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Lower carbs but higher BG

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SB2015

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
The good bit
So I have tested my basal, my carb ratio and my sensitivity. All nice and ready planned changes to diet. I have been working on lowering carbs, and aim for less than 30 am and pm with 10 at lunch. Things were looking good and the spikes reducing

The confusion
Tonight I had a 10g carb meal as it was DIY because I was in on my own. BUT. My BG went from 6.7 to 12.6!! I am very confused. Okay I can hear you saying but what did you eat, so here it is:

50g tuna (spring water version), 0g CHO
40 g carrot and 30g courgette spiralised (common lunch salad and no great impact). 0g CHO
70g sweet corn (I think this might be the problem) 6.5 g CHO
40g Greek yogurt 3.5g CHO
Spoonful mayonnaise negligible

How did that make things go bananas?
 
Sweet corn could very well be the culprit! It is medium glycemic load so is known to raise BG's.

One for the 'avoid ' list perhaps.

Also 50gms carrots is 4.6 carbs not sure on the courgette but there will be some for sure.
 
Thanks Lynn. I am still laden with the old advice to ignore veg, so I need to learn which bits effect me and which don't. Lots of work to do, but I was also surprised by the size of the spike.
 
Oh and 1tblsp of Mayo is 1 carb!😉
 
The protein in the tuna will also break down into glucose as well (although not extensively or quickly).

As a T1, I definitely need to bolus for protein. Unfortunately, I don't really have a formal system for doing so.
 
The protein in the tuna will also break down into glucose as well (although not extensively or quickly).

As a T1, I definitely need to bolus for protein. Unfortunately, I don't really have a formal system for doing so.

If the protein also raises BG, how does reducing carbs reduce the spikes. I am certainly not having much evidence of it. The only thing I am finding is that the after meal walk reduces my spikes, and the lower carbs is reducing the waistline. Lots to learn.
 
Protein should raise your blood sugar by less than the carbohydrate and at a slower rate. I would say the spike you report is quite large and wouldn't normally be expected from protein alone. But remember, you're not supposed to be swapping out carbs for protein, you're supposed to be swapping them out for fat. If all you're doing is eating what you would regularly eat but simply leaving out the starch, you won't get the results you're looking for.

I would double-check the sweetcorn - by my reckoning, 70g of sweetcorn is nearer 14g of carbs so if that's the case, then this might be just a very simple case of under-bolusing.

The other thing that isn't immediately clear is how soon after eating you did your follow-up test and if you eliminated the possibility of contamination.
 
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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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