How Many Carbs Should A Diabetic Eat?
Figuring out how many carbs to eat when you have diabetes can seem confusing. Meal plans created by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) provide about 45% of calories from carbs. This includes 45–60 grams per meal and 10–25 grams per snack, totaling about 135–230 grams of carbs per day. However, a growing number of experts believe people with diabetes should be eating far fewer carbs than this. In fact, many recommend fewer carbs per day than what the ADA allows per meal. This article takes a look at the research supporting low-carb diets for diabetics and provides guidance for determining optimal carb intake. Glucose, or blood sugar, is the main source of fuel for your body's cells. In people with diabetes, the body's ability to process and use blood sugar is impaired. Although there are several types of diabetes, the two most common forms are type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Type 1 Diabetes In type 1 diabetes, the pancreas is unable to produce insulin, a hormone that allows sugar from the bloodstream to enter the body's cells. Instead, insulin must be injected to ensure that sugar enters cells. Type 1 diabetes develops because of an autoimmune process in which the body attacks its own insulin-producing cells, which are called beta cells. This disease is usually diagnosed in children, but it can start at any age, even in late adulthood (1). Type 2 Diabetes Type 2 diabetes is more common, accounting for about 90% of people with diabetes. Like type 1 diabetes, it can develop in both adults and children. However, it isn't as common in children and typically occurs in people who are overweight or obese. In this form of the disease, either the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or the body's cells are resistant to insulin's effects. Therefore, too much sugar stays Continue reading >>
How To Count Carbs In 10 Common Foods
What are carbohydrates? Carbohydrates are sugar-based molecules found in many foods, from cookies to cantaloupes. If you have diabetes, planning your carb intake—and sticking to the plan—is critical to keep blood sugar on an even keel and to cut your risk of diabetes-related problems like heart disease and stroke. Whether or not you have diabetes, you should aim to get about half your calories from complex carbohydrates (which are high in fiber), 20-25% from protein, and no more than 30% from fat, says Lalita Kaul, PhD, RD, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. How to read a food label The Nutrition Facts label lists the total amount of carbohydrates per serving, including carbs from fiber, sugar, and sugar alcohols. (If you're counting carbs in your diet, be aware that 15 grams of carbohydrates count as one serving.) Sugar alcohols are often used in sugar-free foods, although they still deliver calories and carbs. Sugar alcohols and fiber don't affect blood sugar as much as other carbs, because they're not completely absorbed. If food contains sugar alcohol or 5 or more grams of fiber, you can subtract half of the grams of these ingredients from the number of total carbs. (See more details at the American Diabetes Association and University of California, San Francisco.) How many carbs per day? If you eat 2,000 calories a day, you should consume about 250 grams of complex carbohydrates per day. A good starting place for people with diabetes is to have roughly 45 to 60 grams of carbs per meal and 15 to 30 grams for snacks. While snacks are key for people with diabetes who use insulin or pills that increase insulin production (otherwise, they run the risk of low blood sugar), they aren’t essential for non-insulin users. The goal for anyone with diab Continue reading >>
45 Top Carb-counting Tips
Tried-and-true tactics for fine-tuning your techniques and attitudes Carb counting sounds simple. After all, anyone who's passed third grade knows the basics of adding numbers. Unfortunately, counting carbohydrate grams isn't as easy as one, two, three. That's why Diabetes Forecast went to the experts for help. Who better to give tips on carb counting than the people who do it day in and day out? Read on for 45 tried-and-true carb-counting how-tos. "It's really important to work with your doctor," says Tammy Walker, 36, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes four years ago. "If you're newly diagnosed and your doctor doesn't have the experience, have your doctor refer you to a dietitian to teach you how to eat." "It's getting past that initial 'I can't do it,' " says Daniele Hargenrader, 31, who's had type 1 diabetes since she was 8. "The first days and weeks are the hardest. Anyone can change." Count total carbohydrate grams, not just the sugar grams listed on the food label, says David Frank, 41, who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a year ago. A cereal may only have 1 gram of sugar, for instance, but 21 grams of carbohydrate. "You have to look at the carbohydrates because carbohydrates break down into sugar." "The only way you can really know what your blood sugar is doing is if you have a readout. You can't guess what your blood sugar is," says Hargenrader. "And you can't guess how many carbs you need if you don't check your blood sugar." Checking before a meal and about two hours after the first bite shows you how what you eat affects your blood glucose. Intensive insulin users may do this frequently; for others, it can be helpful to do so when starting new medication or making other treatment changes. "They start to remember things," says Gabrielle Brits, whose Continue reading >>
