Dreamfields Pasta - my results (second attempt)

[Guest guest]

I tried sending this from my e-mail address but it didn't seem to come

through. I'm posting this from the website.

**Apologies if any of you receive this twice. I'm sending it to both

of the groups that I normally participate in.**

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I'm not sure how many of you have heard anything about Dreamfields

Pasta, which has recently gained significant favor due to the fact

that it's the only " low carb " pasta made with durum semolina (instead

of the soy protein, et al. that other low carb pastas contain), that

its taste and texture (as well as its carb count -- 42 grams in a 2

oz. dry serving) are nearly identical to regular pasta, and that

certain aspects of the manufacturing process have resulted in the

majority of the carbohydrate being rendered " undigestible. " The

packaging indicates " 5 grams " of digestible carb. I typically don't

listen to these " low carb " testimonials; " net carbs " very often is

nothing more than a marketing ploy on the part of the manufacturers

and distributors (look how much of a profit Atkins Nutritionals has

made on those two words alone) to persuade those watching their carb

intake to buy the products. That may very well be enough for those

who are simply " low carbing, " but for those who are using these

products as a way to manage blood sugars it means very very little.

I've used several different low carb pastas -- I find the Carb Fit the

best of the lot -- but I've never counted " net carbs " as my " total

carbs " -- I use the total carbs on the packaging and figure out my

insulin dose from THAT number. " Net Carbs " don't carry a whole lot of

credence or weight with me (not only with pasta; I've seen it with

other products as well).

I've been reading a number of testimonials from people with diabetes

who've tried Dreamfields and sure enough, it's worked. I've read and

heard from a good number of individuals that the rise in BGs is

insigificant after eating this pasta, sometimes within five to ten

points over the course of several hours. I thought, " wow, maybe this

works -- and since it tastes like the real thing, it's worth giving it

a try. " These people spoke of BG readings that would have been

CONSIDERABLY higher had they consumed the amount of carbs in the

product BEFORE subtracting the undigestible carbs. I thought I'd give

it a try. It's not widely available, and I thought I would need to

make a day trip to Wal-Mart to find it (we don't really have Wal-Mart

in New Jersey -- a few scattered locations, but most locations are at

least an hour away). I was shocked when I noticed it in the natural

foods section of my local Shop Rite last night. I bought a box and

made it for dinner with a salad.

I had a large salad -- green leaf lettuce, celery, and grape tomatoes,

with oil and vinegar, chopped garlic and seasonings, and a one-cup dry

serving of the pasta. According to my calculations, that would equal

approximately 60 grams of carb BEFORE subtracting the indigestible

carbs. The " net carb " count with this size portion would equal

approximately eight grams. I was CONSERVATIVE in my calculations and

bolused my insulin for 20 grams. For sauce, I just chopped up a fresh

plum tomato, and sauteed some garlic in olive oil. I mixed the

tomato, garlic and olive oil into the pasta. The salad and the tomato

in the pasta were accounted for in my bolus.

Pre-meal, I was 131. I also took a correction bolus of .4 units of

insulin, to get to my target BG. 1.25 hours post-meal, my BG was 62.

2.5 hours post-meal, it was 77. 3.5 hours post-meal (just before

bedtime), it was 81. This morning, fifteen minutes ago, I tested

again. My BG was 355!!!!!!!!!! There was NOTHING in that meal, other

than the pasta, that could have caused such a delayed, and such a

SIGNIFICANT spike in my BGs. Yes, I had olive oil, but probably

consumed less than half of what I used to sautee the garlic. I had no

protein with the meal. It was the pasta. I know my body, and I was

stunned when the readings I got last evening showed so little impact

given the TRUE carb content of the pasta. It barely moved from the

time I began testing. This 355 is the highest reading I've had in

several MONTHS. I needed to take a correction dose of over four units

of insulin to bring this back to target -- and I typically don't use

more than 25-27 units per day, both basal and bolus COMBINED. I know

that we're all different, but yet again, I've learned from my own

experience that this " indigestible carb " thing doesn't work; it's no

different, at least in my case, from the other low carb products out

there that don't prove their claims true for me. I'll be fixing this

high BG all day. This will take three to four hours to return to

target. I'm packing up the remainder of the box and bringing it to

work to give to a friend who is doing the Atkins diet but doesn't have

diabetes.

