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Would you eat this?
- Thread starter IanBish
- Start Date
Fenn
Well-Known Member
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- 1,405
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1.5
- Treatment type
- Insulin
I believe the general rule of thumb is to keep spike to +2, but if I were not following a diet or currently trying hard like I am, my general rule is to try and keep my bg below 25, all a personal choice, this is not advice by the way! My advice is No don’t eat that again.
Where is this "keep spike to +2" coming from? I can't find any evidence anywhere that says that except on this forum and I've asked before but nobody can give me an answer
@IanBish yes I'd eat it. I don't see a problem there personally. Is there something specifically you're concerned about?
I'm not trying to me mean or anything, I just can't find anything about that +2 thing. I just went from 2.7 to 6.1. That's more than 2. A lot more. Is it a spike? I don't know I'll have to wait and see if it drops again. If it drops back to 2.7 then it's a spike. If not then it's not a spike and was, in my opinion, the correct thing to do. Now you might say "yes but I was treating a hypo". Fair enough, that's true. But every meal I eat (and I generally eat low carb) increases my BSL by more than 2 so I'd really like to know where this is coming from
aylalake
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- Being told “Oh go on, one won’t hurt you!”.
Conversely, the food police.
Your reading came back down extremely quickly and the “spike” was below 9.
I would probably not eat “that” too often but if that were my reading, I wouldn’t be devastated.
I would probably not eat “that” too often but if that were my reading, I wouldn’t be devastated.
aylalake
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 716
- Location
- Southern Scotland
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
- Dislikes
- Being told “Oh go on, one won’t hurt you!”.
Conversely, the food police.
Me too! I thought the idea was to have your 2 hour reading back down to within 2 points of your base first bite reading, after a rise of X number of points.
I wouldn't eat that at my stage now, with my diet as it is currently and doing my utmost to improve my hba1c following diagnosis in July.
However, generally speaking, I guess the answer is "maybe". It depends on what it is, how often you're planning on having it, and for me personally (and possibly most importantly), is it a food that's worth the (relatively short) spike either from a pleasure perspective, or a nutritional one?
However, generally speaking, I guess the answer is "maybe". It depends on what it is, how often you're planning on having it, and for me personally (and possibly most importantly), is it a food that's worth the (relatively short) spike either from a pleasure perspective, or a nutritional one?
I was actually going to mention that spike (it's a real spike) because it's a little bit unusual that it dropped again so quickly, but not something I've never seen before. It looks like it peaks at about 8 and then drops again just as quickly. Some of these graphs are misleading though because they're compressed horizontally. That peak looks, to me, like it happened over about 3 hours and it's not super high (not in my books anyway). If I ate weetbix with milk I expect my graph would look the same except it'd go to over 12 even with insulin. @IanBish what was it that you ate?
A spike of +3 or +4 is worrying?
I wouldn't say worrying, depending on duration of course, plus how often someone is causing a spike like that through diet.
For me personally, I'd simply say that I wouldn't knowingly eat something that caused a spike like that due to my current goals, diet, and preferences. I don't have a CGM, so I could well experience that with what I eat, but it would be unlikely in my opinion.
IanBish
Well-Known Member
Sorry, I didn't mean to cause an "argument". It was home made chicken curry, made with half a can of tinned tomatoes, and eaten with about a third of a pouch of basmati rice. I'm new to CGMs, but that spike did seem high to me. Previously I'd only been testing before and 2 hours after meals, so wouldn't have actually noticed the spike, as such.
I'll try the curry again, with cauliflower rice instead of basmati, or just naked (the curry, not me!), and see what reading I get.
Thanks for the replies.
I'll try the curry again, with cauliflower rice instead of basmati, or just naked (the curry, not me!), and see what reading I get.
Thanks for the replies.
That's what I would do, cauliflower rice removes the spike of a homemade madras curry for me (fingerprick testing only though, I'm not flashy enough to have a CGM
). However, for an occasional real deal curry as a treat, I'd possibly accept the spike you experienced too.Something to consider (and you've noticed this!) In the the days before CGMs you'd probably have been testing at the time you ate your meal and 2 hours after. You probably wouldn't have even noticed that spike. You were back down in 3 hours. Not a big deal in my opinion. And, nah, you didn't cause an argument I think discussions like this are good.
I don't think it's a high spike but I'm type 1 and not type 2. I still don't think it's an awfully high spike though on your graph. I'd be more worried about the lows during the night but maybe those are compression lows.
You've answered your question: tinned tomatoes and basmati rice. Sounds delicious to me but high carb and that will cause a spike. But still, you've got to enjoy life and eating and your peak doesn't look so bad to me. Substituting cauliflower rice sounds like a plan. Not quite the same but it works for me. If this is just something you eat once in a blue moon, though, I seriously wouldn't worry about it (as said, it doesn't look very high to me but ask your Dr because I'm not one)
IanBish
Well-Known Member
I have a free trial of a Libre 2 at the moment. So it was the rice rather than the curry then? The only carbs in the curry were from the tomatoes and half an onion I believe; I didn't use any sugar or thickeners.That's what I would do, cauliflower rice removes the spike of a homemade madras curry for me (fingerprick testing only though, I'm not flashy enough to have a CGM
I thought I was fairly okay with rice. My local Chinese takeaway does a very small egg fried rice, which I have occasionally with a mushroom Foo Yung, and my blood tests seemed to indicate that it was fairly acceptable based on the before and after readings. But that was before the magic of CGMs.
IanBish
Well-Known Member
I've learned about compression lows, so I'm not worried about that. I'm type 2, so asking a Doctor would be a waste of time (assuming I could actually see one!)
IanBish
Well-Known Member
I'm into real ale, but the ales I had last night weren't great. I tend to drink red wine these days.
I can only comment for me, but depending on the quantities of carb based items in the curry itself (nothing jumps out as a big offender from what you posted), generally I'd always look at the rice first. Unfortunately, rice seems to be like dynamite for my blood glucose levels, it's one of the highest impact solid foods from my testing to date. As @plantae said, cauliflower rice isn't quite the same, but mix it all in with the curry and it works for me.
Tesco (other supermarkets are available
) do a pouch of Fullgreen cauliflower rice if you want convenience. 4g of carbs per 100g versus 27g for basmati. On offer at the moment too, £1.50 a pouch. It's not as good as homemade, but very good for convenience and has way better shelf life too.An interesting (possibly) thing that happens to me is that a) I like beer. It will send me high initially -- and I'm talking more than 12 mmol/L. And then my BSL will drop like a rock, always below 3.9 unless I eat heaps of carbs (the curry would be good). I haven't managed to give it up yet but limit myself to Friday nights. So your second peak is more interesting to me -- I'm envious
