Numbers, swaps and confusion

Status
Not open for further replies.
K

kathy s

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I'm trying to get my sugars down, now I have my monitor I can check what's happening. I'm only having toast perhaps twice a week but not anymore, it really caused spikes.
I've just tried a gluten free roll to see what happens. But my morning readings before eating are high anyway 7 or 8's so anything I eat is going to make them dven higher. My 1st diabetic eye test yesterday showed their had been a small bleed in one eye, luckily not bad enough to cause long term damage. I'm wondering If my medication needs increasing?
 
kathy s said:
I'm trying to get my sugars down, now I have my monitor I can check what's happening. I'm only having toast perhaps twice a week but not anymore, it really caused spikes.
I've just tried a gluten free roll to see what happens. But my morning readings before eating are high anyway 7 or 8's so anything I eat is going to make them dven higher. My 1st diabetic eye test yesterday showed their had been a small bleed in one eye, luckily not bad enough to cause long term damage. I'm wondering If my medication needs increasing?
Click to expand...
Morning readings for some people remain stubbornly high even though their other readings can be quite good and can be caused by the liver releasing glucose to give you energy for the day (Foot on the floor syndrome) Try testing before you get out of bed as it may be lower.
Gluten free does not always mean low carb as it will still use flour so check the carbs on the packet.
What are you having with your toast, 1 slice with eggs may be better than toast on it's own.
Often people can get a 'background retinopathy' result from their eye screening but it is normal at the next one. Keeping an eye (no pun intended) on your after meal blood glucose levels to make sure they stay at a good level 4-7mmol/l before meals and fasting/morning and no more than 8-8.5 mmol/l 2 hours post meal is your aim.
What is happening 2 hrs post meal is probably a better guide as to whether medication need increasing or diet tightening up.
 
I don't eat a great deal of bread these days but when I do I have some of my wife's gluten-free seeded, which is 10.4g carb per slice. Most seeded breads are well above that. There's usually a good selection in the Free From aisle at supermarkets, although I've rejected many of them after checking the carbs on the label. We're currently buying Warburtons but have also tried Morrisons own brand, which has a similar amount of carbs. Of the two I prefer the Warburtons one. The only problem I've found with the gluten-free breads that I've tried is that whilst they might make a decent sandwich they don't make great toast.
 
Leadinglights said:
Morning readings for some people remain stubbornly high even though their other readings can be quite good and can be caused by the liver releasing glucose to give you energy for the day (Foot on the floor syndrome) Try testing before you get out of bed as it may be lower.
Gluten free does not always mean low carb as it will still use flour so check the carbs on the packet.
What are you having with your toast, 1 slice with eggs may be better than toast on it's own.
Often people can get a 'background retinopathy' result from their eye screening but it is normal at the next one. Keeping an eye (no pun intended) on your after meal blood glucose levels to make sure they stay at a good level 4-7mmol/l before meals and fasting/morning and no more than 8-8.5 mmol/l 2 hours post meal is your aim.
What is happening 2 hrs post meal is probably a better guide as to whether medication need increasing or diet tightening up.
Click to expand...
 
Just checked ( 2hrs after eating)and blood reading is 8.1 which is exactly whst it was before eating tje gluten free roll!Still high but no higher than it was this morning!
 
kathy s said:
I'm trying to get my sugars down, now I have my monitor I can check what's happening. I'm only having toast perhaps twice a week but not anymore, it really caused spikes.
I've just tried a gluten free roll to see what happens. But my morning readings before eating are high anyway 7 or 8's so anything I eat is going to make them dven higher. My 1st diabetic eye test yesterday showed their had been a small bleed in one eye, luckily not bad enough to cause long term damage. I'm wondering If my medication needs increasing?
Click to expand...
Why on earth would you expect gluten free bread to make any difference to your blood sugars? :confused:
GF foods are very carb laden so best avoid unless you need to eat them for medical reasons.

You need to look at the amount and type of carbohydrate you are eating to help bring your numbers down.
 
Martin.A said:
The only problem I've found with the gluten-free breads that I've tried is that whilst they might make a decent sandwich they don't make great toast.
Click to expand...
The only way gluten free bread is edible is to toast it, or make your own and eat it as soon as it comes out of the bread maker 🙂
 
Pumper_Sue said:
The only way gluten free bread is edible is to toast it, or make your own and eat it as soon as it comes out of the bread maker 🙂
Click to expand...
Maybe depends on the brand? I made a BLT with my wife's gluten-free bread for lunch yesterday and it was fine.
 