Healthy Carbs For Diabetes
1 / 9 Making the Best Carb Choices for Diabetes "When you say 'carbohydrate,' most people think of sugar," says Meredith Nguyen, RD, a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator at the Methodist Charlton Medical Center Diabetes Self-Management Program in Dallas. But that's only half the story. Carbohydrates are also starches and valuable fiber, which are found in many nutrient-rich foods that should be part of a diabetes diet. Sugar is the basic building block that, depending on how it's organized, creates either starches or fiber. You need about 135 grams of carbohydrates every day, spread fairly evenly throughout your meals. Instead of trying to avoid carbs completely, practice planning your diabetes diet with everything in moderation. "There's nothing you can't have," Nguyen says. "The catch is that you might not like the portion size or frequency." Use this list of healthy carbohydrates to help you stay balanced. Continue reading >>
Carbohydrate Counting & Diabetes
What is carbohydrate counting? Carbohydrate counting, also called carb counting, is a meal planning tool for people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Carbohydrate counting involves keeping track of the amount of carbohydrate in the foods you eat each day. Carbohydrates are one of the main nutrients found in food and drinks. Protein and fat are the other main nutrients. Carbohydrates include sugars, starches, and fiber. Carbohydrate counting can help you control your blood glucose, also called blood sugar, levels because carbohydrates affect your blood glucose more than other nutrients. Healthy carbohydrates, such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, are an important part of a healthy eating plan because they can provide both energy and nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, and fiber. Fiber can help you prevent constipation, lower your cholesterol levels, and control your weight. Unhealthy carbohydrates are often food and drinks with added sugars. Although unhealthy carbohydrates can also provide energy, they have little to no nutrients. More information about which carbohydrates provide nutrients for good health and which carbohydrates do not is provided in the NIDDK health topic, Diabetes Diet and Eating. The amount of carbohydrate in foods is measured in grams. To count grams of carbohydrate in foods you eat, you’ll need to know which foods contain carbohydrates learn to estimate the number of grams of carbohydrate in the foods you eat add up the number of grams of carbohydrate from each food you eat to get your total for the day Your doctor can refer you to a dietitian or diabetes educator who can help you develop a healthy eating plan based on carbohydrate counting. Which foods contain carbohydrates? Foods that contain carbohydrates include grains, such as b Continue reading >>
A Guide To Healthy Low-carb Eating With Diabetes
Diabetes is a chronic disease that has reached epidemic proportions. It currently affects over 400 million people worldwide (1). Although diabetes is a complicated disease, maintaining good blood sugar control can greatly reduce the risk of complications (2, 3). One of the ways to achieve better blood sugar levels is to follow a low-carb diet. This article provides a detailed overview of low-carb diets for managing diabetes. If you have diabetes, your body cannot process carbohydrates effectively. Normally, when you eat carbs, they are broken down into small units of glucose, which end up as blood sugar. When blood sugar levels go up, the pancreas responds by producing the hormone insulin. This hormone allows the blood sugar to enter cells. In healthy people, blood sugar levels remain within a narrow range throughout the day. In diabetes, however, this system doesn't work the way it is supposed to. This is a big problem, because having both too high and too low blood sugar levels can cause severe harm. There are several types of diabetes, but the two most common ones are type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Both of these conditions can be diagnosed at any age. In type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune process destroys the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Diabetics must inject insulin several times a day to ensure that glucose gets into the cells and stays at a healthy level in the bloodstream (4). In type 2 diabetes, the beta cells at first produce enough insulin, but the body's cells are resistant to its action, so blood sugar remains high. To compensate, the pancreas produces more insulin, attempting to bring blood sugar down. Over time, the beta cells lose their ability to produce enough insulin (5). Of the three nutrients -- protein, carbs and fat -- carbs have the grea Continue reading >>
Carbohydrate Counting 101
