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Carb Questions?...Please Help If You Can.

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Ellowyne

Ellowyne

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi all, I hope all is well for everyone.

I have some Carb questions I need help with please.

They are General questions really and, I know people differ, but I am trying to get a general idea of some of the issues regarding Carb intake and Diabetes. Please help if you feel you can....Thank you.


What is considered a 'Low Carb' diet...is it 20 grams or more per day?

For each 20 Grams of Carbs what is the General intake of Insulin needed to balance blood sugars?

How many Carbs are there in a 'Steamed Old Potatoe' of appox 20 Grams?

Where does the best source of Carb intake come from?

Do Sweet Potatoes contain less carbs then the average white potatoe?

Do boiled or scrambled Eggs conatain any Crabs?

Do 'Any' meats conatain any Carbs?

Does Vegatable Oil contain any Carbs?


I think that is mostly all the questions I am struggling with...However, if anyone can offer any Low Carb Breakfast Recipes, or Dinner Recipes I would be really grateful for any ideas!....Thank you for any help you can offer.

Kind regards to you all, Ellowyne
 
Hi Ellowyne, lovely to hear from you 🙂

I'm no expert on low-carbing, but I can answer some of your questions. What actually constitutes low-carbing can vary depending on who you ask, but I think that it is generally accepted to be less than 100g per day. The recommended daily allowance is something like 250g, so you can see how much more restricted 100g or less might be. Some will recommend even less than this - really I think it is the amount of carbs you can tolerate with your medication regime in order to retain good blood sugar levels. The same goes for how much insulin you need per 20g of carbs - this is almost entirely dependent on the individual and might vary between 1 and 50 units or more, so it's not possible to give a figure. You need to estabvlish your own ratio by experimenting and testing before and after to see what effect 20g has on your levels when you inject X units.

Eggs, meat and oil do not contain carbs and seet potatoes are lower GI than ordinary potatoes - don't have it to hand how much carb is in them, but it's worth getting a book like the Collins Gem Calorie Counter so you can check things you want to try.

There are some recipes on the 'other' diabetes support forum at:

http://diabetes-support.org.uk/diabetesforum/index.php

Hope this helps! 🙂
 
A piece of peeled spud weighing 60g contains 10g of carb. Cos I've just taken some out of the pan of cold water waiting for dinner to check LOL but have no idea what they weigh once cooked. Just know that each one is 10g CHO.

And you DO indeed need a Collins Gem CALORIE Counter book. The best ?3.99 you can ever spend on yourself.

No such thing as a 'best' anything, best for what? Only you know by what your meter tells you, is 'best' for your blood glucose.

The best thing for keeping you going for a long times without increasing your BG is protein, not carb. Carb is any stodge - flour and anything containing it (bread, pastry, cake, biscuits, crackers ....) sugar, spuds, parsnips, rice, bananas, grapes, parsnips and leguminous veg (eg peas and beans, although runner beans and mangetout aren't so bad as you mainly eat the pods). Other fruit has varying amounts of carbs, but berries generally have the least. Protein is eg cheese, eggs, fish and meat. And oil (veg or whatever) is Fat.
 
Hi Ellowyne!

Nice to see you posting again.

Just to add to the answers you've already had - There are no agreed standards for what consitutes low or medium carb diets.

Recommennded daily intake of carbs for an adult is approx 250g (women) and 300g (men).

By my reckoning this is a pretty *massive* carb load for anyone with diabetes, but I suppose 'officially' anything lower than 250g would be moderate, and lower than 100g would be moving towards low.

The thing is everyone is different - so what would work as a low carb diet for one person would be moderate for another and high for someone else.

Frustrating, but there you go! YDMV etc 🙄
 
Crikey, I'd forgotten the guidelines. They are completely potty, as an adult I've never eaten more than about 100g carb (on a regular basis I mean) but I don't moderate my carb intake whatsoever on that allowance - it merely represents what I happen to normally eat in an average day !

Were I to eat 200g carb on a daily basis I'd be like the side of a house plus next dooor .....
 
Ellowyne said:
Hi all, I hope all is well for everyone.

I have some Carb questions I need help with please.

They are General questions really and, I know people differ, but I am trying to get a general idea of some of the issues regarding Carb intake and Diabetes. Please help if you feel you can....Thank you.



Do boiled or scrambled Eggs conatain any Crabs?

Boiled eggs - no - scrambled eggs tiny amount in the milk used. Negligible so would personally not count any

Do 'Any' meats conatain any Carbs? No not as far as I am aware, not 'pure' meat anyway. Processed meats often will though (Sausages/burgers - that type of thing)

Does Vegatable Oil contain any Carbs? Again no, not as far as I am aware.


I think that is mostly all the questions I am struggling with...However, if anyone can offer any Low Carb Breakfast Recipes, or Dinner Recipes I would be really grateful for any ideas!....Thank you for any help you can offer.
Low carb breakfast - dare I mention a good old fry up? (grilled in preference) Bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes all carb free. Beware of sausages. Carbs in them can vary a lot. Omelette made with eggs & dash of water - add cheese/onions/peppers/ham/other veg - all carb free. Kippers? Ham Cheese & Eggs? (very continental - but not the bread of croissants of course)
Click to expand...

