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had muesli this morning...

A

alaska

Well-Known Member
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475
A busy evening last night left me unable to do my planned evening shop, so this morning, to be quick and partly to see whether my low carb diet is really necessary, I decided to see what a bowl of muesli would do to me ...

... 2 hours later, blood sugars at 9.8

I shan't be repeating the experiment any time soon. However, at least I feel justified in having avoided such breakfasts for the last 2 years or so.

For info, I'm type 1 and low(ish) carbing.

Makes me despair though to think that for over a decade I'd been having this kind of breakfast each day -and similar for other meals.

Back to my Total yoghurt and nuts tomorrow :)
 
I'm getting well confused about this low GI business.
Am I the only one who eats muesli or porridge and gets a high reading (up about 3 or so) one hour later, then at the 2 hour mark is pretty much back to where I started. By 3 to 3 and half hours I am sometimes then in hypo territory just below 4.
What happens to the long-lasting bit?
Does anyone else find this? Or have I got a weird digestive system? :lol:
I'm type 2 and on Metformin only.
Just curious. :?
Regards
Angie
 
Both Muesli and Porridge affect my Bg levels more around 3 hrs or so, they take longer to digest but peak later.........we are all different so my results with that food may not be the same as you, that's why testing has to be the way to see if things are good or bad for you.

Portion sizes are also important when looking at results......hence my use of the GL (glycaemic load).
 
Hi angie

I have seen some odd (to me) classifications of what is low GI.

I have books with muesli as low GI and yet my after meal sugar levels show it's not (for me).

I've also seen pears listed as low GI. My own understanding of pears is that they're one of the higher GI options one could pick ?

I think the only thing we can do is to use GI tables as a rough guide and then refer to our pre and after meal meter readings for a more definitive answer.
 
The trouble is that the GI Index is not specifically for Diabetics. Therefore,although some foods can be low GI they are not necessarily good for Diabetics.

Oats 'spike' me at one hour yet drop back by two hours. Now that was enough to make my Hba1c go up some time ago. It was not till I did a one hour test after eating oats that I discovered the effect and stopped eating anything oat based. Result ? My Hba1c dropped back again.
 
Portion control is important with oats as it is with any food, this morning my bg was 5.3 before a 40g bowl of scotch porridge oats, one hour after it had risen to 7.9 and then 6.2 two hours after, my pre-dinner reading was 5.1 so I ended up pretty much where I started first thing this morning. :D

Nigel
 
Glad to hear I'm not the only one.
I like a small amount of Muesli for breakfast and have recently been eating porridge too to reduce my chlorestoral (sp?) levels as for the first time in my life the nurse teated them and they were high. She threatened me with statins which I refused as my Mum was nearly crippled using them and will not take them now so I said I would sort it myself. She gave me one month saying a 10% reduction is normal. Last week got rechecked and I've managed a reduction of just over 17% so she's told me to carry on as I am and she'll see me in 6 months. Got a bit more to go before I get to the acceptable levels so I'll have to persevere with the porridge etc for a bit yet.
I did find the porridge didn't spike me so much at one hour if it is jumbo flakes and made with water with flaxseed mixed in. After cooking I then add pumpkin seeds, almonds and walnuts....all supposedly good for the cholestorel levels apparently. But that proves better for me than just plain porridge.
Strange how we are all different, still be boring if we were identical I guess.
Regards
Angie
 
Good to hear Angie! :D

Oats are fantastic at lowering cholesterol and is said to help lower blood pressure too. I also add pumpkin seeds to my cereal as well as blueberries which no doubt helps lower the gi value of the meal, 17% is a good reduction and I hope this progress continues.

Nigel
 
sugarless sue said:
Oats 'spike' me at one hour yet drop back by two hours. Now that was enough to make my Hba1c go up some time ago. It was not till I did a one hour test after eating oats that I discovered the effect and stopped eating anything oat based. Result ? My Hba1c dropped back again.
Click to expand...

Thanks Nigel,
I just hope it won't be at the expense of my Hba1c as above!!
Fortunately that is still dropping as a result of being high at first diagnosis.
Truth of the pudding (or porridge in this case) will be in 6 months time!! :lol:
Regards
Angie
 
angieG said:
Thanks Nigel,
I just hope it won't be at the expense of my Hba1c as above!!
Fortunately that is still dropping as a result of being high at first diagnosis.
Truth of the pudding (or porridge in this case) will be in 6 months time!! :lol:
Regards
Angie
Click to expand...

Hopefully not Angie but you really need to test your blood glucose after eating to see if oats are suitable or not, a HbA1c result is not a true indicator of everyday control.

Nigel
 
noblehead said:
angieG said:
Thanks Nigel,
I just hope it won't be at the expense of my Hba1c as above!!
Fortunately that is still dropping as a result of being high at first diagnosis.
Truth of the pudding (or porridge in this case) will be in 6 months time!! :lol:
Regards
Angie
Click to expand...

Hopefully not Angie but you really need to test your blood glucose after eating to see if oats are suitable or not, a HbA1c result is not a true indicator of everyday control.

Nigel
Click to expand...

It's ok I do test, that's how I found they were not low GI for me!! :lol:
I am fortunate that I have a nurse who is very supportive of my testing. Each time I go she asks to see the food and results sheets I fill in every day listing all I eat and my levels. I bought my own meter and she immediately prescribed strips for me and then increased the quantity to 100 a month without question so I could test for work (I am a coach driver).
She just said I'll see you in 6 months unless you have any problems before, but just carry on what you are doing. (My HbA1c had reduced from 8.9 in January to 6.9 in February - which I was well pleased with as I had a level of 25 when diagnosed on 22 Nov 2010 and put on tablets so the first one had some of the real high figures in it).

