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"Counting Carbs & Calories" book - beware!

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Nuttyal

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Just thought I would pass some experiences of using the Counting Carbs & Calories book.
Although this is an excellent publication, and I use it almost every day, it does have its limitations.
If anyone else also uses this book please be wary.... DO NOT take the carb information presented as gospel. Doing so can cause hypos or send your BG level sky high!
I have made the mistake of using the details in the book and adjusted my insulin accordingly with results that have caused me to over-calculate the carbs which then over-calculated the required insulin dose, and this in turn gave me a severe hypo. I have also under-calculated as well and this has sent my BG's sky high.
My advice... always check the food packaging before using the book for carb content... this is much safer!
 
Well - you wouldn't use it if the foodstuff came in a packet with nutritional info !! It's only when it hasn't you'd need to.
 
I use carbs and cals as a guide when cooking or when eating in a restaurant, otherwise I go by what it says on the packaging on the rare occasions I have a ready meal. It seems to work OK for me, unless I'm having a hypo day and then all hell's put for noon.
 
We've found some of the bread carb counts to be a bit lower than they should be, but on the whole it's a very helpful resource for us. My son gets confused by the relative size of the photographed foods (needs to look at and understand the dimensions of the plate it's been photographed on), for example the other day he was at a friend's and ate two white rolls, he only bolused 20g carb each - I discovered this later when his BG was 19!! If he'd used a little common sense he'd have realised that the rolls must have been more like 40g each because they were (a) white, and (b) bigger than the 27g granary rolls he has in his lunchbox every day!

So I think the book's a great tool if you use it in conjunction with knowledge you already have. Also you need to make decisions about GI of the food and whether you're going to need an extended bolus (for a pump) or a split dose (if on injections) - getting that element wrong can easily lead to hypers or hypos.
 
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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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