Carbohydrate Counting 101 There are several different ways people with diabetes can manage their food intake to keep their blood glucose (sugar) within their target range and one such method is 'carbohydrate counting'. Carbohydrate, or carb counting is a method of calculating grams of carbohydrate consumed at meals and snacks. Foods that contain carb have the greatest effect on blood glucose compared to foods that contain protein or fat. Before starting any new treatment or meal plan, you should always consult with your diabetes care professional. What are the benefits of counting carbs? ·Counting carbohydrates is a good solution for many people with diabetes. Once you learn how to count carbs, you’ll find it easier to fit a wide variety of foods into your meal plan, including combination foods such as those in frozen dinners. For example, by checking the grams of total carbohydrate on the Nutrition Facts label on a frozen dinner, you can figure out how to fit the dinner into your carb allotment for a particular meal. Many people find carb counting to be much easier than using a more traditional exchange meal plan. ·Another benefit of counting carbohydrates is that it can bring tighter control over your glucose readings. Being as precise as possible with your carb intake and medication will help you better manage your blood glucose after meals. ·Lastly, if you take mealtime insulin, counting carbohydrates allows you to decide how much carb you want to eat at a meal, rather than having to eat a certain amount of carbohydrates, even if you do not want to. Who can use carbohydrate counting? Carbohydrate counting can be used by anyone with diabetes, not just people taking insulin. This method is also useful for people who are using more intensive methods of adjusting i Continue reading >>
How To Start A Low-carb Diabetes Diet
There is strong evidence that eating fewer carbohydrates helps improve blood sugars. This makes sense intuitively: carbohydrates are broken down by the body into sugar, directly leading to high blood sugars. Eat fewer carbohydrates and you will typically end up with less sugar in your blood. For those with type 2 diabetes or are newly diagnosed with type 1, fewer carbohydrates mean that your body’s natural insulin production will have an easier time processing your blood sugars. If you take insulin, you will have a much easier time taking the appropriate amount of insulin. Before you start a low-carbohydrate diet, talk with your healthcare provider. If you are taking blood sugar-lowering medications, then eating fewer carbohydrates without lowering your medication dosage may cause dangerous low blood sugars. There are studies that show that people with diabetes can achieve success on both low-carbohydrate and high-carbohydrate diets. Those pursuing high-carb diets are often primarily eating more vegetarian or vegan diets that are high in complex carbohydrates and fiber. They are also frequently athletes who burn large amounts of sugar during exercise. We will look at other dietary approaches in a future article. If you would like to dive into the research on low-carb diets for diabetes, please skip to the last section in this article. Also, be sure to read Key Facts About Carbohydrates Everyone with Diabetes Should Know. What Is a Low-Carb Diet? There are many different ways to define and follow a low-carb diet. In this article, we are generally looking at people who wish to eat fewer carbohydrates than they are currently eating. There is no one way to follow a low-carb diet. Generally, people try different amounts of carbohydrates until they reach an amount per day t Continue reading >>
Carb Counting If You Have Diabetes: 8 Key Steps To Know
iStock/4kodiak Because carbohydrates raise blood sugar, managing your carbs is key to managing your diabetes. One way to do it is through carbohydrate counting. Knowing how many carbs you can have throughout the day—and following those guidelines consistently every day—will set your blood sugar levels on an even keel, make you feel more energized, and help you avoid complications of diabetes. Most of the foods you eat—from milk and fruit to breads and grains—contain carbohydrates. There’s no way to avoid them, and you wouldn’t want to. Carbs serve as the main fuel source for your body. The trick is to avoid eating too many carbs in one day or at one sitting. Here are some of the best carbs for diabetics. When you eat carbs, your body breaks the food down into glucose, which enters the bloodstream. That triggers your pancreas to release the hormone insulin, which helps move the glucose into your cells for energy. The more carbohydrates you eat, the more insulin your body needs to help convert the food to energy. When you have diabetes, your pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin or your body can’t use the insulin to move the glucose into the cells. Starved cells make you feel tired and sluggish. And chronically high blood sugar levels boost the production of free radicals and lower your immunity, on top of other negative effects. The key, then, is to gain better control over your blood sugar levels by learning just how many carbohydrates you should eat throughout the day. Here’s what to do. 1. Determine your activity level factor This is based on your gender and your level of physical activity. The more active you are, the more calories—and carbs—you can eat. If you’re a couch potato, rate yourself “sedentary.” If you exercise occasionally, r Continue reading >>
Discover A Low Carb Diabetic Diet And Low Carb Recipes For Diabetics
