pasta?

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bev

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Last night my son wanted pasta for dinner. On the packet it said 70g of carbs per 100g of uncooked pasta. It weighed 200g so i didnt feel happy giving him so much carbs in one go - i checked the list we got from the hospital which stated : cooked pasta is 18grams per 100g!(also says this in the little carb weve got) There was a huge difference between the two 140grams or 36grams so i made him something else to eat instead. Do you think the packet details were wrong or the hospital? I know that carbs can alter a bit but surely thats too much ? Bev
 
I think that probably you've got quite different carb values as one is measuring cooked and the other uncooked weight.

I would go with the packet, as the hospital list will be a general guide for 'pasta' of all varieties, the packet info is specific to that product that you were going to cook.
 
I use the booklet from hospital for my pasta.
15g dry pasta 1 CP
45g boiled pasta 1 CP

Its been working for me so far. 200g of dry pasta is alot, i would do that for me and my partner and he eats huge portions. Glad to know not just me havin huge food bills!!
 
Yes your right it is a lot! I wanted him to have 100g but he said he was so hungry! Well he is a growing boy of 10 - he isnt fat at all, in fact he still hasnt returned to his normal weight since being diagnosed when he lost so much he looked like a skeleton! But i think sometimes its ok as he is probably having a growth spurt- and i would rather he ate pasta and be full than want a cake or something after.
Your way of working out the carbs for pasta sounds a lot easier - so i will give it a go. Thanks. Bev
 
bev said:
Yes your right it is a lot! I wanted him to have 100g but he said he was so hungry! Well he is a growing boy of 10 - he isnt fat at all, in fact he still hasnt returned to his normal weight since being diagnosed when he lost so much he looked like a skeleton! But i think sometimes its ok as he is probably having a growth spurt- and i would rather he ate pasta and be full than want a cake or something after.
Your way of working out the carbs for pasta sounds a lot easier - so i will give it a go. Thanks. Bev
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That just made me think Bev, growth hormone is another factor that can elevate blood sugars and moght therefore have an impact on insulin requirements. It obviously doesn't affect me as I stopped growing sometime in the last century, but if it hasn't been mentioned by your care time it might be worth asking them if you need to consider it.

Not really anything to do with pasta! I would say though that 200gm of dry pasta would be the kind of meal I'd eat after running a marathon! Having said that, when I was around his age I grew about 1ft in height very quickly and could easily eat four school dinners at a time - I always remained as skinny as a rake!
 
Thanks northerner,
I never thought about growth hormones. It also may explain why he had the high numbers the other morning when i wondered if he had had a hypo during the night. I dont think he realised that dried pasta swells so much when cooked - even though i tried to tell him! I think sometimes he is trying to take 'control' of things like his food etc because i think he feels that he is being controlled by his parents and school and his DN and is just trying to assert himself in some little way. I have rang his dietician today to see if we can get onto a carb counting course. Bev
 
bev said:
Last night my son wanted pasta for dinner. On the packet it said 70g of carbs per 100g of uncooked pasta. It weighed 200g so i didnt feel happy giving him so much carbs in one go - i checked the list we got from the hospital which stated : cooked pasta is 18grams per 100g!(also says this in the little carb weve got) There was a huge difference between the two 140grams or 36grams so i made him something else to eat instead. Do you think the packet details were wrong or the hospital? I know that carbs can alter a bit but surely thats too much ? Bev
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I'd usually go for what it says on the packet as that's specific to the product, about 70g carbs per 100g pasta is about what I would have expected from my experience.
I always go on uncooked weight as find it more reliable but I'm lucky in that I'm usually just cooking for me, if you're cooking for several people it's not as easy!
 
best advice bev is to go on pasta packets instructions and also dont allow your son to have too much in one sitting as i find its better to fill up on veg instead of carbs (im a big eater to)
 
We always go with what it says on the pack as we all have different dietry needs in our household.
 
Bev go by what the pkt says.
Once you have cooked the 100gms of dry pasta weigh it and then see how many carbs it comes to using the 18gm/100 guide line you were given.

As I tried to explain to you before overloading your son with that amount of carbs esp starchy carbs is doing him more harm than good. Being diabetic his body can not cope with all that starchy carb in one go. Hence his wild swings and highs in blood sugars.
He is far better being filled up on meat and veg. Cake does not and will not hurt him either. All you need to do is moderate what sort of carbs he eats.

As for Alex taking charge, you must let him learn. Learn together as you develope your skills. It's Alex's diabetes he has to live with it.
If you don't allow him to do this he will resent you no end and rebel. Having a rebelling diabetic teenager is 1 big misery for you and him. It is also life threatening.
Alex can eat the same foods as everyone else in the family.
All my mum did for me as a child was puddings/sweets were made with artificial sweetner, thus I had a bigger portion as not so many carbs.
 
thats good advice sue. best to make sure what the weight is and then to accordingly give correct dose of insulin.
 
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