Hope these ideas are of some use to you.

Tina
 
Ellowyne said:
Hi all, I hope all is well for everyone.

I have some Carb questions I need help with please.

They are General questions really and, I know people differ, but I am trying to get a general idea of some of the issues regarding Carb intake and Diabetes. Please help if you feel you can....Thank you.


What is considered a 'Low Carb' diet...is it 20 grams or more per day?

For each 20 Grams of Carbs what is the General intake of Insulin needed to balance blood sugars?

How many Carbs are there in a 'Steamed Old Potatoe' of appox 20 Grams?

Where does the best source of Carb intake come from?

Do Sweet Potatoes contain less carbs then the average white potatoe?

Do boiled or scrambled Eggs conatain any Crabs?

Do 'Any' meats conatain any Carbs?

Does Vegatable Oil contain any Carbs?


I think that is mostly all the questions I am struggling with...However, if anyone can offer any Low Carb Breakfast Recipes, or Dinner Recipes I would be really grateful for any ideas!....Thank you for any help you can offer.

Kind regards to you all, Ellowyne
Click to expand...

Hi Ellowyne. Good to see you posting. 🙂

I'm not a low carber, so don't really know where the line is drawn.

Your insulin needs are unique to you, so there's no way of saying how much you may need. My lunchtime ratio is 1u humalog to every 10g carb, unless I've been very busy in which case I need less insulin. This is very different from everyone else who's replied, I suspect.

I would count a 20g potato as about 4g carb.

Again, the best source of carb is the one that matches your insulin, your body and your lifestyle the best. I find that combining some protein and a bit of fat with my carbs helps but too much of either and it all goes haywire. Theoretically, low GI starchy carbs such as wholemeal pasta and the like are good but they can sometimes last so long that they overshoot the insulin and end up sending you high. So whatever you've eaten in the past that causes the least damage, is best to have.

I think sweet potatoes have a lower GI, so are digested slower, than ordinary potatoes. Other root vegetables can be mashed together for different flavours. I think swede is better and certainly has less carbs per 100g. I did a swede and carrot mash for christmas dinner. Very nice.🙂

Eggs and meat are effectively carb-free but the protein may cause a delayed rise in BG. Especially if you're low-carbing. So you may need to check BG after a few hours and correct if it goes too high. Eggs also contain fat so may need to be limited.

Veg oil has no carbs but is obviously pure fat.

Good luck and I hope some of the info helps.🙂

Rob
 
Hi all, I just wanted to thank you all for your great advice and I will be sure to check it all out!....I will be following a Low Carb diet, probably around the 80g a day mark...I hope to check in and let you know how I get on!....Thanks again, Ellowyne xXx

Happy New Year!
 
A Little Carb Advice From Me

Hello Ellowyne,

I have answered some of your questions below and I hope they help but I would advise you to be very careful with Novorapid when eating foods high in protein. You should only have insulin for foods which contain carbohydrate and not protein. I call Novorapid rocket fuel because I'm super sensitive to it myself and have had some urghhhhh nasty hypos in the past prior to starting on an insulin pump and I would not like others to suffer the same as I have.

For each 20 Grams of Carbs what is the General intake of Insulin needed to balance blood sugars?
On a 1:1 ratio you would have 2 units of fast acting insulin for 20 grams of carbs

How many Carbs are there in a 'Steamed Old Potatoe' of appox 20 Grams?
I was advised on the DAFNE course to always weigh the potatoes raw and count the carbs from the raw potatoe weight because of changes in weight which occur during the cooking process

Do Sweet Potatoes contain less carbs then the average white potatoe?
I would advise you to look at the carbs on the nutritional info on the packaging, which is what I do for all the food I eat and have found this to be the best source for calculating carbohydrate.

Do boiled or scrambled Eggs conatain any Crabs?
Eggs are very high in protein and do not contain any carbohydrate. I would strongly advise you not to take insulin for eggs wether your injecting/pumping insulin as hypos will occur. Personally, I love scrambled eggs and like to add a little milk but I never have insulin for this either.

Do 'Any' meats conatain any Carbs?
I don't eat much meat but would advise you to exercise caution when having insulin for meat and again meat is a high protein food too.

Does Vegatable Oil contain any Carbs?
No.
 
What is considered a 'Low Carb' diet...is it 20 grams or more per day?

'Low carb' varies, depending on who you talk to. 'Official' dietary recommendations suggest you should eat 200-300g of carbs per day. Therefore, 'low carb' could be seen as anything under that total.

On the other hand, Dr. Bernstein's approach for diabetes says anything more than 24g of carbs per day (split 6g for breakfast, 6g for lunch and 12g for dinner, I think) is too many carbs. Generally though, a lot of low carbers will try to eat less than 10-20g per meal. Remember, any spike in blood sugar that isn't directly funnelled into the muscles will be turned to fat by insulin.

