by Gary Scheiner (ISBN: 9780738215143

Hope this helps
 
Hi and welcome. My wife is dyslexic so I understand! Note that although complex (low-GI) carbs are absorbed more slowly than simple ones, they are still carbs which will affect blood sugar. Note the carb-counting advice, ratios etc from the other posters.
 
I understand the problems in trying to nail things down to a value or worse, a constant value so I appreciate any input I can get. I will obtain a copy of the book you mention. That should be some help in deciding if I should be concerned or not.

Thank you for taking the time to help.

Ron





 
Thank you Sid. That was my first archtop, an Ibanez PM100. Don't know how much guitar lore is allowed. Maybe we can hook up via private msg if they have that feature here.

I understand about specifics. Got that carb/fat/calorie book on the way. That's a good place to begin. I'd like to know more about ways to boost metabolism to cut back on insulin and help reduce glucose levels when they are too high. Exercise of course but pure caffeine tablets could be a possibility, Co Q 10 and the newer versions are supposed to help with mitochondrial energy production. Do you have any experience in that area?

Ron



 
Thank you Daibll, I appreciate your help.

Ron
 
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