"Of which sugars"

[2610]

After several years of making half the effort needed, I'm trying to knuckle down. I'm 4kg below what the doctor said I should ideally be. Just adopted 2 greyhounds so I've gone from a very sedentary lifestyle to walking 2 or 3km a day, more at weekends. My HbA1c has gone from 108 to 67 but I seem to have stalled. It was 68 at my last review so I've only dropped 1 point.

Diet... this is my weak area. I had a diabetic review yesterday and the nurse was talking about carbs. She recommended an app - Freshwell. I downloaded it but I don't really get it. For example, they say 150g of boiled basmati rice is equivalent to 10.1 teaspoons of sugar. I checked some rice in the cupboard. It gives the value for carbs. I can't remember what it was. Let's say 30g. And then "of which sugars" is 3g.

I know carbs get converted to sugar. But should I focus on the carb value or the "of which sugars" value?

I'm bloomin' starving today! But the nurse wants me to do another HbA1c in 3 months. I'm thinking that I'm going to give it everything for 3 months and see what difference it makes. Chicken breast, couscous and salad tonight. But I can hear the biscuit barrel calling me... taunting me.

 

[finzi1966]

Well the quick simple answer to your question is, ignore the “of which sugars”. It’s of little meaningful use to us. So, the portion of rice you were looking at has 30g of carbs. That’s all that matters.

Now, you may or may not find that is too many carbs for you. The only way you will know is by testing. Checking your blood sugar before the meal, and then 2 hours after the first bite, and seeing whether you have returned to within 2mmol of where you started (and, ideally, also be under 7.8mmol, but your HbA1C of 68 suggests that you might find that a challenge right now, your average blood sugar is running rather higher than that).

You’ve done a brilliant job so far. Don’t forget that if you’re reducing carbs, you need to increase other things (fats and protein). A nice garlic, cheese, mushroom and cream sauce might be a better choice for you than couscous. And plenty of olive oil on the salad!

 

[TriciaWs]

carb counting is best - as all carbs can turn into sugars in our bodies.
For USA| carbs deduct the fibre, in the UK the carb figure already has fibre omitted.

 

[catinahat]

Hello 2610
All carbs when digested apart from the fiber which passes right through, will be converted to glucose. Sugar is just another form of carbohydrate, one teaspoon of sugar equals about 4g of carbs.
The of which are sugar's on the nutritional information is just an attempt by the manufacturer to make their product seem healthier than it really is.
No added sugar is another favorite trick of theirs, the only figure we are interested in in the uk is the total amount of carbs. Your body can only see the carbs, a slice of cake or wholemeal bread it makes no difference, they will both release their glucose and raise your sugar levels.