For each 20 Grams of Carbs what is the General intake of Insulin needed to balance blood sugars?

It depends on the individual, the insulin used, the type of carb, and what else is eaten. Carbs cannot be seen in isolation. A bowl of pasta and sauce might contain the same amount of carbs as a bag of sweets but will require a very different insulin profile.

Different people generally need different amounts of insulin as well, ranging anywhere from 1u to 1g up to 1u to 20g and beyond. Meanwhile, the various differing insulins will all have different action profiles and so will have differing dosing profiles. Some insulins also just seem to work better in some individuals than others for no real clear reason - for instance, some people find Novorapid is way too fast for them but Humalog is fine, whereas others will find it's the other way around.

Where does the best source of Carb intake come from?

What do you mean, best?

If you mean 'largest', generally anything yellow or brown. Potatoes, bread, pasta and cereals are all very carb dense. But also, so are sweets, fruits, some veg, chocolate.

If you're asking for what is healthier for you, when you say best, I would say 'as few as possible'. But if you're going to eat carbs, then I would recommend anything that is primarily wholemeal and vegetable based. This doesn't include potatoes or pasta.

Do boiled or scrambled Eggs conatain any Carbs?

Minimal to non-existent. Eggs are almost entirely fat and protein - neither of which should have an effect on your blood sugar, which means if you eat just an egg, you won't need to inject for them. Ok, yes, protein does metabolise to glucose through gluconeogenesis but you need to eat rather a lot of protein it for it to have a major effect - certainly more than a couple of eggs.

Do 'Any' meats conatain any Carbs?

Yes.

'Meat' on its own won't - so plain chicken breasts, steak, chops etc won't. Salamis, hams and processed meats will sometimes contain some carbohydrate, but in very minimal quantities (also in the case of salami, most of the carbohydrate is actually added as fuel for the chemical reaction and so is therefore gone by the time you eat it).

However....depending on quality and supplier, other meats will contain carbs. A lot of burgers will be bulked out by breadcrumbs. Sausages are often bulked with rice or rusk. Mince is generally no-carb but cheaper ones can be bulked out as well. The general rule is the cheaper the product, the more carby it'll be as meat is more expensive than grain to produce. It is no coincidence that those on lower incomes tend to have higher BMIs than wealthier individuals and it's nothing to do with nutritional intelligence or laziness.

The meat in sauces won't contain carbs but the sauces almost certainly will, and obviously anything breaded will have quite a few carbs. You should also particularly watch out for Chinese meats. Aside from the carb content of the sauce, many cooks will dust the meat in cornflour first before frying. This is the secret behind why the meat in Chinese dishes is particularly moist.

Therefore it always pays to look at the label for any processed meats you eat - this will tell you if there are carbs you need to be aware of. Sausages WILL catch you out. Those fridge raider things will also surprise you. The branded ones are almost pure meat but the Sainsbury's own version are something like 30-40% rusk, meaning they contain far more carbs than most people will realise.

Does Vegetable Oil contain any Carbs?

No, vegetable oil is a fat.
 
LOL at sausages Deus - have a friend who is a butcher and who produces commercial amounts of sausage, ie supplies to other butchers. Has won lots of prizes in competitions.

Yet two of his BEST family recipes (one being garlic, the other being tomato, since both have real ingredients - actual real garlic and real tomatoes as well as lack of rusk and you aren't allowed, you have to use commercial seasoning that comes from another factory so you can prove it contains exactly this or that or the other and you can't do that with real ingredients can you?) he cannot by law produce commercially ie cannot sell - for the simple reason that they do not contain ENOUGH rusk and the law says they have to have a minimum amount. Potty.

So we'd get a phone call to say, how many lbs did we want and when could we collect it ...... and he'd do a special run, but the minimum run was I think 56lbs once he installed the commercial line but ISTR he wouldn't do it till he could do a cwt.
 
mmmmm sausages.......

sorry, drooling aside (I haven't eaten proper sausages in about a year now as am on Slimming World where sausages are the devil's work) there is a site called Joes sausages which do really low fat sausage products (never tried it myself but looks good).

Anyhoo, the carb content of those sausages are pretty good compared to others, in case anyone wants to order through them (although you'd best empty your freezer out as you have to order over a certain amount....)

😉
 
The Joe's Sausages are slightly higher in carbs than Tesco Finest (4g/100g, compared to 3.3g/100g). However they are MUCH lower in fat (2g vs 22!) so these definitely look like something worth having if you're looking to lose weight. If you're looking to maintain though, stick with the fattier ones - if you're cutting carbs you'll need to up your fat intake so you're not in a calorie deficit.
 
Sainsburys do a pretty mean 'outdoor reared' pork chipolata that's about 95% pork - so not much room for risk there!
 
i now have visions of mini sausages running round with guns, snarling at people.

great way to start the working day!! :D
 
Aha! *rusk*!

Fat fingers 🙄
 
you know, I hadn't even noticed the typo!!

*blonde*
 
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