Rice

[Rodgearing]

New to diabetes so will some one tell me why rice is not good for you if you have diabetes?
The rice we have in our cupboard, white basmati, says on the packet that it contains no sugar

 

[Vonny]

Afraid rice is a carb despite being "no sugar". When checking packets, always look at the total carb content, not just the sugar content.
I personally don't eat rice, except a few teaspoons on the rare occasions we get a takeout. But you could have a small portion, it really depends how low carb you want your diet to be.

 

[Leadinglights]

Remember it is the Total carbohydrate of products you need to look at not just the 'sugar'. sugar as in sucrose is just a carbohydrate.
An example I tend to quote is the cereal puffed wheat which is labelled as low sugar and indeed it is having only 0.6g per 100g but a whopping 69.6 g carbohydrate per 100g.
Don't be fooled by things that say sugar free, low sugar, or no added sugar as they can still be very high carbohydrate.

 

[rebrascora]

It sounds like what you haven't grasped is that your body breaks down all carbohydrates (starches and sugars) into glucose which is the simplest form of sugar and that is absorbed into our blood stream and as diabetics this will raise our Blood Glucose (BG) levels. Sugar is quite quickly broken down into glucose but the starchy carbs from bread and pasta and rice and potatoes and anything made from flour or grains (even porridge) will also be broken down into Glucose and elevate our BG levels to some extent. So when you are looking at food, it is the total carbohydrate content that you need to take an interest in, not just the sugars. So for instance some people are tempted into buying sugar free biscuits thinking they are OK, but the biscuits are still made from flour, even if a sweetener has been used instead of sugar, so they will still cause BG levels to rise and need to be restricted.

 

[Nayshiftin]

Not everyone will react to carbohydrates or sugars at the same rate and it depends too on the amount of insulin you are given. In the hospital, my cousin was given the same meal as the rest and told to continue with that but she has a high dose of insulin twice daily which I feel balances it out. If she doesn't eat carbs she ends up taking a box of jelly babies. Where as I am on no medication and if I really watch what I eat I can keep my sugar lower than 10mmols. I have not gone down too low too many times but I can easily go high if I eat too many carbohydrates. Long term it's a balance as I am sure insulin is not good in high doses but I believe long-term high blood sugars are worse. Hypos are never good so it really will depend on what you were set up to have. Ie medication or diet.

 

[Leadinglights]

Not everyone will react to carbohydrates or sugars at the same rate and it depends too on the amount of insulin you are given. In the hospital, my cousin was given the same meal as the rest and told to continue with that but she has a high dose of insulin twice daily which I feel balances it out. If she doesn't eat carbs she ends up taking a box of jelly babies. Where as I am on no medication and if I really watch what I eat I can keep my sugar lower than 10mmols. I have not gone down too low too many times but I can easily go high if I eat too many carbohydrates. Long term it's a balance as I am sure insulin is not good in high doses but I believe long-term high blood sugars are worse. Hypos are never good so it really will depend on what you were set up to have. Ie medication or diet.

It is sometimes difficult to pick out what might apply to YOU as an individual, as contributors here have such varied medication regimes and it doesn't necessarily follow that Type 1 do this, Type 2 do that so it can be easy to be misled as it is sometimes not easy to see from a particular post what approach folk have.

 

[grovesy]

In the 20 years I have had Diabetes I have to review and change what works for me , many times.

 

[Nayshiftin]

In the 20 years I have had Diabetes I have to review and change what works for me , many times.

I think that is very true for me too. What was good one time as you say may not have the same outcome. It’s like the weather though we get hotter colder do less do more and our bodies change as we age. I also change what I like to eat too. I think that as we learn from others it’s good to ring their changes as they say change is as good as a rest. I think most of us try to make life as best we can but sometimes that is just not possible.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

New to diabetes so will some one tell me why rice is not good for you if you have diabetes?
The rice we have in our cupboard, white basmati, says on the packet that it contains no sugar

There aren’t any hard and fast rules @Rodgearing - It will depend entirely on how your body responds to it. Starchy carbs are just longer chains of glucose molecules, and depending on your metabolism, gut biome and genetics you might break those chains down very speedily, or over a longer period - also depending on what you are eating it with.

As others have said, it’s more helpful to look at the total carbohydrate content of foods than just the ‘of which sugars’, because diabetes isn’t an intolerance to sucrose specifically, it’s more of a difficulty with dealing with blood glucose, and savoury starchy carbs can overwhelm the system just as much as sweet things can. It’s all a matter of choosing the sources of carbs that suit your metabolism best, and the portion sizes that you can cope well with.

Many members here opt to check their own BG levels immediately before eating and again 2hrs after the first bite, and tweak the source of carbs and/or portion size if the meal-rise at 2hrs is more than 2-3mmol/L higher than the premeal reading.

It’s a very simple and dispassionate method of evaluating your menu and steering it towards choices your body finds easier.

If you like the sound of that method you can ask your GP or practice nurse for a meter and supply of strips (and explain how you intend to use them). Unfortunately though, some surgeries are reluctant to offer meters unless people are at risk of hypos. If you need to self fund your BG meter, the most affordable meters members here have found are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Tee2 - which both have test strips at around £8 for 50. Some other brands can be £25 for a pot!

 

[Prickles]

Having read the information in this website I only then really became aware of the effect of carbs so have tried to manage these. However on my recent first time eating out at an Asian restaurant was asked by the staff three times if I was sure I didn't want rice with my stir fry chicken and veg .... I also asked for the sauce on the side....suspect I was the talk of the kitchen !

