Confused and Disappointed!

[Charran]

I found some Flax-o-meal cereal and was very happy about that because I was getting bored with breakfast and thought it would be a nice alternative at times. I was even happier when I found that the taste was not all that bad and something I could handle! Imagine my disappointment when after doing my two hour blood test, that my sugars had risen 1.5 points...so I thought that might be a freak occurrance and tried again today, but this time the results showed a 3 point increase! Now with only 2 effective grams of carbs, that should tell you it should stay the same! Has anyone else had this happen to them? Now its gotten me to thinking that maybe ALL EC are doing this to me instead of what they're supposed to be doing! This whole time, I have been subracting the fiber content, but maybe I shouldn't be? Any ideas? Comments? Suggestions?

[Luscious]

I had this same problem with a purchased product. I really wanted to have the cereal though, so in the end I made my own, which may not be quite as fancy, but I like the taste, and can use the mix to make pancakes also. It has no impact on my bgl. I make a large container of the dry mix and seal it in the fridge.

Dry mix is:
3 tablespoons of flaxseed meal (health food store)
3 tablespoons of Whey Protein Isolate (get the low carb ones, Vanilla flavour is good)

For ease of mix in large batch. these weights are 500 grams of flaxseed meal, to 350 grams of WPI.




For Cereal/porridge (about 2.5 grams EC)
Mix 6 tablespoons of dry mix (Australian tablespoons are 20g.. I think yours are 15g.. so used heaped)
2/3 cup of water
microwave for 1-2 mins until moisture absorbed.
stir in a tablespoon of thick cream, or a dollop of butter.. you can flavour with davinci sugar free syrups (I like the rum/butter flavour)

For pancake (i usually have a 1 pancake with low carb syrup and a protein shake for a great breakfast)
Mix 3 tablespoons of dry mix
1 egg
1 tablespoon of water
1 tablespoon of cream
mix, and cook on low heat to cook through.

[p_rosie]

I think this is key knowledge for diabetics, not all products that are meant for LCers work for us. I have heard many ppl say they count all carbs in any product they eat. I think it is just important to use your meter to test these things out, certain items in the ingredient list usually ending in 'ose' can cause a rise no matter what the ecc says. Mostly vegetables work this way for me and certain LC products. Also consider that a cereal that is creamy will hit your system harder than something that will take longer to digest. Same goes with something like cauliflower, lightly steamed is going to affect you differently than pureed.
Have you had a chance to read Dr Berstien's book? You can find it at diabetes-book.com. He talks about this specifically for diabetics and you can browse his book online.
Most of test, test, test each new product, one might be fine that doesn't work for another.

[Charran]

Luscious and Rosie...thank you very much for your responses. I checked the ingredients and there isn't anything there that should really cause such a rise. Its just flax seed meal, soy protein and bran, some sliced almonds and vanilla flavouring. I will try it one more time just to be sure, but darn that makes me mad! I make a muffin that has basically the same ingredients and it does nothing to my blood sugar level. Makes me wonder if there is something else in there...lol. I guess sometimes there is no rhyme or reason to these things.

[Lisa N]

It might not be the specific ingredients, but the amount of fiber per serving. I have a bag of the Flax O Meal and mine has 12 grams of fiber per serving; nearly half the RDA for women. According to Dr. Bernstein, some diabetics will react to a high fiber food with an increase in blood sugar. I'm thinking of an example he gave of a patient of his that ate an entire head of lettuce (not many carbs in that, but lots of fiber) and observed a large increase in her blood sugar; far larger than could be accounted for with the number of carbs in the lettuce.
I'd also like to point out that not all diabetics experience this or have the same food affect them the same way. That's why it's very important to test what effect different foods have on you, especially when it's something new. Unfortunately, this also means that some foods that I may be able to eat, you may not and vice versa. :rolleyes:

I make a muffin that has basically the same ingredients and it does nothing to my blood sugar level.

This may be a clue. What other ingredients are in your muffin that are not in the cereal? Eggs? Oil? Cream? Also, how many grams of fiber are in one muffin as opposed to one serving of the cereal? You may be able to eat the ceral, but only in half serving amounts and pair it with an egg or some cheese and get better blood sugar results. :)

[Charran]

Thanks Lisa....It's the Flax o meal cereal that I have too and yes it has 12 grams of carbs, but only something like 2 or 3 are effective grams of carbs. ( I don't have the bag by me...sry). The muffins I make have almost 6 grams, so you could have something there. Maybe I'm just not a person who can subtract fiber from food. I do test...ALOT...whenever I have something new, that's the first thing I do! I think halving the amount might be a better solution for me!

