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Carbohydrate
- Thread starter divorce3
- Start Date
2christine
Well-Known Member
this is a big question, one of the team, Daisy, will be in touch with lots of answers your questions.
but very briefly ONLY MY VIEW.
1,carbohayrates is really the posh word for sugar.so only measured amounts for diabetics.
2. 4mmols/7mmols are normal
3.posh way of confusing people
4 posh words for rubbish in our food.
but very briefly ONLY MY VIEW.
1,carbohayrates is really the posh word for sugar.so only measured amounts for diabetics.
2. 4mmols/7mmols are normal
3.posh way of confusing people
4 posh words for rubbish in our food.
Andy12345
Expert
hi, welcome 
carbohydrates turn to glucose once we eat them, glucose being the thing that as diabetics we have trouble processing, so reducing the carbohydrates and sugar we can reduce the amount of glucose our bodies have trouble with and therefore lower our blood glucose readings and hopefully avoid the damage high levels cause to our bodies
as christine says a normal level of blood glucose is between 4 and 7.8 mmol the 4 being before we eat and the 7.8 2 hours afterwards, the only way to tell what your levels are is if you are testing yourself with a blood glucose monitor and a finger prick test, do you have access to one? what numbers are you getting when testing?
42 grams per 100 grams of carbs is how much carbohydrate are contained in that food per 100gram in weight, so for example if the packet you are reading it from is 200g of say pasta that would contain 84 grams of carbs, most people that are concerned about the amount of carbs in their foods will try to look for foods with 5 - 10 grams per 100 grams but thats a whole long story that we can get into if you wish?
the part where it says of which sugars is the carbohydrates that turn into glucose instantly therefore giving us a blood glucose spike which isn't very good for diabetics already over worked worn out beta cells in our pancreas, its like asking a 95 year old man to run a marathon 4 times a day when he would rather be sitting in front of the telly smoking he's pipe so he has said to us ****** that I'm not doing it, ill smoke my pipe you get on with it, so we eat less carbs and sugar to give him a rest hoping that he will enjoy he's break and decide to help us out again lol, sorry I'm leaning towards tellytubby
anyway nice to meet you and please ask questions, even if the answers i gave you still don't make sense ask them to be explained better
carbohydrates turn to glucose once we eat them, glucose being the thing that as diabetics we have trouble processing, so reducing the carbohydrates and sugar we can reduce the amount of glucose our bodies have trouble with and therefore lower our blood glucose readings and hopefully avoid the damage high levels cause to our bodies
as christine says a normal level of blood glucose is between 4 and 7.8 mmol the 4 being before we eat and the 7.8 2 hours afterwards, the only way to tell what your levels are is if you are testing yourself with a blood glucose monitor and a finger prick test, do you have access to one? what numbers are you getting when testing?
42 grams per 100 grams of carbs is how much carbohydrate are contained in that food per 100gram in weight, so for example if the packet you are reading it from is 200g of say pasta that would contain 84 grams of carbs, most people that are concerned about the amount of carbs in their foods will try to look for foods with 5 - 10 grams per 100 grams but thats a whole long story that we can get into if you wish?
the part where it says of which sugars is the carbohydrates that turn into glucose instantly therefore giving us a blood glucose spike which isn't very good for diabetics already over worked worn out beta cells in our pancreas, its like asking a 95 year old man to run a marathon 4 times a day when he would rather be sitting in front of the telly smoking he's pipe
so he has said to us ****** that I'm not doing it, ill smoke my pipe you get on with it, so we eat less carbs and sugar to give him a rest hoping that he will enjoy he's break and decide to help us out again lol, sorry I'm leaning towards tellytubbyanyway nice to meet you and please ask questions, even if the answers i gave you still don't make sense ask them to be explained better
daisy1
Legend
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- Cruelty towards animals.
Hi and welcome to the forum
Here is some information which I hope you will find useful. Ask as many questions as you like and someone will help.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find well over 70,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Here is some information which I hope you will find useful. Ask as many questions as you like and someone will help.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find well over 70,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
- Reduce your carbohydrate intake
- Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
- structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
- self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
