• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

How to work out insulin to carb

B

BertSmyth1

Well-Known Member
Messages
45
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Hi
My insulin to carb ratio is 1-15 grams & have been advised to try 1-12 for higher carb meals.
I am taking a break from the insulin pump for few weeks- control not been good-bad nighttime hypos then high rebounds
I have been advised to take on more carbs, as previously my breakfast would have been yoghurt & frozen berries- I would give around 0.6 units of insulin for this
My question is this am I weighed out a 55gram portion of porridge oats & some oat milk- 9grams
I didn’t really have a clue how to work out my insulin to carb ratio
The oats are 67 grams per 100grams
Please can anyone give me a simple guide?

thank you
 
Well, rightly or wrongly I tend to take into account not just the number of carbs but also the glycaemic index of the foods I am eating and add some insulin to deal with the sudden rise.
Presumably you just add 55 grams to 9 grams = 64 grams and divide by 12 or 15? & then, if you sort of guess like I do, if it's at all high glycaemic (for you), you might add a unit? I am not saying this would be right for you, it's just that that is something like my own way of doing it, and for me, it sort of works? But its always important to test BG for a while after eating to see how BG is going?
I think its also the case that the weight is related to COOKED not UNCOOKED food?
 
Yes I gave for 64 grams
Though I was concerned it wasn’t right?!
Maybe I overthought it
Thanks for your reply
 

It's made to sound complicated but you must first figure out how many carbs you're going to consume, and then divide by your ratio. So in your case either 15 or 12. Calculating the carbs can sometimes involve some weighing and some maths, but the content of your post suggests you have some awareness of that.

Was there anything beyond that which is unclear?
 
The standard carb counting courses just advise that you start with1 u for 10 g but you've already been given a ratio. I assume that this is what you might have entered into your pump if it has a bolus calculation wizard on it.
I think higher carbs tend to lead to bigger bolus mistakes so if it is a meal you plan to have frequently I'd keep it exactly the same (adding fat or using different oats) would change the rapidity of absorption. Check the bg at 2 hours and 4 hours with the aim to be back in range at 4 hours.
Incidentally my cgm has made me very much aware of how all carbs elevate my bg for some time before my bolus kicks in even with a well timed dose. You may also need a different ratio at different time blocks of the day.
Good luck and I do believe this is much of an art than a science than the maths suggests!
 
Antje77 said:
Did you have 55 gram of oats and 9 grams of oat milk?
Or did you have 55 grams of carbs in your oats and 9 grams of carbs for the oat milk?
Click to expand...
Yes I had 55 grams of oats & 9 grams of oat milk to make my porridge
Numbers were fine couple hours later - had taken the fog for a good long walk shortly after breakfast
 
BertSmyth1 said:
Yes I had 55 grams of oats & 9 grams of oat milk to make my porridge
Numbers were fine couple hours later - had taken the fog for a good long walk shortly after breakfast
Click to expand...
That being the case. If you know it’s 67 grams of Carbs in 100grams of Oats. Then you divide your portion size by 100, and multiply by the Carbs Value. So that would be 0.55 times 67, which gives you 36.85 Carbs.

Like Antje, I’m a bit confused by your tiny oat milk portion.
 
BertSmyth1 said:
Yes sorry more like 40grams sorry
Click to expand...
How did you come to that number? Did you weigh or did you measure with a measuring cup?
Forty grams of oat milk is still only a couple of spoonfuls, I'd expect if you mixed it with 55 grams of oats it would turn into something like a block of concrete.

As for the carb counting, you'd have to know how much milk you had, and how many carbs are in your oat milk per 100 grams.

BertSmyth1 said:
Numbers were fine couple hours later - had taken the fog for a good long walk shortly after breakfast
Click to expand...
From a practical point of view, you found out that the amount of oats and oat milk worked out well with the amount of insulin you took plus the exercise. So at least this is a meal you can repeat, even if you're unsure of the carb count
 
I top up my porridge with water then
 
Thank you
I’ll measure later on & post back on here
I find the milk & water mix pretty tasty though
 
BertSmyth1 said:
I measured 40grams of oat milk
100grams- 12 grams carbs
Click to expand...

The oat milk has 12g carbs per 100g, so 12/100 per 1g weight. So 40g weight has carbs of 40*12/100 = 4.8g carbs

You might want to look at the uk site
www.bertieonline.org.uk

It has a lot of useful info, including sections on carb counting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…