Post meal snacks. Do you do a correction?

[pippaandben]

As a newbie come Friday to basal/bolus can you answer what is probably a stupid question. If I know that say 2 hours after dinner I will have some fruit - orange or apple do I allow for this in my dinner carb count on the basis that up to 4 hours I will still have some in my system? Or do I allow for this at the time I eat the fruit on the basis that being mostly juice it will hit me very quickly and I might not have enough bolus to cover it?
On the mix I was told to have fruit immediately after my meal so as not to cause a spike.
This nitty gritty detail might be covered by my nurse LOL - but I already have a list of things to clarify which are more substantial and important.

 

[Copepod]

An apple or orange contains about 10g of carbohydrate, so you could ignore a single snack. If it's a banana, containing around 25g carbohydrate, that's different.

Eating fruit means than carbohydrate is absorbed much slower than if you drink the equivalent amount of juice.

Best way is to keep records of readings eg before meal, 2 hrs after meal, then before next meal, to see the effect of eating an apple or orange. A couple or three days of records should give you enough information to assess the effects.

 

[trophywench]

Oh, I never plan for a pudding in advance, even when it's like Sunday dinner and I've cooked it - rather than just deciding on a one-off basis.

If husband decides he's full, I probably won't have mine either, cos I'll only want more of it when I dish his up later!

So I always bolus again for it if/when I have something else. Even if the delay is just whilst one of us going and getting it from the kitchen.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

An apple or orange contains about 10g...

Fruit does vary considerably in size and it often works out nearer 20g for a supermarket apple. Not a bad idea to cut the core out of what you'd think of as a 'normal sized' one, weigh the fruit you'd eat and then times by 0.11 (there are about 11g of carbs per 100g on average).

Once you know roughly how much a 'normal' one is you can guestimate up or down for the tiddly/massive ones. 🙂

But yes. I would bolus separately for it (and wait 20 minutes or so!)

 

[Northerner]

For a while after I was diagnosed I used to give myself a little extra insulin at my main mealtimes, knowing that I would enjoy a snack 2 or 3 hours afterwards. This meant that the insulin was working already but I did have to make sure that I actually had the snack or I would more than likely end up hypo! Nowadays, I tend not to snack, so just bolus for each meal - I seem to have weaned myself off the desire to snack and graze 🙂