Oat milk - do you count the carbs?

[Bruce Stephens]

Tesco and sainsbo are great. M&S especially the bakery, are very poor at giving any sort of carb count...i did find a spreadsheet online with their stuff but lots us missing

Such things are inevitably going to be imprecise because the sizes vary. I'm a bit surprised they don't offer per 100g figures, but maybe they vary more than I'm imagining.

 

[PhoebeC]

Brilliant, , but watch out for the magpies, they love the gold and silver tops!

There’s a gang on them round here so good shout, when we first moved in and the cat went out it was a bit like Hitchcocks the birds, I had to go out and scare them off. He is a wimpy boy anyway

 

[PhoebeC]

Tesco and sainsbo are great. M&S especially the bakery, are very poor at giving any sort of carb count...i did find a spreadsheet online with their stuff but lots us missing

I find M&S labels well out, especially their ready food or food on the go, I don’t know how they count the carbs but it’s always so out for me and I generally have 10% less than their label suggests.

 

[Dianusia]

Looking at unsweetened almond milk, sorry don't have oat milk at hand, the carbs are a lot lower, so a typical 250ml glass is 1.5g and which sugars 1.3g, so you even if you have 500ml for your cereal and another 500ml for teas and coffees (that's a lot) you are no more than 6g of carbs and 5.2g of sugar.

I found this the best almond milk.

 

[Newbie777]

I found this the best almond milk.

Yes brilliant, just two ingedinats, I do wonder what really goes into the cheap almond milk I buy, can't say it is quality ingredients for that price. How much does this cost and where can you buy it from? Thanks

 

[Newbie777]

There’s a gang on them round here so good shout, when we first moved in and the cat went out it was a bit like Hitchcocks the birds, I had to go out and scare them off. He is a wimpy boy anyway

Can't beat the good old days, I live in Oldham, so remember the milkman, the rag and bone man, not sure about cleaning the donkey step bit though. Lol

 

[Dianusia]

Yes brilliant, just two ingedinats, I do wonder what really goes into the cheap almond milk I buy, can't say it is quality ingredients for that price. How much does this cost and where can you buy it from? Thanks

It’s on offer at Waitrose £2.00. It’s in the long life section.

 

[Newbie777]

Brill thanks, that's convenient as I get my love life bread from there.

 

[Tom1982]

I find M&S labels well out, especially their ready food or food on the go, I don’t know how they count the carbs but it’s always so out for me and I generally have 10% less than their label suggests.

I thought it was just us that had noticed that! They are bloody terrible ain’t they!! I’d love to put it on them about there carb values but I’d end up looking like a crack pot.

 

[PhoebeC]

I thought it was just us that had noticed that! They are bloody terrible ain’t they!! I’d love to put it on them about there carb values but I’d end up looking like a crack pot.

Yeah. There was a sandwich once just normal wholemeal, 2 slices, the packet said 70G+ carbs, but however I counted the ingredients carbs could only be 40-5ish at most. I like their food but the labels mean nothing.

Maybe it is worth someone looking at this more, I am not sure who has time, shout up if you do ha!

 

[Witchylin]

I discovered Alpro No sugar oat milk. 100ml = 5.8g carbs and 0g sugar 169kj. It's OK in coffee and tea but not so nice as a drink on its own.
Unfortunately I also discovered Alpro smooth creamy oat milk. 100 ml = 6.5g carbs and 2.6g sugar185 kj. It is so nice but I won't be buying it again after reading this thread. I could have drunk a 250ml glass at anytime. Certainly not altogether good for my diet or my diabetes.
i was counting calories rather than carbs because I am trying to lose weight, so felt that as a breakfast drink it wasn't too bad. Boy have I got a lot to learn.

 

[Inka]

Yeah. There was a sandwich once just normal wholemeal, 2 slices, the packet said 70G+ carbs, but however I counted the ingredients carbs could only be 40-5ish at most. I like their food but the labels mean nothing.

Maybe it is worth someone looking at this more, I am not sure who has time, shout up if you do ha!

I ignore their sandwich carbs now and just look at the bread type and slice thickness to make an educated guess.

I discovered Alpro No sugar oat milk. 100ml = 5.8g carbs and 0g sugar 169kj. It's OK in coffee and tea but not so nice as a drink on its own.
Unfortunately I also discovered Alpro smooth creamy oat milk. 100 ml = 6.5g carbs and 2.6g sugar185 kj. It is so nice but I won't be buying it again after reading this thread. I could have drunk a 250ml glass at anytime. Certainly not altogether good for my diet or my diabetes.
i was counting calories rather than carbs because I am trying to lose weight, so felt that as a breakfast drink it wasn't too bad. Boy have I got a lot to learn.

