Is there a definitive list of food and the carb contents

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Time_4_change

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Type 2
Hi, I was recently told I have type 2 diabetes, so I have put myself on a low carb diet - no bread/rice/potato/pasta - and been monitoring my glucose level daily (more for a motivation as I understand these home kits are not too accurate compared to the NHS tests). Im loosing weight and my monthly average glucose level seems to be going down slowly.
The problem is that I will soon have to travel a lot for work, and be away from home for days sometimes, so trying to stick to a low carb meal plan is going to be a challenge..
So what I am looking for is just a list of foods showing how many grams of something has so many carbs which match(ish) what is shown on the food packaging to give me a chance of sticking to my regime.
And after surfing the net and finding lots of helpful(?) information like how many carbs in a cup of broccoli (which in my mind depends on how big the cup is and how finely the broccoli has been chopped up). And then there are ounces, net carbs, cooked and uncooked..... which is why I am looking for a definitive simple list.
So Id be grateful if anyone can help me.
Thanks in advance.
 
Time_4_change said:
And after surfing the net and finding lots of helpful(?) information like how many carbs in a cup of broccoli (which in my mind depends on how big the cup is and how finely the broccoli has been chopped up).
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There's a book (and an app (subscription involved)) Carbs and Cals. It's really pretty good, and worth a look to see if it's suitable.

Personally I mostly use Google, being careful to check that I'm seeing the relevant numbers (raw vs cooked, etc.). I find google usually shows metric values.
 
Part of the issue is that the carbs can very between manufacturers, how food is prepared so the best you can do is looking at the information given on packets, tins, on line, etc. There are apps people use, Nutracheck being one, Carbs and Cals is another.
Bigger chain restaurants will usually have the carbs on their website under nutritional information.
It is the total carbs you need to look at if in the UK, the US includes the fiber so that needs to be deducted.
I wouldn't worry too much about foods which are low carb and concentrate on the high carb foods and try to avoid meals with those in them.
Try to do swaps for chips or potatoes and ask for salad or coleslaw.
 
Access any supermarket grocery site, search for the item and then scroll down to see the nutrition information exactly as it appears on the packaging.
 
For a little portable guide a forum I used to belong to always recommeded the Collins Calorie Counter book (which also shows carbs) with everything specified per 100g. There was a carb version, but as you say, that included things like “an apple” without specifying how big the apple was!

As @Bruce Stephens says ‘Carbs and Cals’ which is available as a book or also as a smartphone app is also very well regarded here and has the benefit of estimating carbs visually by multiple photographed portions on plates. There is also a “World Foods” version which may be useful depending on where you are travelling to?
 
Most of the time I just look on the back of packets / tins for the carb content and put it in the trolley if it's OK or back on the shelf if it's high carb.

Veggies (not potatoes), I don't worry about because they are low carb as is salad.

If I need information on the fly, then Google is usually my go-to option. Just type in 'carbs in xxxxx per 100g' and it has the information instantly. Anything less that 10g per 100g is considered low carb. A quick Google shows broccoli to be 6g per 100g so low carb.

Lord knows my way is certainly not an exact science but it's working so far 🙂
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
As @Bruce Stephens says ‘Carbs and Cals’ which is available as a book or also as a smartphone app is also very well regarded here and has the benefit of estimating carbs visually by multiple photographed portions on plates. There is also a “World Foods” version which may be useful depending on where you are travelling to?
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I would personally change that from "very well regarded" to "more useful than not having anything if you don't have an internet connection and some scales" - I find the pictures of arbitrary sized plates (does it say somewhere how large the ones in the photos are?) almost impossible to use to gauge quantities of food, especially when I then compare what their plates look like vs weight of the food I'm going to eat.

You will become much better at estimating carb quantities for typical food types & combos as you do it more (is this part of the DAFNE courses too, so someone told me?) I find that actually weighing stuff out at home, looking at it in person and calculating how many carbs there are using nutrition info + weight is much more helpful for my being able to know in the future how many carbs will be in an arbitrary meal. Also take the time to weigh out and calculate total carbs in things you've made at home from multiple ingredients - it's surprising how the extras that go into e.g. a sauce add up quite quickly.

I do sometimes use the app to double check the data on the side of packets and for things that don't have nutrition info listed (few and far between now) or if I don't have scales handy. YMMV.
 
If you are going to the lengths of weighing everything at home as @SimonP suggests, isn't it worth going the extra step for someone with type 2 and measuring the impact it is having on your blood sugars.
Choosing a diet based on one thing (amount of carbs) without knowing what your body can tolerate is not ideal because not all carbs are equal. Some people with type 2 find they can tolerate porridge because it has a low GI (takes longer to digest so their body is able to produce the required insulin over the longer period) whereas other find it sends their levels into orbit.
The usual advice is to test as you start eating and test again 2 hours later. If your second reading is no more than 2 mmol/l (some say 3 mmol/l) higher, your body can tolerate the meal. If the difference is greater, your body struggles with it and should probably be avoided in the future.
If you are repeating similar meals, this feels easier to keep track of than weighing the extra flour added to a sauce to thicken it (which we have to do when we need to known the number of carbs in order to calculate our insulin dose).
 
Many thanks for all you replies - lots of good advise which I'll use.
Looking forward to my next blood test results next week to see how things are going after 8 weeks free from chips, bread etc.
 
Time_4_change said:
Many thanks for all you replies - lots of good advise which I'll use.
Looking forward to my next blood test results next week to see how things are going after 8 weeks free from chips, bread etc.
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After 2 months you may not see the full impact so don't get discouraged if it is not as much as you expect, downwards by any amount is a positive. The test will still reflect a few weeks before you made the dietary changes.
 
@SimonP the Carbs and Cals book tells you at the very top of the page what size plate or bowl they are using. Don’t know about the app, I stopped using that when it went to subscription (although we rarely need it any more)
 
Sally71 said:
@SimonP the Carbs and Cals book tells you at the very top of the page what size plate or bowl they are using. Don’t know about the app, I stopped using that when it went to subscription (although we rarely need it any more)
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Thanks. As far as I can tell the app doesn't say anything anywhere.
 
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