Food and blood readings

[sandysan]

Hi I'm not sure how to count carbs in foods or even how much I'm allowed per day
I'm type 2 diabetic having issues with readings n food, I'm told to eat low fat as I need op for gallbladder. But I find low fat, high sugars in food
Today this morning before breakfast my blood read 9.7 at 8am took a 40 mg gliclazde.?
then I had 2 digestive biscs, 1 Muller yoghurt .was very shocked at lunch time 12 PM my blood was 11.7. I was disheartened would it of been digestives

 

[aris]

There are various food nutrition indexes online - or even apps.

I can't speak for everyone, but i'm working on an avoidance style low carb diet rather than counting carbs. I avoid all grains, rice, sugar, some fruit, and starchy vegetables. Grains includes wheat, oats, quinoa, etc. All rice, all sugar, and starchy vegetables including potatoes, rice, peas etc. I do have fruit, but avoid tropical and overly sweet fruit such as oranges. So I stick to berries, and the occasional apple or satsuma. That's not to say I don't 'cheat' every so often - but if I do, it is far and few between.

What you are 'allowed' is very very subjective and you will have to find your way. I think the digestives and mullet yoghurt are a no-no - at least for now until you figure out what your body can tolerate. Probably not what you want to hear - but those are the cards you may well have been dealt.

What can really help you is a continuous glucose monitor. If you are in the UK - you will probably have to self-fund it - but you can get a free trial from the manufacturer. https://www.freestyle.abbott/uk-en/getting-started/sampling.html

Watch some youtube videos about the Freestyle Libre so you can get a good idea of what it is about, and how to use it effectively. It was a real eye opener for me and helped me change my eating habits (for the better). My bloods are still not perfect, but i'm working on it. It is a marathon, not a sprint.

 

[KennyA]

Hi I'm not sure how to count carbs in foods or even how much I'm allowed per day
I'm type 2 diabetic having issues with readings n food, I'm told to eat low fat as I need op for gallbladder. But I find low fat, high sugars in food
Today this morning before breakfast my blood read 9.7 at 8am took a 40 mg gliclazde.?
then I had 2 digestive biscs, 1 Muller yoghurt .was very shocked at lunch time 12 PM my blood was 11.7. I was disheartened would it of been digestives

Hi and welcome.

Both the biscuits and the Muller yoghurt have carbs. The Muller light yoghurt has 7g of carb per 100g product - and that is the "no added sugar" one that uses sweeteners. The standard is around 12g per 100g product, so maybe 18g carb for the 160g tub. The McVitie's digestives are around 60g carb per 100g product - that works out to about 10g carb per biscuit approximately. This information is on the product websites - you need to look at the "Nutritional Information" bit.

So you had around 38-40g carb in total. That's useful information, as it is starting to indicate that your system can't at present handle that amount of carb, if it causes you to be at 11.7 several hours after eating.

there's a lot more useful general information here:

https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/foods

and you might find this to be a good read.

The Nutritional Thingy

There’s a few things you should know. 1. Practically all carbs turn to glucose once ingested , so not just straight sugars, but starches...

josekalsbeek.blogspot.com

 

[lovinglife]

All very good advice so far, but you say you take Gliclizide. This is a hypo causing drug so cutting all carbs at once may not be the best thing to do. When I was taking gliclizide I dropped my carbs gradually over a few weeks until I got into single numbers then with the help of my GP I began to reduce the Gliclizide & carbs accordingly. I ditched all things with sugar and “empty” carbs like crisps, biscuits, crackers, bread, then got my carbs from above ground veg & a small amount of new potatoes, pasta & rice as I reduced the meds then I dropped the pasta, rice & potatoes.

We are all different so this just applies to me personally your ratio may be different but when I was Gliclizide 40 2xday I ate 25g carb per meal. This may be different for you - you may need more, you may need less. The only way you will know this is if you test.

If you like yoghurt and need to low fat then the Fage fat free yoghurt is low enough in carbs, you can then add a few berries and a sweetener if you like a little sweetness.