@Witchylin This thread seems to have broadened into a more general plant milk discussion whereas the OP was specifically asking about carb counting because they are on insulin. Carb counting for people on insulin is a different thing to totting up or limiting carbs. It just means we add up the carbs in order to calculate the right insulin dose. It doesn’t mean limiting them.

It’s always useful to look at the person’s diabetes type and what meds they’re on if you’re looking to compare or apply what they say to yourself. For me, as a Type 1, I choose whatever milk I like and just carb count it. It might have 1g of carbs, it might have 10g carbs - I don’t care as I only care about the carbs because I need to know them to calculate my insulin.

You might already know all that, but I thought I’d say anyway for the casual reader 🙂

 

[Witchylin]

I'm sorry I shouldn't have posted in this thread. I am still new to the site and I thought it would help.

 

[Inka]

I'm sorry I shouldn't have posted in this thread. I am still new to the site and I thought it would help.

Your post was fine and the creamy milk sounds nice 🙂 Plenty of Type 2s have posted here and it’s made an interesting read, including your contribution as someone with pre-diabetes 🙂 I was just clarifying that carb counting and totting up/limiting carbs are different things and each person should read with that in mind so they can make choices that suit them as an individual.

 

[Tom1982]

Yeah. There was a sandwich once just normal wholemeal, 2 slices, the packet said 70G+ carbs, but however I counted the ingredients carbs could only be 40-5ish at most. I like their food but the labels mean nothing.

Maybe it is worth someone looking at this more, I am not sure who has time, shout up if you do ha!

Yep! And if someone does look into it and it turns out to be some kind of Mr Bates versus the post office saga, I want at least a foot note in the credits

 

[Robin]

Even more-so when it’s an individually wrapped portion of a thing with the per 100g info, and sometimes even a traffic light gubbins, but literally nowhere on the packet is the weight of it. Absolutely infuriating!

That infuriates me too, but I once shot myself in the foot. Our local garden centre used to sell delicious wrapped brownies, which had the 'per 100g' but not the actual weight of the brownie, so I emailed them to point this out, and explained why. The upshot was…they stopped selling them.

 

[Newbie777]

Just been to Lidle and seen this milk, very low carbs!

 

[Ttelmah]

Hi,
Found this brilliant. The issue of 'standards' on packaging is huge. Also on things like calories, where there is the scientific unit (the calorie), but you then have the 'food calorie', which is actually a kilocalorie. On carbohydrates, you separately have the issue of GI. So on the oatmilk does it actually have a low GI (like oats themselves), or is this significantly changed by the processes of converting to a 'milk'?. I think the latter does apply on the versions I have tried. It is quite a high carbohydrate material and needs to be treated as such in one's diet. On insulin, the problem you may well find is the huge difference in absorption speeds for many foods to that of the insulin. So with a plate of Shredded Wheat and oat milk, you will get two peaks. One from the milk only perhaps 50 minutes after the meal and a second perhaps another hour afterwards from the cereal.

 

[janedent]

So I had my usual cereal (Tesco's fruit and fiber) its 26.4g carb, for me that's 2.6 units plus my pump suggested a corrective amount of 1.05 (BG 8.3). Usually this would be fine, I waited about 20ish mins until I ate, again usually this is enough time and I wouldn't get a breakfast spike. An hour later, and I have just had my high alarm at BG 14.7 and going up.

Only difference is I had oat milk, and I didn't even think about the carbs, and I have no idea how much I had, and I added more so likely over 200ml (14g carbs according to carbs & cals). Annoying as I really enjoyed this and now I have a high sugar headache.

Is this my error? Would you carb count?
I don't normally for normal milk, unless in oats. Urgh!

Oat milk tastes nicer than soya milk (I think), but if I have oat milk in my morning latte I go well over 10. If I use soya I don't. I've just looked at the labels - the unsweetened oat milk in my fridge is 7% carbs, the unsweetened soya 0.7% carbs. So oat milk has 10 times the carbs of soya..

 

[Inka]

Do you count the carbs in the oat milk when you calculate your bolus @janedent ? There’s nothing wrong with carbs if you’re Type 1 🙂 I remember you were uncertain about carb counting. For oat milk, dairy milk and other carby milks, it’s usually best to count the carbs and adjust your bolus if you’re having a reasonable amount. If you’re just having a dash in your coffee or tea, don’t bother to count them.

And just to add, a brief spike like you’ve described is fine - especially as you’re recently diagnosed and in the honeymoon period.