 

[Brianson]

It’s complicated. I think would be really useful to also label food with the GI and GL values. GI the Glycemic Index, as I understand it tells you how quickly it will be broken down into sugar two hours after eating it. Glucose having a score of 100. Potatoes are quite high too, however I also read that mashed potatoes aren’t quite as bad as they have a much lower Glycemic Load which takes the size of the portion into account. I’m just learning this stuff too. I think the Mediterranean diet is the way to go, I’ve had some very tasty meals. I recommend the ‘8 week blood sugar diet’ cook book for ideas. I’m not doing the 800 calories a day but using the recipes. It helps to learn what’s good and keeps the levels down. I’ve dropped from 13 mmols to a weekly average of 6.7 (taking 500mg Metformin twice a day too).

 

[Leadinglights]

It’s complicated. I think would be really useful to also label food with the GI and GL values. GI the Glycemic Index, as I understand it tells you how quickly it will be broken down into sugar two hours after eating it. Glucose having a score of 100. Potatoes are quite high too, however I also read that mashed potatoes aren’t quite as bad as they have a much lower Glycemic Load which takes the size of the portion into account. I’m just learning this stuff too. I think the Mediterranean diet is the way to go, I’ve had some very tasty meals. I recommend the ‘8 week blood sugar diet’ cook book for ideas. I’m not doing the 800 calories a day but using the recipes. It helps to learn what’s good and keeps the levels down. I’ve dropped from 13 mmols to a weekly average of 6.7 (taking 500mg Metformin twice a day too).

You are right it is complicated as the way an individual breaks down foods depends on their personal gut microbiome and metabolism although the GI can give a guidance it will not be an absolute value which would work for everybody.

 

[rebrascora]

It’s complicated. I think would be really useful to also label food with the GI and GL values. GI the Glycemic Index, as I understand it tells you how quickly it will be broken down into sugar two hours after eating it. Glucose having a score of 100. Potatoes are quite high too, however I also read that mashed potatoes aren’t quite as bad as they have a much lower Glycemic Load which takes the size of the portion into account. I’m just learning this stuff too. I think the Mediterranean diet is the way to go, I’ve had some very tasty meals. I recommend the ‘8 week blood sugar diet’ cook book for ideas. I’m not doing the 800 calories a day but using the recipes. It helps to learn what’s good and keeps the levels down. I’ve dropped from 13 mmols to a weekly average of 6.7 (taking 500mg Metformin twice a day too).

Actually Low GI doesn't work for everyone. It very much depends on your individual gut biome and metabolism. My body can break down porridge made from best quality jumbo oats and water and the glucose from it can start arriving at my finger tip in under 20 mins from it going in my mouth.... which I find totally amazing but also pretty frustrating when it takes my insulin 45 mins to get going.
Not sure of your source of info re mashed potato but generally it is faster than other forms of potato unless you mix in a lot of butter or cream (the fat can slow down the release of glucose from carbs) but generally breaking the structure of any food containing carbs down by mashing or pureeing (smoothies etc) will make it quicker and easier for the body to convert it into glucose so usually speeds up the release of glucose into the blood stream.

 

[trophywench]

GI is one of those things that it can be useful to know for some people - however by no means for all persons with diabetes, eg me. I only need to really know the carb value to calculate what dose of insulin to inject to counterract it.

 

[Brianson]

Thanks. I’m learning all the time. I thought this was a really interesting read. Not sure which thread I got this from now. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1163546496236752896.html
I guess it is different for everyone. I think I’ll try testing myself after different foods. I don’t have a cgm device but will be interesting to see what my body does with different foods. Since being diagnosed I’ve just been good by blindly avoiding everything. I think I’ll start with some chips next week.

 

[Leadinglights]

Thanks. I’m learning all the time. I thought this was a really interesting read. Not sure which thread I got this from now. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1163546496236752896.html
I guess it is different for everyone. I think I’ll try testing myself after different foods. I don’t have a cgm device but will be interesting to see what my body does with different foods. Since being diagnosed I’ve just been good by blindly avoiding everything. I think I’ll start with some chips next week.

I assume you have a blood glucose monitor to do finger prick testing so to conduct your test then test before you eat and after 2 hours is the normal and an increase of no more than 2-3mmol/l is OK or once levels have come down then no more than 8-8.5mmol/l 2 hours post meal.
Good luck with the chips but of course it might depend on what you eat them with.
I was* quite surprised to read in Anthony Worrell Thompson book the GI diet that you can reduce the GI of a food by adding fat and protein.

 

[Brianson]

I assume you have a blood glucose monitor to do finger prick testing so to conduct your test then test before you eat and after 2 hours is the normal and an increase of no more than 2-3mmol/l is OK or once levels have come down then no more than 8-8.5mmol/l 2 hours post meal.
Good luck with the chips but of course it might depend on what you eat them with.
I was* quite surprised to read in Anthony Worrell Thompson book the GI diet that you can reduce the GI of a food by adding fat and protein.

Thanks. That’s very helpful. So glad I joined this forum.

 

[grovesy]

GI no longer works for me.

 

[Nayshiftin]

GI no longer works for me.

So if you used the Gi diet what do you follow instead? I’m asking for myself . Just want to try other things.

 

[grovesy]

I have tried a few things since then!