Carb Education

Following the instructions of my medical professional, I have been tracking carbs for every meal and snack, even my drinks.  In addition, I’m to become an expert on carbohydrates.  To this end I have been reading every label and only cooking with recipes that have the nutrition information for the dish.  Also, I have done some initial research on carbs.

While I’m not yet an expert, and may never be, I’m learning more every day.  Some of the things I’ve learned will be shared in this blog.  For instance, I’ve learned that there are secret carbs, hidden carbs, that carbs will probably be confusing and frustrating for the rest of my life, that there’s more information out there than I could possibly ever completely learn, and that you can reduce the carbs in your food to help your body.

Having come to terms with all of the above, I am prepared to share the first round of carb information that I’ve gathered thus far. 

Secret, Hidden Carbs:

Just from reading labels on prepared foods, I have found carbs in places that I don’t think anyone would have ever guessed to find them.  For instance, did you know that peanut butter, milk, balsamic vinegar and tomato pasta sauce have carbs?  I knew that lactose in dairy products was a sugar but never realized that this would translate into carbs in those foods.  Why peanut butter has carbs I will never know, but they are there nonetheless.  I am equally unsure of why balsamic vinegar has carbs, but the label is supposed to be factual.  As for tomato pasta sauce, I’ve been using jarred sauce.  Will probably switch to making from scratch. 

These unexpected carbs have shown me the importance of paying attention to food labels.  Even your vegetables can have carbs, like green beans and broccoli, so make sure you read EVERYTHING!!!

Confusing, Frustrating Carbs:

As anyone who has ever been on a diet or had necessary dietary restrictions placed on them for any reason, having to pay attention to everything you eat can be frustrating and overwhelming.  I’ve never been able to diet for very long during my lifetime so far because I hate to constantly think about what I eat.  I prefer to just enjoy the food I do eat and let it be a simple pleasure. 

Well, my fellow diabetics, if you’ve been thinking and acting like me you will probably go through, or have gone through, this initial frustration.  Or, it may still be with you.  For instance, I have a very good friend who has been a Type 1 diabetic since she was a child.  She told me that she’s been watching what she eats and exercising every day.  She has gone through countless changes to her routine and eating habits in order to control her blood sugar.  What this tells me is that I have only reached the very tip of the iceberg in my life called ‘diabetes.’ 

My friend has already been a great inspiration to me and a source of reassurance that I need right now.  If you don’t have someone like this in your life, someone with experience with this disease, try to find someone you are close to who can be support for your efforts.  I believe that we need someone other than our medical professionals to help us with the day to day efforts of maintaining healthy blood sugars and being healthy overall. 

As for the carbs per serving, I found several sources that told me a serving of carbs is 15 grams.  (Quick & Easy Diabetic Menus, Betty Wedman, M.S., R.D, American Diabetes Association website)  Well, if that’s the case, how do you equate that to the fact that every food has different carbs per serving and various serving sizes?  I asked my Dad about this, he’s a diabetic too.  He told me that I shouldn’t try to get that specific with it or I will be too confused.  He’s right.  I am confused.  I have no idea how to calculate the 15 gram carb serving to the varied carbs and serving sizes of the foods I’ve been eating.  So, I’ve decided that this is not something I can tackle and will be asking about it when I meet my medical professional next month for my A1C test.

Abundant Information:

As I’ve been learning about diabetes and carbs I’ve uncovered some interesting facts that I never would have known.  One thing that I’ve been concerned about is knowing the amount of carbs to eat at each meal and how many carbs should be in a serving of different foods.  I’ve actually been quite concerned about this since I’m to count my carbs and I know how important carbs are to my blood sugar.  I found out that there’s no exact number for the amount of carbs for a meal.  The American Diabetes Association (ADA) website gives a range of 45-60 carbs per meal. 

The best I can do on this point is to count the carbs I’m eating, try to stay in the range outlined by the ADA and wait to see how my A1C is next month.  Once I’m checking my blood sugar periodically throughout the day I’ll have a better idea of how the carbs I eat affect my sugars.  (This is according to both my Dad and my friend)

The amount of carbs consumed each day is important, but so is the type of carb eaten.  Some are simple and some are complex.  Complex carbs are those that break down into sugars more slowly and simple carbs break down more quickly.  Granulated white sugar and white flour are two examples of simple carbs.  Whole grains and whole fruit are examples of complex carbs.  Vegetables are considered complex carbs as well.  The fiber in our foods helps to break down sugars more slowly because fiber takes longer to digest than simple sugar or white bread or pasta. 

Conclusion:

This post is getting pretty long, so I’ll finish now.  The most important thing to take away from this posting is that you should never stop learning about carbs or anything related to your diabetes.  I believe that if I ever become complacent about my health again the consequences could be much more extreme.  So, never stop doing everything you can to keep your sugars under control.