Carbs in Tea

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Purls of Wisdom

Purls of Wisdom

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Would you bolus for 2g Carbs in a regular mug of tea made with a dash of semi skimmed milk and 1 sweetener?
Thanks.
 
No, absolutely not!
 
I would not and am not sure how you could unless you either have very high insulin to carb ratio or use an insulin pump that can give very tiny doses.
For example, with the common 1:10 ratio, you would need to give yourself 0.2 units.

However, we are all different and you may find tea gives you a rise which does not comply with the standard insulin to carb ratios. I have not heard of this for tea but I have read that some find the caffeine in coffee gives them a spike.
 
My basal insulin has to include however many splashes of milk I have in drinks all day and evening. They reckon we have on average 5ml in a cuppa which is a negligible number of grams of carb per mug as far as I'm concerned anyway. (a fraction of 1g per cup)

Been about 60 years since I've ever made 'a milky drink' !
 
I agree with others who have already said that no way could a normal cuppa (and your description of your cuppa sounds 100% normal to me) increase anyone's BG level. So, if yours increases after drinking one - then you need to look elsewhere for the reason why.

Previous meal late digesting? eg if I eat something with carb and fat - and the obvious culprits here for me are cheesy things for me like pizza or pasta carbonara/macaroni cheese - but a lot of mayonnaise on a salad sandwich might also do it - the spike in my BG from eating any of those could quite often only appear 5 or 6 hours after eating it. So if I ate the culprit for lunch at 1pm, this is likely to have an unwanted effect on my BG readings until at least bedtime and probably during the night too - anyone's guess about the next morning, at that stage.
 
trophywench said:
no way could a normal cuppa (and your description of your cuppa sounds 100% normal to me) increase anyone's BG level.
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I agree that the carbs would not be enough to cause a rise but what about the caffeine in the tea?
As I mentioned earlier, some talk about the caffeine in coffee having an affect.

I don't disagree with looking at other reasons but if @Purls of Wisdom always sees a rise after drinking tea regardless what was eaten beforehand or any stress, I would suggest trying a small insulin bolus one time to see if it had any affect. Obviously, closely monitor blood sugars in case the extra insulin triggered a hypo.
 
Ah, well it is remotely possible I agree. However, we have to remember that the lady does not even have a half unit pen to tentatively bolus any amount, and no way would I suggest she tries 1u under these circumstances.
 
Thank you all for your collective efforts for understanding a situation from every aspect and explaining it. I am humbled at the fact that how compassionate every one is. This depth of knowledge and information is way beyond all the books put together on the subject.
Thanks again. X
 
I did mention the 0.5 unit pen when the DSN called yesterday but my request was stalled on the grounds that I am on large doses and those pens are more useful for the people who are on miniscule doses.

Comments welcome.
 
- and for people who want to manage their blood glucose as well as possible and in any event, hopefully better than she is right now!!
 
- and for people who care about the environment and plastic waste. Also in the longer term the overall cost is potentially less; fridge storage of insulin is easier for a box of replacement cartridges, than for a box of pens; the 1/2 unit pens come with a simple memory device recording the last dose taken and approximately how long ago, for those moments of "did I, or didn't I take my basal or bolus.

It's frustrating when a DSN stalls good intentions mindlessly.
 
helli said:
As I mentioned earlier, some talk about the caffeine in coffee having an affect.
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I get that from coffee shop coffees - but weirdly not so obviously from cafetiere coffees at weekend breakfast time (though to be fair any rise from that probably gets blended in with my breakfast dose)

When I meet with a friend for midweek coffee and a catch-up I usually have to bolus for the coffee I have, which has hardly any milk, so I can only assume it’s the caffeine in it.
 
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