Carbohydrate Counting and Diabetic Diet

What is Carbohydrate Counting, how does one count carbohydrates, what is a carbohydrate counting list, or what about a carbohydrate counting chart-how does that work? How does carbohydrate counting relate to diet? All these questions and more will be answered in the following article.

Carbohydrate or Carb counting is a way of calculating the amount of carbohydrates consumed in the food you eat or as Diabetes UK put it, a method of matching your insulin requirements with the amount of carbohydrate you eat and drink…An effective way for a diabetic to manage his/her diabetes which when properly done will lead to better blood sugar control, greater flexibility and freedom of lifestyle.

How does it work? Well first things first, you set a limit to the amount of carbohydrate you eat for a meal. This together with a balanced regime of exercise or physical activity and medicinewhere it is needed will then enable you meet your blood sugar target.

The amount of carbohydrates a diabetic should aim for is an individual thing because different people will require different amounts of energy depending on how active they are or how severe their diabetes is. Being active some people can eat more carbohydrates whilst others being less so will need less. Generally speaking though, according to diabetes org. a good place to start is at about 45-60 grams of carbohydrates at a meal. Whether you need more or less as time goes by will then depend on how you manage your diabetes. As such this diabetes management method will require that the individual not only have an understanding of his body’s energy needs but also an understanding of carbohydrates, how it works, the foods involved, how to monitor his/her blood sugar level and how to adjust his/her insulin when required. To this end, it is vital therefore that one consults his/her doctor or healthcare team to enable these suggest the right daily carbohydrate amount. Once known, you can then know how to balance your carbohydrates within the food group (protein, fats, carbohydrate, fiber foods) of your standard diet. In addition to that, you should take note to choose the portion size to match. In the UK, there are structured carbohydrate counting courses that will teach you how to count your carbohydrate intake. The same type of programs are available in some other countries also.

Having said this though, as far as things go, you can normally find out how many carbohydrates a food contains by reading the label. Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs) is one such type of labeling. (insert picture of such type here-can get from that Carbohydrate Counting PDF document). This labeling system provides information on the amount of fat, sugar, saturated fat and salt in addition to the number of calories in each serving or piece of the product. This percentage reflects the proportion of the total amount of the nutrient that is recommended for an average adult per day. Although these figures are based on GDAs for women, it is a rough guide for people concerned about the carbohydrate content of foods they buy.

Where labeling is not available however as in the case of a piece of fruit for example, you will have to estimate how much carbohydrate the food contains. For instance there is about 15 grams of carbohydrate in 1 small piece of fresh fruit (4 oz.). Diabetes.org ascribes this same amount to the different foods in the list below

  1/2 cup of canned or frozen fruit

  1 slice of bread (1 oz.) or 1 (6 inch) tortilla

  1/2 cup of oatmeal

  1/3 cup of pasta or rice

  4-6 crackers

  1/2 English muffin or hamburger bun

  1/2 cup of black beans or starchy vegetable

  1/4 of a large baked potato (3 oz.)

  2/3 cup of plain fat-free yogurt or sweetened with sugar substitutes

  2 small cookies

  2 inch square brownie or cake without frosting

  1/2 cup ice cream or sherbet

  1 Tbsp. syrup, jam, jelly, sugar or honey

  2 Tbsp. light syrup

  6 chicken nuggets

  1/2 cup of casserole

  1 cup of soup

  1/4 serving of a medium French fry

Diabetes UK gives some further carb counting tips in their Eating well Type 1 handbook.

•  Double check whether the value you are using is per 100g. If it is per portion or serving, what is the portion or serving size?

•  The amount of carbohydrate you should count is the ‘Total carbohydrate’ rather than the ‘of which sugars’

• Check whether the amount of carbohydrate is for the raw or cooked product, especially with foods containing pasta or rice

• Consider what ingredients make up the product you are looking at. If it is a food that contains a lot of very slowly digest carbohydrates, such as beans or tomatoes you would not count this carbohydrate. But the carbohydrate value will include them

• Check the ingredients list to get a sense of how much of these foods are in the product.

In conclusion, it can be said that Carbohydrate counting constitutes a vital tool in a diabetic’s strategy to regulate his blood sugar. A major benefit of this strategy especially once the adherent has been able to master his carbohydrate needs, is that it enables him depend less on drugs as a means to regulate his blood sugar.

Accordingly, when done right Carbohydrate counting not only plays a vital role in a diabetics overall strategy to better manage his condition but also ensures him a better quality of life.