Carbs V Sugar

[Bob M]

What's best to avoid, high carb or high sugar foods?

I'm trying to keep weight on and I've slowly increased my breakfast intake to help with this.

I'm confused with cereals such as Shredded Wheat and Weetabix type biscuit which are quite high in carbs, (68 and 67 gsm per 100), but low in sugar, (0.7 and 5gsm per 100gsm) and high fruit content type muesili which has 62gsm per 100 carbs but a scary 26gsm per 100 sugar.

Which is the healthiest the high carb S. Wheat and Weetabix or the high fruit muesli.

My normal breakfast, which I enjoy, is one Shred Wheat biscuit + one Weetabix biscuit + 4 dessert spoons high fruit muesli, + one each dried prune, date and apricot, and a banana, with a very generous helping of semi skinned milk.

To improve my blood sugar levels should I increae the SW and W biscuits and lose the muesli or vice versa? Or make a complete change to say porridge plus dried fruit and a banana?

Is dried fruit really suitable? I was horrified to read that, per 100 gsm Carbs/sugars, prunes are 34, dates 68 and apricots 36gsm.

I'm diabetes 2, Metformin 500mg twice a day, 75 years old, my blood sugar levels are usually within the recommended levels of 4 - 7 pre meal and 7 - 9 for meal plus 2 hours tests. I'm keen to increase my breakfast intake (and hopefully weight) but want to do this without increasing my blood sugar levels.

Thanks for your interest

 

[Northerner]

What's best to avoid, high carb or high sugar foods?

I'm trying to keep weight on and I've slowly increased my breakfast intake to help with this.

I'm confused with cereals such as Shredded Wheat and Weetabix type biscuit which are quite high in carbs, (68 and 67 gsm per 100), but low in sugar, (0.7 and 5gsm per 100gsm) and high fruit content type muesili which has 62gsm per 100 carbs but a scary 26gsm per 100 sugar.

Which is the healthiest the high carb S. Wheat and Weetabix or the high fruit muesli.

My normal breakfast, which I enjoy, is one Shred Wheat biscuit + one Weetabix biscuit + 4 dessert spoons high fruit muesli, + one each dried prune, date and apricot, and a banana, with a very generous helping of semi skinned milk.

To improve my blood sugar levels should I increae the SW and W biscuits and lose the muesli or vice versa? Or make a complete change to say porridge plus dried fruit and a banana?

Is dried fruit really suitable? I was horrified to read that, per 100 gsm Carbs/sugars, prunes are 34, dates 68 and apricots 36gsm.

I'm diabetes 2, Metformin 500mg twice a day, 75 years old, my blood sugar levels are usually within the recommended levels of 4 - 7 pre meal and 7 - 9 for meal plus 2 hours tests. I'm keen to increase my breakfast intake (and hopefully weight) but want to do this without increasing my blood sugar levels.

Thanks for your interest

Hi Bob, sugar is just a form of carbohydrate (like rice, pasta, bread, potatoes etc.). Carbohydrates will all convert to glucose and raise blood sugar levels, but some will raise them more slowly than others. Sugar will raise levels quickly, and can therefore cause a 'spike' where blood sugar levels rise very sharply, so it is best avoided or kept to a minimum. As you surmise, dried fruit is VERY high in sugar - it is fruit without the water content to dilute the sugar content! 😱

People can have varying tolerances for things, so it's difficult to say what would be best for you - what you can tolerate well might be disastrous for another person. So, the best way to find out what works well for you is to test your levels with your meter before eating, then testing again an hour or two hours after eating, as you have been doing. If your levels are more than about 3 mmol/l higher in the 'after' test you will know that what you just ate wasn't ideal and might need reviewing. The likelihood is that food in which the greater part of the carbohydrate is sugar will raise levels higher and more quickly.

Hope this helps! 🙂

 

[pottersusan]

I have a problem keeping weight on too.

For breakfast I have scrambled egg, bacon and tomato with a slice of Burgen toasted. This is high calorie and low carb. Burgen bread seems to be the best bread for most of us. Its really seedy so its slow release carbs.

As you are learning not all carbs are created equal. Slow release ones like lentils, seedy bread are best.

 

[bilbie]

I would add a protein and fat, instead of increasing the carb. now that the warning of dietary cholesterol has been removed, eggs are ok again, or some fish, high meat sausage etc.

 

[trophywench]

Yup - FAT!! LOL

I'd be high as a kite after that brekkie and I doubt very much whether I could even get that much down me. Sure enough though, after that and perhaps a snack in the evening it would last me fine all day! (and always would have done in adulthood, before and after diabetes)

Except it wouldn't since that would mean a virtually protein and fat-free day except for the snack and a body can't operate on that except on the very odd occasion.

Are you actually getting enough protein fat and other things to get the other essential elements into you, during the rest of the day? You know, one egg replaces roughly 2 Weetabix or S wheat and milk, as a brekkie - and also keeps you feeling fuller for longer, cos that's what protein does. So if you had a slice of bacon and one egg, followed by a dollop of (full fat) yogurt with a bit of fruit mixed in - you'd get shedloads of calories and a flatter BG profile in the mornings - no 'spike' or sudden demands going to your pancreas.