 

[Antje77]

Today this morning before breakfast my blood read 9.7 at 8am took a 40 mg gliclazde.?
then I had 2 digestive biscs, 1 Muller yoghurt .was very shocked at lunch time 12 PM my blood was 11.7.

You only rose 2 mmol/l, from 9.7 to 11.7. Which shows that the gliclazide didn't do a bad job to deal with those carbs.
But because you were on the high side to start with, you ended up even higher.

I'm told to eat low fat as I need op for gallbladder.

Assuming the problem is gallstones, have you noticed more trouble with your gallbladder after meals with a little more fats?
When I had gallstones, there was no rhyme or reason to the attacks, it could happen after any type of meal. So I didn't reduce fats while waiting for the op, and my GP was fine with this.
If you need the op for different reasons than gallstones, please ignore!

"Some people find that following a low fat diet can prevent episodes of pain from gallstones, or make them less frequent. However, this is not necessarily the case for everyone."
(Source: https://www.cuh.nhs.uk/patient-information/dietary-advice-for-patients-with-gallstones/#:~:text=Some people find that following,the risk of developing gallstones.)

 

[aris]

These videos may help. They are science backed, and not everything works for everyone - they are worth a go if they help you.

Followup Q&A:

 

[Angela64]

Hi I'm not sure how to count carbs in foods or even how much I'm allowed per day
I'm type 2 diabetic having issues with readings n food, I'm told to eat low fat as I need op for gallbladder. But I find low fat, high sugars in food
Today this morning before breakfast my blood read 9.7 at 8am took a 40 mg gliclazde.?
then I had 2 digestive biscs, 1 Muller yoghurt .was very shocked at lunch time 12 PM my blood was 11.7. I was disheartened would it of been digestives

I managed to get a free Free style Libre monitor and it surprised me how things affected my numbers. I’ve got another monitor and will use it bit later, but I think I may well decide to buy Dexcom as the Libre is a flash monitor and not a continuous GM.

 

[aris]

I managed to get a free Free style Libre monitor and it surprised me how things affected my numbers. I’ve got another monitor and will use it bit later, but I think I may well decide to buy Dexcom as the Libre is a flash monitor and not a continuous GM.

What do you mean by a 'flash' monitor? The Libre is a continuous glucose monitor.

 

[Angela64]

What do you mean by a 'flash' monitor? The Libre is a continuous glucose monitor.

No apparently they are not continuous, they read periods of time. The Dexcom is a continuous monitor. I was continously reconnecting the monitor to the app.

 

[aris]

No apparently they are not continuous, they read periods of time. The Dexcom is a continuous monitor.

This is incorrect. The Libre 2 reads every 60 seconds - as does the Dexcom. It sends readings to your phone automatically via bluetooth. If you are out of range, the device can store 8 hours of data, and you can download it manually (fill in the data gaps) via NFC (tap the sensor with your phone).

One big difference between the Dexcom and the Libre is that the Dexcom lasts 10 days, and the Libre 14 days.

 

[ATB123]

I managed to get a free Free style Libre monitor and it surprised me how things affected my numbers. I’ve got another monitor and will use it bit later, but I think I may well decide to buy Dexcom as the Libre is a flash monitor and not a continuous GM.

Libre most definitely is a CGM! I rarely scan, only to activate a new one or in the odd occasion it has a gap in the data

 

[aris]

Libre most definitely is a CGM! I rarely scan, only to activate a new one or in the odd occasion it has a gap in the data

To be fair - this has only been the case since July/August last year when they did a software update to allow this. Before that, you had to tap to get a reading, but even then, it would download the last 8 hours of data - so you could see a full graph. The only difference now is you don't have to tap to download. The data is the same. I also set alarms - even though I don't need them. If I go over 9 - I like to get an an instant alarm. It tells me i've over-done it.

 

[ATB123]

To be fair - this has only been the case since July/August last year when they did a software update to allow this. Before that, you had to tap to get a reading, but even then, it would download the last 8 hours of data - so you could see a full graph. The only difference now is you don't have to tap to download. The data is the same. I also set alarms - even though I don't need them. If I go over 9 - I like to get an an instant alarm. It tells me i've over-done it.

Ah OK, I've only had mine a few months so quite a while past the update.