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Blueberries
- Thread starter Hend1
- Start date
- Status
Hi @Hend1
I’m new to all this.
Do you carb count? Are you type 1/2
Yes they are good for you. Blueberries are packed with vitamins, antioxidants, minerals, and fiber that promote overall health.
I use the diabetes Uk carb and Cals book to help carb count for certain foods. I have attached a pic for blueberries.
I hope that helps
I’m new to all this.
Do you carb count? Are you type 1/2
Yes they are good for you. Blueberries are packed with vitamins, antioxidants, minerals, and fiber that promote overall health.
I use the diabetes Uk carb and Cals book to help carb count for certain foods. I have attached a pic for blueberries.
I hope that helps
Attachments
Drummer
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Blueberries are the highest carb berry that I eat, but I don't find them all that interesting on their own, so I usually add them to blackberry flavour sugar free jelly. I usually stick to lower carb mixtures or strawberries and raspberries.
You need to check the carbs if that is possible, or otherwise check your blood glucose as they seem to be very variable in carb content.
You need to check the carbs if that is possible, or otherwise check your blood glucose as they seem to be very variable in carb content.
grovesy
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Most seem to be ok with blueberries.
Docb
Moderator
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Can I throw in my usual comment about graphs like the one put up by @Dave W ? Very useful guide but there are blueberries and there are blueberries. The carb content will vary with variety, age, ripeness, source and probably a few other things as well. Same with all the other fruits. I've no idea whether the range will be big or small and I've never found any source which has specifically explored this for any fruit, let alone blueberries.
So, if anybody can come up with a chart like @Dave W 's with some error bars to show what the range is for any given fruit then I would love to see it.
So, if anybody can come up with a chart like @Dave W 's with some error bars to show what the range is for any given fruit then I would love to see it.
grovesy
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
I agree as someone who eats blueberries most days, I notice they come from differnt parts of the globe , they can vary in size, and also can be tart or quite sweet.
Where many here seem to tolerate Strawberries , I have to limit them to a few.
My understanding is the way carb content is calculated is to burn the foodstuff and weigh the carbon that results. Therefore, carb content will always be an estimate whether it is fruit, veg, bread, cake, sausages.
I tend to think of a slice of fruit cake. My partner would be very happy if he got a slice with lots of glace cherries in it. This would have more carbs than a slice the same size with no fruit in it but the packet would still list the carbs per slice.
Given food it only one of the many things that impact our BG, I tend to think of it as one of the many estimates we use - useful but not gospel.
Docb
Moderator
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Agree totally with your last comment @helli.
I did look up how you measure the carb content of foodstuffs and to do it properly is really quite complicated and there is rather more to it than you suggest. It is one of the reasons why I am a bit wary of the implied precision in the way some numbers are quoted and keep on adding my caveat about using them to guide rather than dictate action.
I did look up how you measure the carb content of foodstuffs and to do it properly is really quite complicated and there is rather more to it than you suggest. It is one of the reasons why I am a bit wary of the implied precision in the way some numbers are quoted and keep on adding my caveat about using them to guide rather than dictate action.
Eddy Edson
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- In remission from Type 2
If you actually want to look at nutrient variability, as against talk about it, you can delve into the USDA FoodCentral databases: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/download-datasets.html This is the underlying data used for many/most nutrition apps and food labels, from what I've seen, and is probably the most authoritative source. Used everywhere, not just the US.
I haven't gone into it in much and for this level of detail seems not very user-friendly, but you can find min/max/median values buried in there and commentary on how things were measured.
The FAO has detailed commentary on sources of variability: http://www.fao.org/3/y4705e/y4705e16.htm
EDIT: I like this quote -
There are two schools of thought about food tables. One tends to regard the figures in them as having the accuracy of atomic weight determinations; the other dismisses them as valueless on the ground that a foodstuff may be so modified by the soil, the season or its rate of growth that no figure can be a reliable guide to its composition. The truth, of course, lies somewhere between these two points of view.
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I was under the impression that the data used in the UK on food packaging are taken from McCance and Widdowson's ' Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset' aka 'CoFID'. It's published by Public Health England. It is a massive collection of data and takes quite a bit of wading through to find what you want and even if you slim down the Excel data to just a few headings such as carbs, and lipids it can take time scrolling to a particular product such as potatoes (and there are several varieties listed). Easiest solution is to slim the Excel file and then import into a searchable database which is what I did a few years ago.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/composition-of-foods-integrated-dataset-cofid
Eddy Edson
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- In remission from Type 2
Thanks for that!
EDIT: Doesn't seem to include any variability data? User guide says this:
The final selection of values published is dependent on the judgement of the compilers and their interpretation of the available data. Due to the large natural variability of foods, it is unlikely that a particular item will have precisely the same composition as given in these tables. This is particularly true for unprocessed foods such as cereals, dairy products, eggs, meat, fish, fruit and vegetables. The values published should be regarded as typical rather than definitive for the foods described.
For food labels it has this to say:
It is widely recognised that it is not possible for foods to always contain the exact quantity of nutrients declared on the label, owing to natural variation, and variations during food production and storage. However, to avoid consumers being misled, it is important that the deviation from declared values should be minimal. EU guidance has therefore been produced on tolerances, that is the acceptable differences between the nutrient values declared on a label and those established during official controls by enforcement authorities. The tolerances, which vary by nutrient, by the amount present and take account of the uncertainty of measurement, are at: http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/labellingnutrition/nutritionlabel/index_en.htm
If you follow that link you get to info like this:
... which seems on a quick look to permit pretty wide variations.
None of this matters very much for most purposes, I guess, but it does irritate my nerd-gland when data is presented without error bars 🙂
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Docb
Moderator
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Thanks for that @Eddy Edson Just started to poke around it and yet to find the variability data for blueberries. One thing - its American so I'm thinking that the carbohydrate figure will not include sugar and so "sugar" and "carbohydrate" will have to be added together to get a total carbohydrate. Have you looked at it long enough to find out if that is the case?
Eddy Edson
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- In remission from Type 2
It will be "fiber", not "sugar" which is the difference. In the US fibre is counted as a carbohydrate, which it is, so to get UK-style "net" carbs take the US carb amount and subtract the fiber.
I haven't poked around for blueberries specifically but buried in the database somewhere I think you should be able to find min/median/max values, unless I've mistaken things.
Docb
Moderator
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Thanks Eddy, got my differences mixed up.
As far as I can see the carbohydrate is done by difference, it is derived by calculation and not by analysis, and you do not get a max and min. Also cannot find any statistical data.
Checked on apples. All the numbers are based on four results so you cannot get any sense of the variability that might come with different varieties and level of ripeness.
As you say it is probably as authoritative as any data set and put together by people who should know what they are doing. Nevertheless I would be wise to treat the numbers as guidance and add a pinch of theoretical salt to the carbohydrate values which are quoted to two decimal places.
As far as I can see the carbohydrate is done by difference, it is derived by calculation and not by analysis, and you do not get a max and min. Also cannot find any statistical data.
Checked on apples. All the numbers are based on four results so you cannot get any sense of the variability that might come with different varieties and level of ripeness.
As you say it is probably as authoritative as any data set and put together by people who should know what they are doing. Nevertheless I would be wise to treat the numbers as guidance and add a pinch of theoretical salt to the carbohydrate values which are quoted to two decimal places.
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