Many people incorrectly believe that only sugar causes type 2 diabetes. In reality, the insulin resistance associated with type 2 diabetes can be thought of as carbohydrate intolerance; type 2 diabetes is a side effect of consuming too many carbohydrates relative to a person's carbohydrate tolerance, which can cause blood sugar to spike. While diabetics should be mindful of sugar intake, it's possible to manage type 2 diabetes by living a low carb lifestyle. Some people with type 2 diabetes have found low carb living to be so effective that they can manage their condition without medication. A low carb diabetic diet is a great way to manage your weight and blood sugar levels. If you have type 2 diabetes use the following tips to avoid eating more carbohydrates than your body can tolerate, help keep stabilize your blood sugar level and try these delicious low carb recipes for diabetics: Using a carb counter to monitor your carb intake is a great way to stay on track. Non-starchy vegetables such as colorful salad vegetables , broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, and asparagus tend to have lower glycemic indexes, making them perfect to for a low carb diabetic diet. Make sure to get plenty of fiber—high-fiber foods like vegetables are a necessary component to a low carb diabetic diet. Avoid foods with added sugars and high fructose corn syrup. If you have a sweet tooth , try sugar-free desserts Don't skip breakfast! To keep your blood sugar levels steady, make sure to eat regularly throughout the day, starting in the morning. Try to fit in three meals and two snacks each day and pace yourself. Not all fats are bad for you. Healthy low carb recipes for diabetics often feature good natural fats like monounsaturated fats, such as the ones found in olive oil, which can help lower Continue reading >>
Cutting Carbs In A Diabetic Diet: How To Do It Safely | Everyday Health
Contrary to popular belief, you can still eat carbs with diabetes. But reducing your intake of the wrong type of carbs is indeed one way to help you lower your A1C. Although carbohydrates are often demonized in popular diabetes management advice, its a fact that our bodies need carbs to survive. Carbs are one of the three macronutrients the others are protein and fat required by our bodies as a main source of energy, providing the fuel you need to do everything from breathing to walking to running. After eating carbs, your body breaks them down into simple sugars. Then theyre absorbed into your bloodstream and turned into blood sugar, or glucose. With the help of insulin, this glucose makes its way into your bodys cells, where its used for energy. Any leftover glucose is either packed away in your body for later use or converted to fat. All humans, whether with type 2 diabetes or not, are built to crave carbs. We crave foods with salt and sugar, and those are the foods that typically contain carbs, says Sylvia White, RD, CDE , who is in private practice in Memphis, Tennessee. Carbs are in most of America's favorite foods, such as sweets, breads, french fries, pastas, fast food, and pizza. Many restaurants and food companies add sugar and salt to foods to increase cravings so we buy and eat more. Eating carbohydrates helps increase levels of serotonin, one of the hormones associated with happiness, according to a review published in March 2014 in the journalNutrition . Boosts in serotonin levels could improve mood in people who are vulnerable to stress. The preference for carbs tends to start early in life. Even as children, were wired to reach for sweet and salty foods, according to a review published in January 2014 in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition . In t Continue reading >>
Carbohydrates And Diabetes
en espaolLos carbohidratos y la diabetes Keeping your blood sugar levels on track means watching what you eat, plus taking medicines like insulin if you need to. Your doctor may also have mentioned that you should keep track of how many carbohydrates (carbs) you eat. But what exactly are carbohydrates and how do they affect your blood sugar? The foods we eat contain nutrients that provide energy and other things the body needs, and one of these is carbohydrates . The two main forms of carbohydrates are: sugars such as fructose, glucose, and lactose starches, which are found in foods such as starchy vegetables (like potatoes or corn), grains, rice, breads, and cereals The body breaks down or converts most carbohydrates into the sugar glucose . Glucose is absorbed into the bloodstream, and with the help of a hormone called insulin it travels into the cells of the body where it can be used for energy. People with diabetes have problems with insulin that can cause blood sugar levels to rise. For people with type 1 diabetes, the pancreas loses the ability to make insulin. For people with type 2 diabetes, the body can't respond normally to the insulin that is made. Because the body turns carbohydrates into glucose, eating carbohydrates makes blood sugar levels rise. But that doesn't mean you should avoid carbohydrates if you have diabetes. Carbohydrates are a healthy and important part of a nutritious diet. Some carbohydrates have more health benefits than others, though. For example, whole-grain foods and fruits are healthier choices than candy and soda because they provide fiber, vitamins, and other nutrients. Fiber is important because it helps you feel full and keeps your digestive system working properly. In fact, eating lots of fiber can even help to slow the body's ab Continue reading >>
The 10 Best Carbs For Diabetics
