I’m confused about porridge! I really would like to have some for breakfast, just for a change but have been afraid to have it for fear of blood sugar spike. Google searches give contradictory opinions on if it’s ok for diabetics or not so I thought I’d ask you lovely lot for your advice/experience. I must say I find breakfast quite tricky...struggle with yoghurt and fruit early morning and there are only so many eggs you can eat!! Thanks v much
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Porridge
- Thread starter Chav1977
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pistolpete
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- Type 1
Porridge is carby, a 40g serving is around 25g of carbs. However its a low GI food so releases its carb slower than a processed breakfast cereal. I make mine the night before with almond milk and chia seeds, you can warm in the microwave or eat cold from the fridge. Its a good source of fibre too, stick to a small portion and give it a try.
Leadinglights
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Because everybody is different in how they tolerate foods such as porridge the only way you will know if it is OK for you is by testing it's effect on your blood glucose with a home testing blood glucose monitor, if it results in no more than a 2-3mmol/l increase after 2 hours then it is likely OK.
Thanks so much, that’s great advice. I actually bought some almond milk today, for the first time, so I will give it a go. zthanks again
Thanks for your advice. I am going to try it and see how I get on.
Barrowman
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I can't do without my porridge in the morning, it's my whole purpose of getting out of bed. 
Diagnosed with type 2 sixteen months ago and eaten it every morning since with barely any increase in blood sugar, but that's me, we are all different so it's worth giving it a try. I'm up to 80 grams (3oz) now and I take mine with skimmed milk, crushed walnuts, sultanas and blackberries when they are available. I suggest you start with a lesser amount and then test your blood two hours later to check for any increase in levels......Enjoy.
Diagnosed with type 2 sixteen months ago and eaten it every morning since with barely any increase in blood sugar, but that's me, we are all different so it's worth giving it a try. I'm up to 80 grams (3oz) now and I take mine with skimmed milk, crushed walnuts, sultanas and blackberries when they are available. I suggest you start with a lesser amount and then test your blood two hours later to check for any increase in levels......Enjoy.
Mumpie_olgran
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For me porridge does send me quite high unless I smother it in full fat yoghurt
Good luck and keep us posted
Good luck and keep us posted
Leadinglights
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Crossing your fingers won't tell you if your blood glucose behaves. Only testing with a monitor will tell you, not just what you cant tolerate but what you can so a very useful tool.
Lucyr
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The only person who can say what foods are okay for your blood sugar is you. No one on this forum can know what will happen in your body. Eat it and test to find out.
I was told by the GP most definitely not to have porridge. But I chose to ignore her, mainly because I couldn't work out what else to have for breakfast given time constraints. I have a small amount which is about 16 carbs and add some crushed almonds. When I began this feast I tested my blood sugar regularly and found there was no problem. Testing is/was key to all of my meals when I received diagnosis.
SB2015
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Good plan @Sharron1 Your GP doesn’t know how your body will react.
It is worth looking at portion sizes @Chav1977 but as others have said you need to find what porridge does to your BG. I used to eat it but for me when I got a sensor I realised just how spiky it is for me, so now avoid it, and use Wuinoa flakes instead, which (for me) are less spikey. We are all different.
It is worth looking at portion sizes @Chav1977 but as others have said you need to find what porridge does to your BG. I used to eat it but for me when I got a sensor I realised just how spiky it is for me, so now avoid it, and use Wuinoa flakes instead, which (for me) are less spikey. We are all different.
Tbh I was so irratated with her off hand 5 minute reaction. Don't self test, don't eat porridge... when I spoke to the nurse later, she looked so surprised at those instructions . Self testing for me was the only sensible way forward. I keep to small portions and that's that . The proof will be in Hba1c result.
Am going into my first autumn/winter since diagnosis and porridge has always been my goto cold weather breakfast. Am going to be adding more wheatbran and mixing it up with barley, rye flakes and chia long with the oats. I also go for a run after breakfast so am hoping that'll sort out any sort of spike.... we'll see next week!
I eat porridge, I don't particularly like it, but it has reduced my cholesterol and stops the GP bothering me.
I find it generates a fairly fast response, though I wonder if this depends on how long one leaves it for - I tend to microwave mine in the morning then often have to add another splash of milk and heat it up again mid-morning by the time my dawn phenomenon has worn off. I eat rolled whole (big?) oat porridge and actually prefer it a bit crunchier, which may also produce a slower response - I will do some testing.
I find it generates a fairly fast response, though I wonder if this depends on how long one leaves it for - I tend to microwave mine in the morning then often have to add another splash of milk and heat it up again mid-morning by the time my dawn phenomenon has worn off. I eat rolled whole (big?) oat porridge and actually prefer it a bit crunchier, which may also produce a slower response - I will do some testing.
well, as planned, I had my porridge, made with almond milk this morning, with a few berries on the top. It was quite nice BUT on testing my blood sugar 2 hours later, as recommended, I got a reading of 14.9 - yikes!! Freaked me out so I think I can safely say i won’t be having it again any time soon!
rebrascora
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Is it worth experimenting with portion size and padding it out with ground almonds or different types of oats, especially if you used a packet mix (jumbo oats are usually slower than Ready Brek or other quick porridge mixes, or making it with water and then having it with cream instead of milk. The fat in the cream or full fat creamy natural yoghurt can slow the absorption of the glucose down a bit and give your body a chance to deal with it better. Did you test just before you ate it? Just wondering if your base level glucose is running high, so for example if your premeal level was 12, then 14.9 would just be borderline, but if your premeal reading was 8, then obviously you didn't cope too well. Also, we recommend not making any decisions based on just one set of results. You can get a duff test strip or some contamination on your finger or your body that day was responding to something else like lack of sleep or stress or developing illness/virus etc.
Always worth further experimentation if you particularly like a food, to see if you can adjust it to make it work, before you decide to scrap it from your menu altogether.
Thanks so much for your message. My pre-meal test was 8.8 and I did use jumbo oats, measured about 30g ( maybe too much?) rather than the ready to go stuff. I’ll take on board your tip about using full fat creamy yoghurt or fat - I do like the idea of that, sounds quite indulgent.
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Glad you experimented @Chav1977
You never really know. To be honest… because of the complexity of BG management, and the number of non-food influences that can affect things, I’d be half tempted to recheck any food you are particularly keen on to see if the reaction is consistent.
Perhaps a smaller portion next time?
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