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The Perils of Rice (and Pasta)

doyoutakesugar

Well-Known Member
Messages
70
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Hello all,

Rice. This is a tricky food stuff for me. To a smaller extent, pasta. These two stuffs are the Achilles heel to my tight blood sugar control. Their onset appears to be slow and they seem to emit a greatly delayed spike. Consequently, I experience a high peak in the evening that is not easily controlled with the shot of NovoRapid usually given before my meal. The peak occurs around 2-3 hours post eating. I often find myself correcting before bed, and even with this precaution I may still experience slightly elevated blood sugar in the morning.

I have tried waiting 30 mins post-meal before giving NovoRapid, with varying success, but usually to little avail.

Basal/bolus regime: Levemir split (12 units in the morning at 8, 13 units in the evening at 8), NovoRapid given with carbohydrates. I carb count successfully and always (always) check my calculations with rice and pasta in particular.

With this, can you provide me your experience with rice and, in particular, any instructive advice and success stories?

Best,

A.
 
Hi @doyoutakesugar

No real success stories I'm afraid, but it isn't just you - pasta is really beyond me, and rice often is too.

Interestingly, I find the effect of rice varies depending on what I have with it - it's fine with a stir fry, which has vegetables and chicken with it.

I have cauliflower rice instead.
 
Rice can be difficult but I think sometimes the delayed spike is on account of it being eaten alongside a high fat sauce. It's the fat which is likely delaying the spike.

White rice is pretty bad, but I've found brown rice is much more predictable and manageable: it's likely the fibre slowing down absorption. Tastes better too! Of course, there's not that many restuarants offering it.
 
I always eat basmati rice. I read it was lower GI and as long as I measure my portion and don't eat loads I find it works well.

As @Scott-C ssys, if it's accompanied by a high fat sauce then that can mess with sugars.

For pasta, again I count my carbs carefully, eat a moderate portion and extend my bolus (on my pump - on MDI I split it).
 
White rice/white pasta=bad news. We've used cauliflower rice a lot lately, it oftentimes comes with the paleo meals we buy and get by mail every week and I really like it. With the powdered curry seasoning they include it's actually quite tasty. Batsami rice I think is lower GI as azure said. Whole wheat pasta too. I was never a big rice fan anyway. Pasta is another story, I'm heavy on the sauce lighter on the noodles. Shaved carrots are used as noodles in some of these meals. Where I live people eat a lot of Mexican food. Which oftentimes includes rice, beans, and flour or corn tortillas. I pass on the rice and beans.
 
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If I eat rice & pasta and it isn't part of a high-fat meal then I can get away with a single bolus, when it is part of a high-fat meal (lasagna, Spag Bol, Chicken Curry & Rice) then I have to use an extended bolus on a pump (and sometimes include a TBR), on MDI I would split-dose sometimes doing 2-3 injections to compensate for the gradual rise in bg levels.

It's trial & error really but when you do get the bolus dose and timings right make a note of it for the next time that you eat the meal.
 
Rice always comes to haunt me in the middle of the night..... Would go to bed with perfect sugars and wake up at 2am in the high teens. I've never cracked it!
 

Thanks for the cauliflower rice reminder! I've had it once before and I enjoyed it. I'll try some again soon. 1 more in the 5 (or is it 10 now?) a day!
 

Experiment by eating the same type of rice/pasta a few days in a row. Choose a very moderate portion size and see if you can crack that. You can then increase it a little once you've got the bolus sorted.

You could try rice plus lowish fat protein plus veg - a really simple meal - then you can see how the rice works for you. I basically eat basmati rice whenever I eat rice. It's fine with anything really

Get it right and you'll hopefully find that your spike is minimal
 
Snapsy said:
Rice always comes to haunt me in the middle of the night..... Would go to bed with perfect sugars and wake up at 2am in the high teens. I've never cracked it!
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Tell me about it. Speaking of cracking it, I'm trying to introduce more cracked grains to my diet. Freekeh is my current favourite. High protein, low low carbs.
 
I can eat just a handfull of pasta but I make my own sauce with fresh tomatoes, selery, onion, carrat. Tomatoes goe in the blender..As everything is fresh its a plate full of veg and a little pasta mixed in. But i put my basal rate higher for 12 hours. Works for me but other italian goodies like pizza is off limits. Ill love pizza but it is not worth the hassle of getting back to normal levels (which takes days!!!)
 
Before being diagnosed Sept 2016, I had allot of rice and pasta meals. Of all the foods I miss most is those only for the simplicity for making quick meals with it.

I now maybe once a month if that have a pasta or rice meal. I have read stuff on the net and experimented and my understanding of food and how interacts when raw and cooked and how it affects BS has greatly increased. Cutting it short if I have rice or pasta it's brown. I cook them and rinse it off in plenty of cold water and then keep it intbe fridge for atleast 12 - 24 hours before I am going to use it. I have found my BS is massively lower using it re heated. I have read that it's structure changes and all of the startch is removed And your body treats it more as fiber so it's auger release is allot slower.

Might be worth a try see if it works for you
 
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How interesting! I'd previously heard about the adjusted structure of rice after cooking & reheating, but I didn't know it had an effect on BS levels. I'll give it a go -- and make sure the rice is heated properly to avoid
 
doyoutakesugar said:
How interesting! I'd previously heard about the adjusted structure of rice after cooking & reheating, but I didn't know it had an effect on BS levels. I'll give it a go -- and make sure the rice is heated properly to avoid
Click to expand...

There was quite a lot of media coverage about Resistant Starch a couple of years back, it all began after a tv programme featuring Micheal Mosley, here's some info:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29629761

Also some more info on Resistant Starch:

https://authoritynutrition.com/resistant-starch-101/
 
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