Pumper_Sue said:
BecausrxWhy on earth would you expect gluten free bread to make any difference to your blood sugars? :confused:
GF foods are very carb laden so best avoid unless you need to eat them for medical reasons.

You need to look at the amount and type of carbohydrate you are eating to help bring your numbers down.
Click to expand...
Because I'm still learning and grasping at straws, I thought the wheat was the reason for carbohydrates so cutting that out would help. I'm desperately trying to find an alternative for picnics and the odd times when a salad isn't feasible.
 
kathy s said:
Because I'm still learning and grasping at straws, I thought the wheat was the reason for carbohydrates so cutting that out would help. I'm desperately trying to find an alternative for picnics and the odd times when a salad isn't feasible.
Click to expand...
It is not just wheat which is indeed high carb but foods like rice, pasta, potatoes, starchy veg and some fruits. The foods which are low carb are meat, fish, eggs, cheese, nuts, fruit like berries, dairy so if you base meals on those with small portions of the more carby foods that should still give you options.
Crackers like Ryvita or Kargs with cheese, chicken, cooked meats, boiled eggs, coleslaw, crustless quiche would be OK for picnics.
Look for low carb picnic foods on the internet https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/recipes/picnic
 
kathy s said:
Because I'm still learning and grasping at straws, I thought the wheat was the reason for carbohydrates so cutting that out would help. I'm desperately trying to find an alternative for picnics and the odd times when a salad isn't feasible.
Click to expand...
If you Google low carb breads you should pick up sites like Seriously Low Carb ( https://seriouslylowcarb.com/) and Heylo (https://weareheylo.com/) which might be worth checking out, although neither are cheap. There are probably others too. If any members are familiar with their bread items maybe they could comment. I've tried large rolls from Seriously Low Carb and found them to be OK.
 
kathy s said:
Because I'm still learning and grasping at straws, I thought the wheat was the reason for carbohydrates so cutting that out would help. I'm desperately trying to find an alternative for picnics and the odd times when a salad isn't feasible.
Click to expand...
Sorry I was referring to your taste buds not so much the carb content. 🙂 GF bread isn't well known for being tasty.

Have you tried some Ryvita? Or perhaps an open sandwich thus not so many carbs for you.
Things like rice, pasta, flour are very high in carbs so it's best to reduce them as much as pos if type2 .
Perhaps look at the total carb per portion when choosing your food choice.
 
Hi @kathy s there is a lot to get your head round.

As others have said it is any carbs that you eat that will be converted to glucose.
Now that you are monitoring your levels before and after meals, if you kept a log of what you eat alongside this and the amount of carbs in each meal you can start to make adjustments as necessary, either eliminating items that are very spikey for you or just reducing the portions, in the same way as you have already started to do.

Keep the questions coming.
 
Thanks just having a bad day emotionally! I found rectpies for microwave bread and cheese scones and tried them but both were too eggs tasting. I love eggs but not when I'm wanting bread/ toast! Honestly the gf batch msfe a nice sandwich and didn't affect my readings much. Likewise I've noticed 4 small new potatoes don't send me sky high! Unlike brown bread!
 
@kathy s
I share your pain. I have had to get rid of bread completely as it sends me sky high and stays high. The same amount of carbohydrate in porridge and I am fine .... so its about knowing how much carb is in something and how your body reacts to it.

I did a lot of experimenting by finger testing. I tested before a meal and 2 hours afterwards, looking for things that are similar numbers before and after. I started by fixing breakfast- that's the same most days, then lunch and then evening meal. It took a couple of months to get my head around it all.

I eat 130g of carb a day, which is not very low carb but a sensible reduction for me. I use the nutricheck app on my phone to look up the content of everything and keep count for me. It means if I want a treat like a skinny chocolate bar i can .... but I budget for it. Yesterday I had a breadbun as a treat in an otherwise no carb picnic lunch with a very low carb tea to make up for it.

It is hard. It can be confusing but it is doable and will make a difference to your levels.
 
kathy s said:
Just checked ( 2hrs after eating)and blood reading is 8.1 which is exactly whst it was before eating tje gluten free roll!Still high but no higher than it was this morning!
Click to expand...

That’s great @kathy s

To be sure-sure you may want to check that at least once more - but it sounds like you may have found an option for times where a roll or similar is just what the situation suggests for you 🙂
 
kathy s said:
Honestly the gf batch msfe a nice sandwich and didn't affect my readings much.
Click to expand...
Why not stick to eating that one if it was nice and good for bgs?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top