Thanks to everyone on this forum with their hints and tips I feel as if diabetes is not the mountain I thought I had to climb but merely small little molehills that sometimes trip us up but mainly can be kicked aside in the travels of life.
Your help is all appreciated.
Thank you.
Angie
 
Oh I am so jealous of you all with your porridge oats and museli giving you a 9.something spike - 22 for me with 30g porridge! 11.5 with 1 tbs museli! No more cereal here :lol:
 
smidge said:
Oh I am so jealous of you all with your porridge oats and museli giving you a 9.something spike - 22 for me with 30g porridge! 11.5 with 1 tbs museli! No more cereal here :lol:
Click to expand...

I only have about 20g of porridge and if you put about a desertspoon of flaxseed and loads of water in it it bulks it up even more (use a big bowl or plastic basin if in microwave though as you will end up eating it off the inside instead of out the dish). With the nuts & seeds mixed it it (this seems to help lower the spikes) it puts me up about 2 or 3 in the hour and then comes back down again.

Muesli is not so good, an equivalent portion would send me slightly higher in an hour but then the one I have got at the moment has got fruit and nuts in it!!
Little and often seems to be the key with a lot of this stuff rather than big portions 3 times a day.

Angie
 
I am only a gestational diabetic, as far as I know yet anyway, but through my trials I found out the following
40g porridge (Scott's porridge oats) with skimmed milk (as described on the packet) and I got 8.8 within an hour
I then tried 30g porridge with an egg for protein to slow down the absorption of carbs and I achieved 7.4 and really felt full
I then added 15 minutes of walk to 30g porridge with skimmed milk (calculated accordingly based on the ratio given on the packet for 40g) and a boiled egg and I achieved 6.2 at one hour.
I measured later to check if 6.2 was going up or down and it was going down after one hour. I think porridge has to be mixed with something with protein to slow down its effect on bg. Walking is an enormous help too. Oh and I am putting cinnamon on my porridge every morning and my other habit is to drink warm lemon water when I wake up as the first thing. So overall, by my trial and error I am able to drop from 8.8 to 6.2 and have the benefit of cholesterol reducing effect of oats to help me later when I take cheese (cheddar) and other stuff that may contain fats.
In fact putting nuts in porridge would be a similar effect as well as there is protein in them as well. Please let me know what happens to your levels if you happen to give the above a try. It works for me. I hope it works for others as well.
 
i would say it was more of the fat in the egg slowing down the carbs rather than the protein. i use lizis granola every morning. if i have 25g on its own with skimmed milk i hit a 7.5 after 1 hour then down to 6.0 after 2 hours. The same 25g of granola and milk with 10g of mixed sunflower and pumpkin seeds. 1 desert spoon of flaxseed handfull of mixed nuts (brazil walnut and hazelnut) and 2 desert spoons of cut strawberrys. i normally awake around 5.0mmol in the morning and after breakfast now i get a 5.5-6.0 after 1 hour and back down to where i started after 2 hours. i have now had this breafast since ive been diabetic a bit boring but its the only breakfast i can trust and you feel like you are still getting the crunch from the nuts
 
I have never tried granola but it certainly sounds promising and I would love to try. Can you tell me what you mean by lizis granola please? As for the fat in the egg, the same can certaily go for the nuts as they also have lots of fat, albeit in good ones, in nuts and seeds as well. That is why I am having great results with seed bars as well. I am pregnant so I feel I need the nutrients in the egg as well that is why I am not going to change that but if I have something else to eat for breakfast like what you are describing then I can have my egg lunch time or tea time in a different way and that would be great as I have many ideas for lunch and tea but because I am having to eat it in the morning and because I am trying to watch the cholesterol content at the same time, I am not having another one later on.
 
you can get it in tescos for £3.50 a pouch. its inbetween the dorset cereals and other granolas. it has also been gl tested at 5 so they rekon a 40g portion has the same affect on your bloods as 5g of glucose. however trial and error with this as ive found it still hits bloods hard if you dont have the right portion size and pack it with nuts. try a 25g portion first. they also do it in waitrose and on the low carb megastore on the net. if you can find them they do other flavours aswell the belgian chocolate one is scrummy with total 0% greek yougurt if you can find it. it is expensive but i havent found another cereal that doesnt affect your bloods other than the cereal box itself :lol: :lol: . try the flaxseed aswell the nutrition will blow you away omega3 omega 6 this and that fat blah blah blah. my mrs makes bread from the flaxseed and it is very close to maly loaf<<<<<<<<minimal carbs in flaxseed
 
Thanks for the reply. I found Lizi;s Granola at Tesco's yesterday and tried it this morning. I started with my routine of having some lemon water this morning and after that first had a boiled egg followed by 40 grams of granola with skimmed milk. Following your advice about addition of nuts and seeds, I added a handful of almonds and 4 brazil nuts all chopped up in it and just to colour things a little more, I added 4 fresh chopped strawberries in it as well. It was a well satisfaying tasty breakfast and I measured at 45 mins and had a measure of 5.3!!!! :shock: :) :shock: I will measure in a while later as well but I feel I may have just found a winner breakfast for myself thanks to you :) . I will add my later measurements as well to see how things went on after 45 mins.
 
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