Info about carbs

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the invitation to join this group. My name is but

everyone calls me Ceege (a nickname from day one of university that

has stuck ever since). I am a 29 year old from Ottawa, Ontario,

Canada who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in February of this

year. I wanted to pass on what I have learned about carbs.

My dietician, nurse and endocrinologist explained to me that carbs

(whether they be simple carbs like refined sugar or complex carbs

like starches) are broken down into glucose during digestion. Fibre

is also a carb, but it does not get broken down. Unless you take

enough insulin to handle the amount of glucose that gets manufactured

during digestion, your blood glucose levels go up and that is very

bad for a diabetic over an extended period of time. How quickly your

blood glucose level goes up can depend on the glycemic index (GI) of

the food you eat. GI lets you know how quickly certain carbs get

converted into glucose. Check out the following website from the

University of Sydney (Australia) for more info:

http://www.glycemicindex.com/

My understanding is that carbs are not necessarily " bad " for

diabetics (or anyone for that matter). It all depends on what kind

of carbs you eat. While it is true that less carbs in your diet will

keep your blood glucose levels lower without insulin, choosing carb-

rich foods that have a low GI can be managed very effectively with

whatever pre-meal insulin you take.

As soon as I was diagnosed, I started a two week trial to see how a

set amount of insulin reacted to a set amount of carbs at meal times

during the day. Based on that exercise, a carb-to-insulin ratio was

determined (in my case, its 25 grams of carbs to 1 unit of pre-meal

insulin). I use it a guideline to estimate how much insulin to

administer based on the amount of carbs contained in what I eat. I

don't have to deny myself lower GI foods like fruit, pasta, whole-

grain bread and potatoes and I keep my blood glucose levels in the

optimum range. Furthermore, there are tricks to lowering the GI of

some higher GI foods (e.g. adding raw bran or granola to yogurt) that

expand my choice of food even more.

I hope this information is useful. It takes time, effort and

commitment to make this system work, but it has allowed me to

maintain the majority of my eating habits from before I was diagnosed

without jeopardizing my health.

Cheers,

Ceege

> > from www.cookinglight.com

> >

> > Banana-Mango Smoothie

> >

> > INGREDIENTS:

> > 1 cup cubed peeled ripe mango

> > 3/4 cup sliced ripe banana (about 1 medium)

> > 2/3 cup fat-free milk

> > 1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk (optional)

> > 1 teaspoon honey

> > 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

> >

> > INSTRUCTIONS:

> > Arrange the mango cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet;

freeze

> > until firm (about 1 hour). Place frozen mango and the remaining

> > ingredients in a blender. Process until smooth.

> >

> > NUTRITIONAL INFO:

> > calories: 160 carbohydrates: 36.1 g cholesterol: 2 mg fat: 0.7 g

> > sodium: 65 mg protein: 5.1 g calcium: 160 mg iron: 0.3 mg fiber:

> 2.6

> > g

> >

> > YIELD:

> > 2 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

> >

> > © Copyright Southern Progress Corporation, 2000. All rights

> reserved.

> > Privacy policy