Forget what you've been tolda diabetes diagnosis does not mean you've been sentenced to a life without carbs. Well, doughnuts may be off the list, but the right carbs can and should be part of a balanced diet for everyone, explains Anna Taylor, RD, a registered dietitian at Cleveland Clinic. In fact, for those with (type 1 or 2) diabetes, getting enough good-for-you carbs is essential for keeping blood sugar levels under control. The key is to pick carb-containing foods that are also rich in fiber and/or protein, nutrients that actually slow the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates, resulting in a more gradual rise and fall of blood sugar levels. Here are Taylor's top 10 diabetes-friendly carb picks, all of which pack additional nutrients that can help prevent chronic conditions or diabetes complications down the line. Lentils and beans are excellent sources of protein and fiber. The 19 grams of carbs from a half cup serving of cooked lentils come with 9 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber (3 grams per serving is considered a "good" source of fiber; 5 and up is considered an "excellent" source, per FDA guidelines). One thing to note: You get the same benefits from canned beans as you do from cooked, dried beansbut you may want to rinse them first, which can eliminate more than 40% of the sodium.(Diabetes doesn't have to be your fate; Rodale's new book, The Natural Way To Beat Diabetes , shows you exactly what to eat and do to prevent the diseaseand even reverse it.) Black-eyed, split, and classic green peas have protein and fiber benefits similar to those of beans and lentils. One cup of green peas (before cooking) packs 8 grams of protein, 7 grams of fiber, and 21 grams of carbohydrates. Bonus: They have more than 20% of your daily value of vitamin K, manganese Continue reading >>
How Low Is Low Carb?
Many agree: People with diabetes should eat a low-carb diet. Last week we looked at what “carbs” are. But what is meant by “low?” How much carbohydrate should you eat? The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010, (PDF) recommend that healthy people get 50–65% of their calories from carbohydrates. A study posted on the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Web site agrees. For a woman eating a below-average 2,000 calories a day, 50–65% would be 250–325 grams of carb a day. The Dietary Guidelines call for “a balanced diet that includes six one-ounce (28.3 g) servings of grain foods each day.” This would mean 170 grams of carbohydrate from grains alone each day. And the average American diet includes many other carb sources. Most men eat closer to 3,000 calories a day, so their numbers would be higher. Sixty percent of 3,000 would be 1,800 calories, equivalent to 450 grams of carbohydrate each day. Anything less than the recommended range is sometimes considered “low-carb.” Most popular low-carb diets, like Atkins, South Beach, Zone, and Protein Power, are much lower, from 45% of calories down to 5%. Many diabetes experts recommend somewhat lower carb intakes than ADA does. On our site, dietitian Jacquie Craig wrote, “Most people need between 30–75 grams of carbohydrate per meal and 15–30 grams for snacks.” So that sounds like between 120 and 300 grams a day. Dr. Richard Bernstein, an MD with Type 1 diabetes and a long-time advocate of the low-carb approach to diabetes, suggests much lower intakes. He says eat 6 grams of carbs at breakfast, and snacks, 12 grams each at lunch and dinner. So that would be about 40 grams of carbs per day. If 12 grams per meal sounds like a small amount, it is. It’s about the amount in an average slice of bread. An Continue reading >>
10 Diabetes Diet Myths
Have you heard that eating too much sugar causes diabetes? Or maybe someone told you that you have to give up all your favorite foods when you’re on a diabetes diet? Well, those things aren’t true. In fact, there are plenty of myths about dieting and food. Use this guide to separate fact from fiction. MYTH. The truth is that diabetes begins when something disrupts your body's ability to turn the food you eat into energy. MYTH. If you have diabetes, you need to plan your meals, but the general idea is simple. You’ll want to keep your blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible. Choose foods that work along with your activities and any medications you take. Will you need to make adjustments to what you eat? Probably. But your new way of eating may not require as many changes as you think. MYTH. Carbs are the foundation of a healthy diet whether you have diabetes or not. They do affect your blood sugar levels, which is why you’ll need to keep up with how many you eat each day. Some carbs have vitamins, minerals, and fiber. So choose those ones, such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Starchy, sugary carbs are not a great choice because they have less to offer. They’re more like a flash in the pan than fuel your body can rely on. MYTH. Because carbs affect blood sugar levels so quickly, you may be tempted to eat less of them and substitute more protein. But take care to choose your protein carefully. If it comes with too much saturated fat, that’s risky for your heart’s health. Keep an eye on your portion size too. Talk to your dietitian or doctor about how much protein is right for you. MYTH. If you use insulin for your diabetes, you may learn how to adjust the amount and type you take to match the amount of food you eat. But this doesn't mean you Continue reading >>