[Lisa N]

Charran...I'm not sure you have to take this as far as "I can't deduct the fiber from what I eat" so much as you will need to be careful how much fiber you get at one sitting. I think what you're experiencing is something that Dr. Bernstein refers to as "The Chinese restaurant effect". If you have his newest book, the explanation is found on page 95, but I'll give you part of it here:

"Often Chinese restaurant meals contain large amounts of protein or slow acting, low carbohydrate foods such as bean sprouts, bok choy, mushrooms, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts, that can make you feel full.
How can these low carbohydrate foods affect blood sugar so dramatically?
The upper part of the small intestine contains cells that release hormones into the bloodstream when they are stretched, as after a meal. These hormones signal the pancreas to produce some insulin to prevent the blood sugar rise that might otherwise follow the digestion of a meal. Large meals will cause greater stretching of the intestinal cells, which in turn will secrete proportionately larger amounts of these hormones. Since a very small amount of insulin released by the pancreas can cause a large drop in blood sugar, the pancreas simultaneously produces the less potent hormone glucagon to offset the potential excess effect of the insulin. If you're diabetic and deficient in producting insulin, you might not release insulin, but you will still release glucagon, which will cause gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis and thereby raise your blood sugar. Thus, if you eat enough to feel stuffed, your blood sugar can go up by a large amount, even if you eat something undigestible, such as sawdust."

Since you report that you can eat a muffin with similar ingredients that contains 6 grams of fiber and not have a blood sugar increase, but a serving of cereal with the same ingredients containing 12 grams of fiber does cause an increase, your threshold for fiber likely lies somewhere between that, or might even be 6 grams of fiber at one sitting; only testing can tell you that. One experiment you could try to test out this theory is to eat 2 of your 6 gram fiber muffins and see if you get the same effect as you did with the cereal, assuming that the net carb counts are equal. :)

[Sherrielee]

Very interesting Lisa! Thank you for that fiber info.

I have noticed that I cannot eat Flax-o-meal for breakfast, but can for dinner...same with the La Tortillas. Guess I will be eating eggs for breakfast (when I even eat breakfast) for the rest of my life.

I have been having good luck with small amounts of beans (Black soy and others), but I only eat a couple of tablespoons full. And I feel FULL! Ain't life great? ;)

[Lisa N]

I have noticed that I cannot eat Flax-o-meal for breakfast, but can for dinner...same with the La Tortillas.

Sherrielee...I'm curious....have you tried pairing it with a protein and if so, did you get the same increase in blood sugar? Since you can eat it later in the day without a problem, it sounds more like Dawn Phenomenon than a more generalized problem with fiber in your case.
Also....have you tried the Keto hot cereal? Same results if you have?
Just trying to throw out some options other than eggs for breakfast, although I've been known quite often to eat leftovers from dinner for breakfast or even some soup for that matter. While I like eggs, it gets tedious to eat them every day. :p

[Sherrielee]

Hi Lisa! With the La Tortillas, I generally heat a pan...warm the tortilla..add a little mexican cheese and a couple thin slices of turkey or chicken. When the cheese starts to melt, I slide it onto a plate and put in about 1/2 cup loosely packly baby spinach...gobs of fiber there. I NEVER REALIZED I COULD GET TOO MUCH FIBER!

Then, for the flax-o-meal, I add butter, pecans and DaVinci Maple Syrup. But I never added protein with the flax-o-meal. This usually fills me up, so I could only add ...maybe an egg.

I have been having Atkins and EAS pre-made shakes for breakfast and never even see a 10 pt rise....go figure.

I may have DP, but would never know it, as I am now doing 2 miles before breakfast. Oh, and I am so loving it! :lol:

[ramonamom]

I have Flax O'Meal for breakfast every morning, with a bit of cream and some sweet n low in it. I also have some hot tea and a couple of Wasa crackers with regular cream cheese on them (sprinkled with a few sunflower seeds). That is probably a few too many carbs for the official Atkins or Bernstein's diet, but it does not cause my bg to rise at all, except for maybe 5 points or so (on the American scale). This is SOOOO much better than what it used to do - sometimes easily 100 points or more.

I am sorry that this does not work for you - I understand that craving for cereal! I order this stuff by the dozens, from netrition.com. There are a bunch of those free tshirts floating around my house, amongst the kids.

Blessings,
Ramona

[Luscious]

Thank you Lisa... I learned something today. I didn't realise about the fibre quantity. I do remember the head of lettuce example in the book, but must have been very unfocussed reading that section. This explains a lot to me about my bgl reaction to high fibre muffins I make :)