Type 2 What effect would 30g of carbs have on your blood sugars?

[rosserk]

I know I'm not type 2, but us RH ers are interested in what carbs and sugars do to your blood glucose levels. We try to avoid carbs as much as possible because the spike is very quick, high, then hypo depending on how much insulin we over produce.
It is not a question of how many carbs but what is in they carbs. The quicker the spike, the higher we spike, then the low again as above!
Carbs to us is like pouring petrol on a fire, the more you eat the more the fire burns. The higher you spike, the worse it is, so your fire goes out and you pour more, you spike, you hypo if you don't keep putting more on! Our blood sugar fluctuate wildly, causing horrible symptoms!
So the answer is DON'T put petrol on the fire!!!!

If you know what happens when you eat carbs, why do it?
I do eat to my meter because your body changes, but the constant thing for RH is that your problems start with food that turns into glucose in any amount no matter how quickly.

Thank you that's really interesting. Can I ask.

If you ate some carbs and your blood sugar spiked, is it safe to eat more carbs once your sugars start to fall. In other words once your insulin has been released can you eat more carbs which don't spike because you've switched on your insulin? Or would your sugars continue to rise?

Sorry if that's a stupid question.

 

[Lamont D]

Your fire is smouldering, so you put more petrol on it fluctuates dramatically and big flames ensue. The fire looks as though it needs more so you put more on and the flames go higher, you add more and the flame go as high again et al.
In plain language, you need food, you eat carbs you spike high, you have a hunger for more carbs, (a symptom), you eat more, your blood sugars bounce around high, then as the spike wanes, your body is telling you to eat more, so you do to satisfy and satiate your want, the spikes continue and you can get higher et al.
No it's not really safe to continue to feed the fire. The symptoms are mind changing and I wouldn't want to wish it on anyone?
Control is the key to a healthy future.

If you are not in control, and your Hba1c shows diabetic levels, that's why RH is usually misdiagnosed as T2..

There are no stupid questions only stupid answers!

 

[runner2009]

Why not do your own glucose tolerance test with 75g of glucose?

It's simple dissolve 75g of glucose tabs in water and drink it at say 6am. Test before hand and then every 1/2 hour for 3 or 4 hours ( sitting around reading or watching the TV ) keep a record and compare to http://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/diabetes/diagnosing-diabetes

It's not 100% accurate but good enough especially if you test every 1/2 hour to see the trend. I'd go out to 4-hours just because you might see a delay.

 

[rosserk]

Why not do your own glucose tolerance test with 75g of glucose?

It's simple dissolve 75g of glucose tabs in water and drink it at say 6am. Test before hand and then every 1/2 hour for 3 or 4 hours ( sitting around reading or watching the TV ) keep a record and compare to http://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/diabetes/diagnosing-diabetes

It's not 100% accurate but good enough especially if you test every 1/2 hour to see the trend. I'd go out to 4-hours just because you might see a delay.

Hi, I'm not trying to figure out my tolerance levels for carbs, I don't tolerate them at all! I'm just interested to see what and if others have found their tolerance levels. In short I'm interested, or some would say nosey!

 

[BorisP]

Hi all, I know everyone is different but I'm interested in what effect approximately 30g of carbs would have on different people with type two DM. I know there are lots of variables but people must have a general idea what that amount of carbs would do to their blood sugars. I also understand that all carbs are not equal, so when answering the question base your response on carbs you know will have a negative effect on your blood sugars. For example two slices of whole meal toast, approx 30g of carbs will spike my BS. I know the toast will take my blood sugars from a normal pre meal 5.5 reading up to 11.6 a difference of 6.1 I also know that I won't return to my pre meal reading for at least 4 hours, indicating to me that 30g of carbs (wholemeal toast) is a dangerous amount of carbs for me to eat at one meal.

I am only researching this now in 2023/24. thank you thank you for the info. as everyone is different this treshold is so, SO important. like this I would take my BG reading and go for a short or a long walk, swim or a run/weight lift and measure my BG levels after that. You get the general idea of what does what. I have never ever had this statistic of yours when two slices of bread kick BG levels by 6 points and take 4 hours to come down. I might need to mention that I take 2x 500mg MetforminXR per day and it just “loves” cheap carbs as it breaks them down differently from non-diabetic people. It is my safety net. I am 53 , A1c 5.1 (32.25) and BMI 24.4. I have never ever had a reading lower than 4.8 (after swimming for 40mins on a single apple with only nuts and coffee in the morning) I usually get higher values after eating rice (small portions) but never this drastic. good to know and observe

 

[KennyA]

I am only researching this now in 2023/24. thank you thank you for the info. as everyone is different this treshold is so, SO important. like this I would take my BG reading and go for a short or a long walk, swim or a run/weight lift and measure my BG levels after that. You get the general idea of what does what. I have never ever had this statistic of yours when two slices of bread kick BG levels by 6 points and take 4 hours to come down. I might need to mention that I take 2x 500mg MetforminXR per day and it just “loves” cheap carbs as it breaks them down differently from non-diabetic people. It is my safety net. I am 53 , A1c 5.1 (32.25) and BMI 24.4. I have never ever had a reading lower than 4.8 (after swimming for 40mins on a single apple with only nuts and coffee in the morning) I usually get higher values after eating rice (small portions) but never this drastic. good to know and observe

Hi - metformin doesn't break down carbs at all. What it does do is interfere with your liver adding glucose from stores, so that your BG is kept lower. As I understand it metformin doesn't completely stop the liver adding glucose, but limits it. Science doesn't know how it does this - "the exact mechanism is unclear" is what is said. Info from Bilous and Donnelly Handbook of Diabetes 5th edition.

The problem with trying to work out the impact of carbs in food, particularly with glucose-lowering medication and exercise in the mix, is that your liver (and kidneys, in very small amounts) will also be adding glucose as and when your system thinks it's necessary - for example, when you exercise. It's impossible (?) to know what the source of the energy being used is.

My BG will rise quite sharply with exercise, because my system thinks I need the fuel and my liver will provide it: when I play football I'm normally fasted for around 18 hours, often longer, so this is probably not coming from anything I've just eaten. BG will also fall just as quickly once I stop.