Living with diabetes
Monday, November 28, 2005
Carb Counting
I am by no means an expert on carb counting, but I can give my advice and let you in on what I've learned.
First, if you are not counting carbs to help control your diabetes I highly suggest talking to you doctor or endocrinologist about this. Carb counting regimans will be different for everyone, as we are individuals and what one person's body does another's may do the opposite. So you will need to monitor, observe, and work with your doctor/endo at tweaking your units of insulin per carbs ratio.
My personal ratios are as follows: Breakfast and lunch I give one unit of humalog (fast acting insulin) for every 8 carbs per serving. That also looks like this 8:1. Depending on possible activities or exercise at night my dinner ratio may be one unit of insulin for every 10 carbs per serving.
Now say that I have a microwavable meal for lunch (these kind of boxed items are much easier to figure carbs since it is on the box for you) with 48 carbs in it and the box is only one serving. What that means is that for this meal I will give 6 units of my Humalog insulin. If I happen to add anything else to the meal such as cottage cheese or something, then I need to figure in the carbs to that. The same applies for my 10:1 ratio. If the meal was 48 carbs, then typically I would do 4 units of humalog insulin, but in my case since I know how my body handles this stuff I would round it up to 50 and give 5 units of Humalog.
It is easier to have the carbs per serving count in front of you on a box, but what if you are eating out or eating at someone else's home? In that case, after you've been monitoring how your body does on the regimen you are on, you should be able to estimate carbs for most items. There are nutrition info books out there that include carb info, but I was more confused by these books than when I didn't use them. If you want to try it and find it works for you then by all means use the nutrition books.
When I eat out I've figured that my insulin intake will be 10 units or higher. This is because there are favorite foods and meals I have that I eat pretty much no matter where I am. Unless I choose a low carb option, which some places do offer now, then the serving size is normally larger than what you would fix at home and there are typically more carbs in the meal. Even though I've learned to estimate what a roll or some pasta dishes may be according to carbs in them, I am not always correct, which means I give too little insulin. I love potatoes and pasta, but these do carry a lot of carbs no matter how they are fixed. I seem to forget this about potatoes, but am learning more and more that french fries, baked potatoes, or any other kind of potato packs a punch on my bloodsugar.
It will take time in learning to estimate, and even then you may not get it right or get it right all of the time, but for me after eating biscuits and pasta dishes at home out of the can and box where the carb info was provided it seemed to be a little easier.
I found that most biscuits I had were 20-24 carbs per biscuit. After keeping this in my mind I was able to look at a bun or subway bread to determine how many of those biscuits could equal them. Typically, most breads you find at any restaurant are 24 carbs or more....I think I've found they are typically more. If you have a means of finding out for sure what the carb count is, then do that, don't take my word for it.
Again, the estimating and learning how much you may need to give when eating out depends on you and your body. It comes with monitoring, observation, and practice.
First, if you are not counting carbs to help control your diabetes I highly suggest talking to you doctor or endocrinologist about this. Carb counting regimans will be different for everyone, as we are individuals and what one person's body does another's may do the opposite. So you will need to monitor, observe, and work with your doctor/endo at tweaking your units of insulin per carbs ratio.
My personal ratios are as follows: Breakfast and lunch I give one unit of humalog (fast acting insulin) for every 8 carbs per serving. That also looks like this 8:1. Depending on possible activities or exercise at night my dinner ratio may be one unit of insulin for every 10 carbs per serving.
Now say that I have a microwavable meal for lunch (these kind of boxed items are much easier to figure carbs since it is on the box for you) with 48 carbs in it and the box is only one serving. What that means is that for this meal I will give 6 units of my Humalog insulin. If I happen to add anything else to the meal such as cottage cheese or something, then I need to figure in the carbs to that. The same applies for my 10:1 ratio. If the meal was 48 carbs, then typically I would do 4 units of humalog insulin, but in my case since I know how my body handles this stuff I would round it up to 50 and give 5 units of Humalog.
It is easier to have the carbs per serving count in front of you on a box, but what if you are eating out or eating at someone else's home? In that case, after you've been monitoring how your body does on the regimen you are on, you should be able to estimate carbs for most items. There are nutrition info books out there that include carb info, but I was more confused by these books than when I didn't use them. If you want to try it and find it works for you then by all means use the nutrition books.
When I eat out I've figured that my insulin intake will be 10 units or higher. This is because there are favorite foods and meals I have that I eat pretty much no matter where I am. Unless I choose a low carb option, which some places do offer now, then the serving size is normally larger than what you would fix at home and there are typically more carbs in the meal. Even though I've learned to estimate what a roll or some pasta dishes may be according to carbs in them, I am not always correct, which means I give too little insulin. I love potatoes and pasta, but these do carry a lot of carbs no matter how they are fixed. I seem to forget this about potatoes, but am learning more and more that french fries, baked potatoes, or any other kind of potato packs a punch on my bloodsugar.
It will take time in learning to estimate, and even then you may not get it right or get it right all of the time, but for me after eating biscuits and pasta dishes at home out of the can and box where the carb info was provided it seemed to be a little easier.
I found that most biscuits I had were 20-24 carbs per biscuit. After keeping this in my mind I was able to look at a bun or subway bread to determine how many of those biscuits could equal them. Typically, most breads you find at any restaurant are 24 carbs or more....I think I've found they are typically more. If you have a means of finding out for sure what the carb count is, then do that, don't take my word for it.
Again, the estimating and learning how much you may need to give when eating out depends on you and your body. It comes with monitoring, observation, and practice.
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