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Chocolate cake - a question

I

ian1968

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It's my son's 6th birthday party on Saturday and he's going to have a chocolate birthday cake. I'd like to have a small piece with him, to be part of his celebrations. And I was wondering what was the best way to go about it...

I've been T2 diagnosed for about six or seven weeks now. I've changed my diet radically, lost a stone and four pounds and I regularly test in the 4s or 5s, so I feel quite stable at the moment. I don't eat any sugary stuff obviously - my sweet treats are strawberries. But now that I've got myself down to a decent level, and feel like maintaining it is going to be sustainable, I'd like to sneak in the odd treat here and there. Say a biscuit perhaps. Or a square of chocolate. But I don't know how to do it, in terms of timing, so I guess the birthday cake will be my first experiment.

So when you have a sweet treat, do you have it with a meal? Or two hours after a meal after you've spiked and then returned to your normal level? Do you make sure you do a sudden bout of exercise afterwards? How and when do you have your sweet treat, and what do you have?

Thank you.
 
I try and eat anything a bit "naughty" with other more suitable food.it seems to "dilute" the effect a bit.

The important thing about cake or anything else that is carby and sugary is only to have a small piece.

By small I mean small enough not to push your BG up to much. You can only find out how big (or small) the slice of cake that you can eat is by testing two hours after eating.

I allow myself all sorts of naughty treats, but they are small and I know that I can handle them without any spikes that go over 7 mmol. I have a theory (OK it's just an idea) that some small carby and sugary treats may actually give the old pancreas a bit of a prod and it wakes up a bit and produces a bit more insulin. As I said, just my idea.

H
 
Hi. There's nothing wrong with the occasional 'treat'. I would have the treat between main meals so your carb intake isn't spiky. Yes, keep the portion size down. For chocolate squares go for 85% dark chocolate. Anything lower is just loaded with sugar and other carbs. Try to find cakes with no added sugar; it's often completely unnecessary. My wife makes me Molly cake with zero added sugar. It does have sugar in it but only from the fruit.
 
I agree with Daibell. While I don't have treats that are high carb or sugary, I certainly feel that if a time arose where I would like to share a celebratory piece of cake, then I certainly would. I would say have a smallish piece, and don't test for the rest of the day. What the eye don't see and all that. :lol:
 
Thanks everyone. My problem - although maybe it's a good thing, as it helps keep me on the straight and narrow - is that I feel when I'm high BG. Or at least I did. I feel sick, or dizzy, or get a headache. Maybe it'll be different now I've lost the weight and my overall BG is down - I assume it must be.

I do feel that phasing back in the occasional sweet treat is part two of my overall plan. I just want to get it right. As always, it's trial and error I guess.

Anyway...looking forward to my little bit of cake! Hope I don't pay for it too badly...
 
Hi Ian, When I was first diagnosed I was very disciplined and did not have any sweet treats, and gradually introduced them into my diet. The problem was that after about a year when I had got a bit blase about the diabetes, plus the Doc took testng strips off my prescription - which I feel subconsiously sent me the message that my numbers were not important to the Doc - I had more sweet treats/naughty things. My blood results at first were really good, which was dangerous because I was more naughty. At my next check up my HBA1C, blood pressure and cholesterol was high, and the Doc put me on lots more meds. At my most recent check my results are slightly better and I feel like I have got things under control again.

I guess what I am trying to say is that small treats are ok, but don't lose sight of the diabetes. Also, a good walk after a naughty treat really helps! And finally - ENJOY!!
 
Don't forget the effects of exercise. If you could time it with taking your son down the park about an hour later, for a walk or run around, it will do wonders for helping to keep the BGs down.
 
Another thought: have a glass of red wine with it. Apparently that impairs the absorption of carbs.... or something like that! It works for me
 
OK, so I had my bit of chocolate cake. I reduced the amount of carbs I had for breakfast in preparation and didn't have a huge amount of carbs for lunch, and it was all fine. I didn't feel dizzy or sick or the things I usually feel when my BG is high, and a few hours after I tested 5.6.

Funnily enough, we had a picnic with friends today as it's such a lovely day, and that wasn't as successful. It's my first picnic as a diabetic though so I'm still learning. I snacked on carrots and hummus, but then someone had some mozzarella which looked nice so I had a few mozz balls. I didn't think it would be too bad, but I started feeling a bit sick and I tested 6.2. I've just had a cup of tea, which I find tends to level me out when I'm feeling a bit high sugary.

So, after my extensive scientific studies, I can officially report that chocolate cake isn't as bad for you as mozzarella!

I guess 6.2 isn't too bad a spike. It's good to know, though, that with preparation an occasional sweet treat is possible. But, as you say, keep it occasional.
 
In these circumstances, I have just enough to "join in". If the portion is TINY, you are not getting a lot of carb.
Hana
PS TINY means about a spoonful
 
I had a reasonable size piece, albeit small, and my BG was fine. But then I'm not on a low carb diet, so I guess I don't have to worry about that as much as a low carber. It felt good to join in.
 
Glad you enjoyed it. :thumbup: I have a weekly treat, a chocolate eclair usually and have been known to have a slice of Dundee cake. As long as it isn't a daily occurrence and you incorporate it into a balanced meal you should be fine. Don't ever let people make you feel guilty about it.
 
Hello Daibell,

What's Mollycake? I've never heard of it. But if it's got chocolate in....it sounds nice to me especially with a bit of added fruit.
I've got some chocolate powder which is 0 sugar so I'm anticipating baking something this weekend to try.

Susan
 
Chocolate Cake has a glycemic load of only 140, a bagel has a gl of 240, one 5 inch pancake, no syrup, has a gl of 246. If you eat a piece of chocolate cake, what some people have found is it spikes your blood sugar fast, then it will drop like a rock. It could produce a real low. So just eat another piece (just kidding) :lol: You could make a low gl version youself with splenda.
 
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