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I don't believe it.....

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Newtothis

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I woke up this morning and did my fasting test which was 5. Normal range is between 5 - 5.4. I then had a bowl of scottish oats with 1% fat milk. I tested 1 hour later and my level was 9.2. I'm going to test in another 1 hour time so this is obviusly I need to cut out. Am I right? Amanda 🙂
 
Depending on what it shows at 2 hours, you might want to consider a couple of possible things: you might want to try making it with half milk/half water, and you might want to reduce the portion size. Were they the 'instant' type oats? Usually, the coarser the oats, the slower they impact levels. Some people, however, find that they simply don't tolerate porridge well in the mornings, which is a shame as they do help with fibre and are supposed to help lower cholesterol. 🙂
 
Depending on what it shows at 2 hours, you might want to consider a couple of possible things: you might want to try making it with half milk/half water, and you might want to reduce the portion size. Were they the 'instant' type oats? Usually, the coarser the oats, the slower they impact levels. Some people, however, find that they simply don't tolerate porridge well in the mornings, which is a shame as they do help with fibre and are supposed to help lower cholesterol. 🙂

I had 5 table-spoons of scottish oats (Tesco's own brand) not the simply oats packs. I added the milk and microwaved it. It wasn't milky but quite a thick consistency. I'm shocked to be honest - should I be aiming for less than 8.5 for 1hr post meal. If it was you would you cut it out if it peaks so high after 1hr. Amanda 🙂
 
I'm confused by this too - I know we are aiming for under 8.5 two hours after meals but what is the 1 hour aim?
 
Always use the roughest oats you can buy, the real thing. Adding seeds and chopped nuts to lower the overall G.I. of the meal will lessen the impact. You could also add seasonal berries or even the frozen ones. I make mine with water in the microwave.
Porridge on it's own is a meal using only carbohydrate so there is no balance.
 
I'm confused by this too - I know we are aiming for under 8.5 two hours after meals but what is the 1 hour aim?

In ideal circumstances, your BG levels shouldn't rise by more than 3 mmol/l at any time post meal - but it must be said that this is an ideal so if you are slightly over this then you shouldn't be overly concerned. As time goes on you may find that things improve as either your activity levels improve (which would improve your sensitivity to the insulin you produce), or your medication if you are on it, helps reduce the rise.

Amanda, you are still very recently diagnosed, so there is every chance that your post meal for porridge will improve in the months to come, so don't dismiss it yet. Some people find some exercise after your meal has settled helps improve post-meal levels. I'll leave it to other Type 2s to comment further though - as I am on insulin injections my approach has to be quite different in many ways.
 
My personal opinion would be, if the 2 hour was down to normal range (ie. below 7.5ish), then the 9.2 is just a brief spike that may not be harmful provided it never stays that high for long. But that's just my opinion for me as a type 1. I could just inject more insulin.🙄

But if you could experiment with other concoctions, either porridge or other food, you may find one you like more that doesn't cause the same problem.

It may be a case of searching the forum for previous threads on this subject and taking note of any popular suggestions that seem to be ok with most people.🙂

Rob
 
My personal opinion would be, if the 2 hour was down to normal range (ie. below 7.5ish), then the 9.2 is just a brief spike that may not be harmful provided it never stays that high for long. But that's just my opinion for me as a type 1. I could just inject more insulin.🙄

But if you could experiment with other concoctions, either porridge or other food, you may find one you like more that doesn't cause the same problem.

It may be a case of searching the forum for previous threads on this subject and taking note of any popular suggestions that seem to be ok with most people.🙂

Rob

An update:
I did another check 1 hour later (so this is 2hrs post porridge) and my number is 6.2. So a big drop from 9.2-6.2 in 60mins. Amanda 🙂
 
Always use the roughest oats you can buy, the real thing. Adding seeds and chopped nuts to lower the overall G.I. of the meal will lessen the impact. You could also add seasonal berries or even the frozen ones. I make mine with water in the microwave.
Porridge on it's own is a meal using only carbohydrate so there is no balance.

Thanks Cherrypie - I might try it again with berries and using the water instead of the milk. If it spikes high again I might try weetabix. I found it easier to lose weight with weetabix but thought I'd try oats because its mean to be good for reducing cholestrol. Amanda 🙂
 
An update:
I did another check 1 hour later (so this is 2hrs post porridge) and my number is 6.2. So a big drop from 9.2-6.2 in 60mins. Amanda 🙂

It looks like the 9.2 was the peak (or thereabouts, you can never really know without continuous monitoring), so it's quite possible that cherrypie's suggestions of adding fruit and nuts/seeds would help reduce that peak, slow the rise and fall, and make it a very viable meal for you 🙂 Good news! 🙂
 
Last edited:
It looks like the 9.2 was the peak (or thereabouts, you can never really know without continuous monitoring), so it's quite possible that cherrypie's suggestions of adding fruit and nuts/seeds would help reduce that peak, solw the rise and fall, and make it a very viable meal for you 🙂 Good news! 🙂

Thank you - the 1hr is intesting. I'll try some berries and if it remains the same will try an alternative breakfast and test again. I'll also try half milk/half water - tried oats and water...its a no no for me :(. Thank you. Amanda 🙂
 
You will find Amanda that foods vary in how high they spike you at what time after a meal. I've never understood the 2 hour instruction, why the rigid two hours? If it's supposed to be the peak - well you already know some people peak at 45 mins, some at 75, or 90 mins.

Carry on testing other meals after an hour then 2, or if you want to be certain, have 3 days a week where you test all three meals VERY frequently afterwards. (I mean one meal on each of those days, LOL) If you do that you should be able to establish what time your own particular peak is going to be. If you cut down the fat by using half water, the peak should in theory be even quicker. There is a relatively minute amount of carb in the amount of milk most people have with cereals - it gets higher the more skimmed it is by the way!

Per 8 fluid ounces (an American 'cup') there are apparently

Whole milk - 11.4 grams of carbohydrate
2 % milk - 11.7
1 % milk - 11.6
Fat-free (skim) milk - 11.9

125 ml which is usually what the cereal packets reckon in, is about 4 fl oz so you'd only be adding 5 or 6g of carb to the cereal even if you used skimmed milk. You'd then halve that by watering it to save about 3g of carb. You can save a whole load more g of carb by putting the cereal packet in the bin, frankly ..... LOL

... and substituting with a wholesome protein brekkie, which will fill you up a lot lot longer than any amount a carb .....

If you are the same age as me, remember the old advert for hen-produce? "Go to work on an egg" - darn good advice! Forget the soldiers though and have ham or bacon with that .....
 
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