Carbs and sugar ratio

[slipper]

I seem to be able to handle pitta bread much better than say Burgen Soya and Linseed. When checking the carb content relative to the sugar, I get,

Pitta: 28g carbs, of which1g is sugar.

Burgen: 12g carbs, of which 2.4g is sugar.

Initially I thought the carb content was important, but it would seem the sugar content is a better guide. Am I right in my thinking, plus what is the rest of the carbs if not sugar?

 

[PattiEvans]

I seem to be able to handle pitta bread much better than say Burgen Soya and Linseed. When checking the carb content relative to the sugar, I get,

Pitta: 28g carbs, of which1g is sugar.

Burgen: 12g carbs, of which 2.4g is sugar.

Initially I thought the carb content was important, but it would seem the sugar content is a better guide. Am I right in my thinking, plus what is the rest of the carbs if not sugar?

I don't know the reason you handle Pitta bread better than Burgen, it's one of those YMMV things (your mileage may vary). As to what the rest of the carbs are, simply flour.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

How many times have you observed the difference in readings?

I only ask because coincidentally I was mentioning to Patti elsewhere this morning that my 'normal' breakfast (Burgen) didn't behave well for me at all this morning (6.7 to 11.8 in around 2 hours). However I've been eating Burgen as part of an almost identical breakfast for several years, so I can be pretty sure it isn't that that is different - something else has thrown a spanner in the works.

Not saying that Burgen will be right for you, just more that eating the same thing on 2 different days won't *necessarily* give you the same result, so don't jump to dropping something from your diet if it is something you enjoy until you've seen the same behaviour repeating a few times.

And for my money I'd go with the total carbs - the 'of which sugars' makes far less difference to me on the whole. Indeed there are some things I've observed that are just completely crackers in absorption terms when looking at ingredients list - like white spaghetti absorbing much more slowly than white pasta of a different shape!

 

[slipper]

The BG readings I have taken after breakfast have been slightly better for pitta, not much in it though and not a scientific conclusion by any means. It just surprised me that double the carbs in the pitta, did not have a corresponding rise in BG for me.

So as usual, got a bit confused about the carbs.

 

[Willerby12]

I just dont understand the whole carb process full stop! Thought I had to look at sugar content of food but now am told that must look at carbs only & I was told that all carbs are bad - so I am not doing anything right! I love potatoes & I love sweet stuff, so I am pretty much scuppered!! Am type II on Metformin & Gliclozide but my BG are always high no matter what I do. I even cut all types of bread out for a full week which made no difference. I walk nearly every day for at least 30 mins. Even eating bananas or apples puts my BG up.

 

[DeusXM]

Willerby - the best way to think about carbs and glucose is Lego. Seriously.

Glucose is the simplest, most basic sugar. So let's imagine that glucose is a lego brick.

If you stick a few Lego bricks together, you can make different things. Fructose and sucrose are effectively little glucose lego bricks put together in a different shape. Starches are lots of little Lego bricks stuck together in the shape of a house.

In the end, the little lego shapes and the lego house ALL can be broken down into the little single Lego bricks and put back in the box. The difference is that's it's very quick to put single lego bricks in the box, it takes a little longer to take apart the little lego shapes and put them away, and it takes a lot longer to take apart the lego house and put it away. But it's all still lego bricks. That's why sweets raise your BG quickly and starches also raise your BG but take longer to get going.

So there aren't 'good' or 'bad' sugars - whatever sugars or starches you eat will all break down into glucose eventually. Which is why bananas and apples will definitely raise your blood sugar.

If you're having trouble getting good blood sugars on medication with little to no carbs in your diet, then your doctor needs to review your medication prescription. It may be that you need extra insulin to support your metabolism overall.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I just dont understand the whole carb process full stop! Thought I had to look at sugar content of food but now am told that must look at carbs only & I was told that all carbs are bad - so I am not doing anything right! I love potatoes & I love sweet stuff, so I am pretty much scuppered!! Am type II on Metformin & Gliclozide but my BG are always high no matter what I do. I even cut all types of bread out for a full week which made no difference. I walk nearly every day for at least 30 mins. Even eating bananas or apples puts my BG up.

Willerby

Hardly surprising you are disheartened by the duff advice you have received. Too many HCPs are still stuck in the trap of carbs=good, fat=evil when the real situation, especially for people with diabetes is a *whole lot* more complicated than that.

I was reading this yesterday on http://www.glycemicindex.com which you might find interesting...

Recent studies from Harvard School of Public Health indicate that the risks of diseases such as type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease are strongly related to the GI of the overall diet. In 1999, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recommended that people in industrialised countries base their diets on low-GI foods in order to prevent the most common diseases of affluence, such as coronary heart disease, diabetes and obesity.

Terms such as complex carbohydrates and sugars, which commonly appear on food labels, are now recognised as having little nutritional or physiological significance. The WHO/FAO recommend that these terms be removed and replaced with the total carbohydrate content of the food and its GI value.

So anytime you have been advised to stick to 'starchy' carbs treat that advice with caution. A slice of wholemeal bread will have just as much, of not more impact on your BG than 3 teaspoons of sugar, and at the same rate.

That's not to say that you have to completely swear-off carbs forever, it just means that you have to exercise restraint and caution moderating your carb intake and 'padding out' with more BG friendly things like leafy veg, meat, cheese and eggs etc. Jennifers advice and Alan S's Test Review Adjust give a great framework for testing your current diet and making it more BG friendly. Whatever changes you make have to be sustainable and suit you long-term. It's about finding foods that you enjoy *and* suit your (now slightly wonky) metabolism 🙂