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Rice and Diabetes

Cogitating awhile on this systematic BG self-testing v-a-v practicality for everyday busy folk I wonder if there is a different approach.
Instead of testing one item at a time you pick your fave meals and measure after each one adjusting content and size until your BG is at the right level. It will of course require some writing down and weighing etc and of course rigour and no cheating!
So you start with say pie, chips, baked beans etc. and work backwards... no, seriously, salmon, chips and veg. Maybe the level is too high so you halve the number of chips and see what that does. Within a few days you will have arrived at a tolerable meal, still be well fed and not bored. Then maybe swop the chips with rice, mash or pasta etc. It could almost be a game and therefore encourage you to do it. 8)
 
One final notion - perhaps we could have a sticky thread of food and BG impact. Each of us that tests reports on what we ate, how much etc and the set of BG readings.
OK I know it will vary according to individuals so there will be a caveat but it might save time and over-pricking. :shock:
I volunteer for the full english breakfast and to hell with the cholesterol readings or my BP! 8)
 
Cowboyjim said:
One final notion - perhaps we could have a sticky thread of food and BG impact. Each of us that tests reports on what we ate, how much etc and the set of BG readings.
OK I know it will vary according to individuals so there will be a caveat but it might save time and over-pricking. :shock:
I volunteer for the full english breakfast and to hell with the cholesterol readings or my BP! 8)



Sorry Jim.......this would never work. As we repeatedly say on here....we are all different and the results of my tests, your tests just do not apply to everybody. I can eat bread, potatoes etc......that doesn't mean to say everybody can.

Nice try......but I am afraid it is down to individuals doing their own testing to find out what works for THEM.

Ken
 
Try soaking the rice before you cook it. The milky water you get is actually starch. Then rinse it until the water runs clear. This should help to lower your readings.

Thanks Catherine. I do usually do this. I had a meal with 3 carefully measured tablespoons of brown organic rice last night and tested at 1,2,3 hours which went 5.4, 7.1 and 6.7 respectively. But I did have a whisky an hour and 2 hours after the meal, so I think the spike would have been MUCH higher had I not.

Pretty sad, having to measure so called low GI brown rice with a tablespoon...

If we make allowances for the whiskey effect based on previous readings, I can guess that without it the the levels would have been around the 10/11 mark :shock:
 
You've got two options now.
1.....Add some low G.I. veggies, mushrooms, cauliflower, spinach, to your meal to lower the overall G.I. and see if that works.

2.....Leave the rice well alone. You may not always be in a position to drink the whiskey.

Catherine.
 
Catherine's comment about adding low GI... so if you were to eat brocolli peas cauli etc it would counteract your chips or mash etc? How does this work? I have for some time been puzzled by how the digestive system works. Does it grab the easiest ones first? If so then that would negate the adding low GI surely? Maybe the order in which you eat makes the difference? Get your juices busy on some tougher stuff like cauli...

Also, how does whiskey lower your BG?

Ta
8)
 
When your food reaches your stomach it has been mixed into a combination of all the foods you have eaten. It does not separate the food groups out. By lowering the overall meal with low G.I. vegetables you are adding more fibre and slowing down the digestion in a similar way that fat does. There are no peaks and troughs in your blood sugars as you would have if you ate carbs alone. This keeps your blood sugars at acceptable levels throughout the digestive process. Digestion is still happening when you have finished your meal.

If you follow the G.I. principle you still have to test the carbohydrate foods that you have included in the meal as you are unique and your levels will be affected differently than someone else. An example of this in my case is potatoes. The only potato I can eat is a small baked one and then only if I include lots of veggies and/or salad and some form of protein. It may be the fibrous skin that makes it acceptable for me as a few chips, mash or 2 small new potatoes send my levels into the 8's and 9's. I can eat porridge with no adverse effects if I add fruit and nuts. Pasta and rice are not a problem for me provided the veggies and protein is included in the meal. Portion control and the G.I. method is what I have practised since diagnosis and it works for me.

Google - the digestive process - and you will marvel at what goes on from smelling the food to all the processes involved.

I am sure there are others who are more knowledgable than me and can add to this.
I hope it helps explain what I meant by adding low G.I. vegetables.

Cannot help with the whiskey question, cannot even bear the smell of it. :lol:
 
Thanks for that Catherine... as I suspected. Digestion is not always something you want to look deeply into... though as a T2 it is advisable to be more knowledgeable of course.
I can imagine you doing some testing like Uncle Ken... carefully preparing your baked spud for breakfast, scoffing it and steeling yourself for the readings... Personally I don't care for the skin too much unless it is a spud done in the oven, microwaving doesn't crisp it up enough. Might try it tho as a change from omlettes, scrambled egg etc.
I suppose once you know you can choose to eat them in a meal or ditch them.
Another thought to make it tricky... spuds come in various shapes, sizes and varieties even age so likely it is not a simple matter. You could probably write a nice science paper on this!
Anyone know which variety is the least worst?
8)
 
Synonym said:
Azmol.ali wrote: “Done the 2 hour test twice once came through at 7.0 and other 8.4.”

That is quite high and it must surely give you quite high spikes so I wonder what the 1 hour reading would have been? It could give you better insight to test and see.

quote]


8, high? My nurse told me 4 - 8 is fine and she has been a diabetic (type 1) since she was 13 and she is now in her late 40's :)
 
Type 2's, especially on diet only or oral meds, tend to try and keep their levels lower than 8 as they have no way of correcting if their levels climb too high.
 
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