Let's say you are restricting your carb intake to 60g a day but 40g of that is, say, downed in a large glass of cola. I guess that will spike your blood sugar? If you did this regularly but managed to stick to your 60g of carbs per day, would this result in a worse HbA1c in the long run than spreading your 60 out over the day?
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Spreading the carbs out or all in one go?
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sanguine
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Probably not, but it's kinder to your system to even things out as much as possible. Have you tested to see what 40g in a glass of coke does to you?
and it would place more strain on your body, and make you feel worse, too.
sanguine
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LOL, well it all depends on whether the higher shorter spikes increase the rate of haemoglobin glycation I guess, plus what the impact of that carb intake regime might have on blood cell death rates. Either way if you are low-carbing I can't see any sense in drinking 40g in a glass of coke.
Agreed!
VinnyJames
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It's better to have more than one meal per day.
If you consider that the Hba1C is a measure of how much time your blood glucose levels are elevated, then it depends on how long it takes you to recover from spikes. If you have 3 carb spikes, all of which remain in the non-diabetic spike range and recover within two hours, it will be better than if you have one large spike that reaches higher non-diabetic levels and takes longer to recover so that your gluocse levels remain elevated above non-diabetic levels for longer.
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Whilst we've all been required to modify out eating patterns - in content, and sometimes frequency (for those who like to skip breakfast), in order to improve our daily bloods and therefore our HbA1cs, I can't say my HbA1c is at the forefront of my mind when I'm deciding if I want to eat something or not. Obviously, it's important, but "oh, I'd best not do that, it'll impact my HbA1c" never enters my head. "Id best not do that if I want to like my post prandial reading is more likely to influence me.
What's actually behind your question? Do you want to be able to enjoy more "normal" family food, with your family, once a day, and are willing to manage the rest of the day accordingly? Or is it something else?
adrian207
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This article might answer a few questions................................
http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/blog/stop-spiking-those-sugars/
http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/blog/stop-spiking-those-sugars/
No, just trying to understand the mechanisms involved.
adrian207
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I was only wondering the exact same thing this morning. My question would have been along the lines of... Can you suffer a very low carb breakfast / meal to be able to have a few more carbs at the next meal. Basically meaning that the amount of carbs over the 2 meals would add up to the same but not spread out equally.
Every time your blood glucose rises above a level which could be harming your beta cells (bloodsugar101 gives you the studies and thinking behind this) then you are probably killing beta cells. And reducing your future capacity to produce insulin. And your diabetes becomes (infinitesimally) worse.
Do that often enough, and long enough, and you need to inject insulin because your beta cells have packed up.
I consider that any quantity of carbs that raises my BG that high, is a bad idea.
And since every person has a different tolerance to different foods, then it is up to us to work out our personal carb limits.
Do that often enough, and long enough, and you need to inject insulin because your beta cells have packed up.
I consider that any quantity of carbs that raises my BG that high, is a bad idea.
And since every person has a different tolerance to different foods, then it is up to us to work out our personal carb limits.
adrian207
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Thank you for that Brunneria. So what (if there is one) is an acceptable rise in B S result. I know "0" would be perfect but...a rise of 2, 3, 4? or is it down to the individual?
I deliberately didn't give numbers in my last post - because the figures are rather open to interpretation.
And I think we should all make up our own minds.
The bloodsugar101 website, which is looking at much more recent research than, say, the nhs, argues that keeping your bgt under 6.6 at all times will prevent any deterioration of beta cells (this is from memory, you REALLY need to go and read the website yourself).
People on this forum often disagree with that fig. And that is OK. As I said, the figs are open for interpretation, and it is way lower than the NHS suggests. we all get to pick our personal targets, don't we?
But for me, it is less about the size of the spike (although I do always try and spike less than 2mmol/l with each meal), and more about staying under my max level. My lowest bg seems to be about 5mmol. so that means that a spike of 2 would take me to 7ish.
I used to aim for the nhs target. Then I read more, including 101, and now I try for less than 7 at any time, and less than 6.6 at 2 hrs after food.
To be honest, I think trying to elimate rises in bg is a hiding to nothing. it is always going to rise - stress, exertion, food. it is perfectly natural, and impossible to stop. I just take the view that non-diabetics very rarely rise beyond 7mmol/l. even if they do go higher, their pancreas wacks it down very fast. Unless they are developing glucose intolerance, they have a full set of beta cells that function merrily, and permanently. so it seems like a good guideline to me.
And I don't get stressed when (inevitably) I miss my target. Life is too short to beat yourself up. I just shrug and think 'hmm. smaller portion next time...'
adrian207
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I deliberately didn't give numbers in my last post - because the figures are rather open to interpretation.
And I think we should all make up our own minds.
The bloodsugar101 website, which is looking at much more recent research than, say, the nhs, argues that keeping your bgt under 6.6 at all times will prevent any deterioration of beta cells (this is from memory, you REALLY need to go and read the website yourself).
People on this forum often disagree with that fig. And that is OK. As I said, the figs are open for interpretation, and it is way lower than the NHS suggests. we all get to pick our personal targets, don't we?
But for me, it is less about the size of the spike (although I do always try and spike less than 2mmol/l with each meal), and more about staying under my max level. My lowest bg seems to be about 5mmol. so that means that a spike of 2 would take me to 7ish.
I used to aim for the nhs target. Then I read more, including 101, and now I try for less than 7 at any time, and less than 6.6 at 2 hrs after food.
To be honest, I think trying to elimate rises in bg is a hiding to nothing. it is always going to rise - stress, exertion, food. it is perfectly natural, and impossible to stop. I just take the view that non-diabetics very rarely rise beyond 7mmol/l. even if they do go higher, their pancreas wacks it down very fast. Unless they are developing glucose intolerance, they have a full set of beta cells that function merrily, and permanently. so it seems like a good guideline to me.
And I don't get stressed when (inevitably) I miss my target. Life is too short to beat yourself up. I just shrug and think 'hmm. smaller portion next time...'
WOW, you explain things so well. Thank you for taking the time. i will have a look at the 101 site.
sanguine
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I aim to keep my 2-hour spikes less than 1.5, 1.0 if I can, and my 2-hour levels at less than 7.0. Mostly I'm successful and if I'm not I know why and learn from it. NICE will say that T2s should aim for a +2 of 8.5, and non-diabetics 7.8. That's too high for my liking.
Bluetit1802
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My personal target max are 7.8 at 1 hour and 6.6 at 2 hours. I am happy to say my averages are under these figures, but that doesn't mean to say I never exceed them. When I do, like @sanguine I know why. The NICE guidelines are way too generous for me.
My carbs aren't spread out very well. Breakfast carbs are negligible, lunch a bit more, tea is when I have most.
My carbs aren't spread out very well. Breakfast carbs are negligible, lunch a bit more, tea is when I have most.