I'd love to know whether anyone else has tried it and what the results

were.

[Guest guest]

Hi, Rhonda,

<< I haven't found Dreamfields in my area yet, but have you read Rick

Mendosa's evaluation of it yet?

http://www.mendosa.com/dreamfields_pasta.htm >>

Thanks for sending this link. I typically refer to Rick Mendosa's

site on a regular basis, but I haven't checked it out in a while, so I

hadn't seen this article.

I'm fairly certain that what he mentions about insulin resistance, and

that those who are highly insulin resistant might have a similar

reaction to *any* type of starchy carbohydrate, would matter in this

case, as I'm not insulin resistant in the least. I'm a T1 and I'm

very insulin sensitive, and usually don't use more than 25-27 units of

insulin a day, with basal and bolus (pump-speak for long-acting and

rapid-acting) combined. I'm extremely sensitive to small doses of

insulin; the only time that I need to use more is when I'm already

significantly higher than my target, and I need to take a correction

dose to bring the BGs back down (the higher the numbers, the more

difficult treating those highs can be).

What's so unsettling about this is how low my readings were at the

1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 hour post-meal checks. There's always the

possibility that I dropped lower overnight, and that the 355 in the

morning was a rebound effect from the low, but I don't think that's

really the case. I took a very small dose of insulin to cover the

pasta and the salad that I ate for dinner, and I know that my

overnight basal rate is set correctly, so I don't think that the

insulin I took to cover the meal would have dropped me any lower than

I was close to bedtime. I actually already gave the pasta away to my

friend at work, so unfortunately I can't do another experiment. I was

thinking that I probably should have tried it one more time, using

enough insulin to cover the full carbohydrate count on the packaging

-- 42 grams per 3/4 cup -- to see whether my BGs stayed in range. If

this is the case, then I'd rather eat the whole wheat pasta I have on

very rare occasions, which I LOVE (I love the whole wheat more than

the white; the taste is so much better). The carb count is identical

to the full carb count on the Dreamfields. I suppose it's just yet

another example of how different we all are.

I haven't heard anything about the Mueller's half-carb pasta. Is this

new also? Is it more of a reduced carb, versus a low carb, pasta? I

*do* like the Carb Fit low carb pasta okay. I've tried Atkins and

Darielle, as well, and neither of those was very good.

[Guest guest]

> Hi, Rhonda,

>

> I haven't heard anything about the Mueller's half-carb pasta. Is

this

> new also? Is it more of a reduced carb, versus a low carb,

pasta? I

> *do* like the Carb Fit low carb pasta okay. I've tried Atkins and

> Darielle, as well, and neither of those was very good.

>

>

Hi ,

Actually it's called Mueller's Reduced Carb. I just call

it half carb since it's supposed to have half the carbs of

regular pasta. It's been out here in Atlanta for about a

month. A lot cheaper than the low, low carb stuff too.

1.99 for elbows and spaghetti and 2.49 for lasagna. The

net carb count is 19 grams for a 1/2c. dry of the elbows

and 2oz. of the spaghetti. The total carb count is 31

grams versus 41 grams in regular white flour pasta.

As for taste I like it myself. It's made with wheat starch,

wheat protein and wheat protein isolate plus other stuff.

So far it's the best tasting one I've eaten other than

whole wheat and the vegetarian pasta by Yves. The veggie

pasta barely causes my BGL to rise. Maybe 4 or 5 at the

most. Why I don't know. It's regular white pasta and any

other white flour pasta causes a huge rise when I eat it.

I take insulin myself, but starchy foods affect me no

matter how low the carb count is and I have to take a lot

of insulin to cover it. I ate Blue Moon low carb pizza,

2 1/2 slices with a total carb count of 18 and had to take

5U of Humalog to cover it. Whole wheat pancakes on the

other hand make me hypo or stay the same level. It's crazy

sometimes because I never know how I'll react.

Rhonda