Type 1: Is It Ok To Eat Chinese

[LionChild]

Is it ok to have Chinese food please and also Indian because I was told I could

Generally I would avoid this kind of meal as it is likely to be highly glycaemic, and difficult to judge insulin requirements for, but if you really like it, I would say have such a meal midday. At least then you are (hopefully!) sufficiently awake to deal with the hazards of BG..... whether it goes straight up, or straight down....!

 

[LionChild]

Btw, I'm not sure anyone's noticed but Julia asked this question five years ago, so I'm not sure if the answer will be any use to her now.

Hahaha!!! Well spotted StewM !!!

 

[Doug88]

Is it ok to have Chinese food please and also Indian because I was told I could

Hi, firstly I'll just say that in my opinion it's okay to eat whatever you want. Fundametally we're not 'intollerant' or 'allergic' to foods of any kind. We just don't naturally produce insulin - that's all it is. Chinese food (and indian food) sometimes get a bad wrap because providing the right amount of insulin at the right time can be challenging. Knowing some of the challenges specific to those food types might help:

One of the challenges is just inherent to talkaway food in general (and in the UK we often think about indian/chinese takeaway). With takeaway food you might not have great accuracy predicting portion size or any carbs that are hidden away in sauces. One strategy to tackle this challenge might be to order your favourite meal from the same place a couple times in row. Record how things go each time and adjust the insulin dosing until it starts working. Then maybe extend the experimentation out to other meals.

Another challenge is just that some of these meals contain a lot of carbs, and some people find it difficult to eat high carb meals. In those circumstances its up to you how you'd like to manage it - you could reduce the carbs by sub-ing out some rice or nan bread for something else. Or you can put in the time in working out bolus ratios and pre-bolus times. Done well, high carb meals don't necessarily need to cause a spike.