GI or Fat content?

[Ref]

Just wondering how much others take into account the GI of the food you are eating? When I was on MDI I more or less ignored it apart from meals I knew had a lot of fat.

Because of my delayed digestion I have to use Dual waves for anything other than a snack and I'm struggling to get the ratios and duration right despite keeping copious records. I'm now wondering if it is the fat content or the GI which is the main factor I need to consider.

Any thoughts?

 

[trophywench]

Anything in Pumping Insulin or TLAP, Ref? Have you got either or do you need one of us to look?

 

[Radders]

Just wondering how much others take into account the GI of the food you are eating? When I was on MDI I more or less ignored it apart from meals I knew had a lot of fat.

Because of my delayed digestion I have to use Dual waves for anything other than a snack and I'm struggling to get the ratios and right despite keeping copious records. I'm now wondering if it is the fat content or the GI which is the main factor I need to consider.

Any thoughts?

I thought the two would be correlated (albeit negatively?)

For me, GI is not that useful on its own because
A) for me GI doesn't tell me very accurately how rapidly a food will affect my blood sugar. For example porridge causes me a massive spike.
B) it doesn't take into account how much of the food you eat. E.g. A boiled sweet is very high GI but will have a negligible effect on my levels because it's tiny whereas a large salad requires a significant dose of insulin.
Fibre is meant to slow down the impact of carbs but for me I don't see that. Fat, on the other hand, really does. If I eat my banana with cream, peanut butter or full fat yoghurt it has a much less drastic effect on my levels than on its own.

 

[Ref]

Anything in Pumping Insulin or TLAP, Ref? Have you got either or do you need one of us to look?

Got them both and looked through them but couldn't find anything particularly enlightening. Neither have any specific advice on delayed digestion or getting the ratio and duration of dual waves right. Both mention GI but mainly refer to bolus timing and discussion of fat content mainly relates to pizza, takeaway fish and chips etc.

On the odd occasion I get it right it is so satisfying!

 

[Ref]

I thought the two would be correlated (albeit negatively?)

For me, GI is not that useful on its own because
A) for me GI doesn't tell me very accurately how rapidly a food will affect my blood sugar. For example porridge causes me a massive spike.
B) it doesn't take into account how much of the food you eat. E.g. A boiled sweet is very high GI but will have a negligible effect on my levels because it's tiny whereas a large salad requires a significant dose of insulin.
Fibre is meant to slow down the impact of carbs but for me I don't see that. Fat, on the other hand, really does. If I eat my banana with cream, peanut butter or full fat yoghurt it has a much less drastic effect on my levels than on its own.

I think they are related but I have the additional complication of having to take creon. I just want to avoid having to count fat content as well as carb content.

 

[Radders]

I think they are related but I have the additional complication of having to take creon. I just want to avoid having to count fat content as well as carb content.

Sorry, I don't know about creon but I know the others on here will be able to help. I assume that means you need to limit fats?

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I thought the two would be correlated (albeit negatively?)

For me, GI is not that useful on its own because
A) for me GI doesn't tell me very accurately how rapidly a food will affect my blood sugar. For example porridge causes me a massive spike.
B) it doesn't take into account how much of the food you eat. E.g. A boiled sweet is very high GI but will have a negligible effect on my levels because it's tiny whereas a large salad requires a significant dose of insulin.
Fibre is meant to slow down the impact of carbs but for me I don't see that. Fat, on the other hand, really does. If I eat my banana with cream, peanut butter or full fat yoghurt it has a much less drastic effect on my levels than on its own.

I think this is pretty much where I got to with GI. The 'official' tables are OK as a general guide/heads-up for somethinf I have never eaten, but to be honest the only GI/Fat information I can truly trust is the trial-and-error experience clocked up by keeping notes over the years, and even THAT can vary massively with the ebb and flow of diabetes variables over time. I guess in a perfect world all those variables would have a predictable porportionate effect on the outcome... carb load x%, dose accuracy y% correction factor z%... basal profile correctness a%, meal GI b%, site absorption efficiency c%... recent activity level... stress... blah... blah...

But for me the relative importance of different parts of the equation can change completely, and even a meal that you KNOW you have eaten with reasonable success for years, cooked and made in the same way and with an established 'this works' dosing strategy can throw a curve ball.

That's not to say that putting the effort in and doing your best to reduce the number and severity of the variables is not worth the effort. IMO that graft is the only way to improve your BG outcomes... It's just that diabetes simply does not play fair. And that however much work you put in, you can never guarantee that x will happen after you do y.

So yes I do bear GI in mind, and frequently use split doses and dual waves. But rather than going by the 'proper' tables, I have a note on my phone of the meals/foods that have caused BG chaos since I started pumping, and the various splits and durations I have tried and then had to rethink... and then rethink again. So if option a works for a while, great. If it stops working, OK I fiddle until option b seems better. Then if that stops working I can try option a again to see if that helps. Or start over and try something else.

Keeps us on our toes eh!

 

[Ref]

Sorry, I don't know about creon but I know the others on here will be able to help. I assume that means you need to limit fats?

It does - but strangely I can cope with fat much better since my pancreatectomy than before it.

Thanks for your thoughts @everydayupsanddowns - and yes, it certainly does keep us on our toes. I often wonder what used to occupy my thoughts before BGs, basals, insulin, carbs, GI etc!

I'm currently working on the theory that it is the GI I need to pay more attention to. High GI needs more up front - 60/40 or 70/30 , low GI / fatty needs less up front 40/60 or 30 /70 and everything else 50/50. Seems to be working most of the time - so far.