Effective carb counts not working

[Paintbrush]

Hi , I have noticed that the effective carb counts do not work for me , a diabetic type 2 ... everytime I eat something that says 12 carbs, but 9 fiber, effective carbs 3.... my blood sugar goes up high..... I think I will have to start counting all 12 carbs.....when I am only suppose to have 6 for breakfast, anything with 12 carbs will have to out.....

What I want to know... Is this happening to any of you ????

PLEASE TRY AND ANSWER ME SOON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Zuleikaa]

Very common in carbohydrate addicts who are on CAD. We have to count total carbs. Our insulin reacts to all carbs. It doesn't care whether the carbs are regular, fiber, or sugar alcohols. For us, it's the total number that counts.

[Karen]

Is it any particular item, say something that is grain based like a piece of lowcarb bread or artificially sweetened dessert, or is it with everything? If you have a salad that is 12 grams of carbs and 9 grams of fiber, does the same thing happen?

Karen

[doreen T]

Another wrench in the equation ...

It's possible, in fact likely, that the fiber listed on the pkg had already been pre-subtracted from the count, and the 12 carbs listed were in fact the true effective or net carb count.

More and more manufacturers are pre-subtracting the fiber grams before calculating the calorie-energy value of the food. Especially if the food is high in fiber, ie, 4 grams or more per serving.

This is the way of the future, because it's correct and accurate. The trouble is, government hasn't caught up yet and there's no legislation in place requiring all food processors to label food this way. So, some do and some don't. It's really frustrating and confusing.

One way to check is to look at the calories listed for the food. Subtract 9 x fat grams and 4 x protein grams from that number. The remainder is the number of calories provided by digestible or effective carbs. Divide that number by 4 to get how many grams of carbohydrate you need to count.

hth,

Doreen

[wsgts]

You said it went high, how high is high? Like 200 is high or 140 is high? There is a lot of difference here.

Normally, even without insulin resistance, you BG will go slightly higher after a meal. My thought is post-meal under 150 is fine. By the next meal you should be done below 120 or so.

Let us know, might not be as bad as you think.

Later,
wsgts

[c6h6o3]

Low carb chocolate bars? Salad? Crackers? Just what kind of food are we talking about?

For instance, if the food in question contains maltitol, I find that I seem to reach a threshold whereafter my blood sugar indeed goes up unacceptably. In other words, if I eat one DeLite dark chocolate bar (supposedly 1.1 effective carb grams) during the afternoon, my bg will probably go to between 100 and 105 or 110. Otherwise it'll be about 95 in the afternoon. I find that it takes longer to come down into the 80s if I've eaten maltitol during the day and that my morning readings the next day are about 10 mg/dl higher. But if I eat two DeLites in the afternoon my sugar will go from around 95 to 140 and will be about 115 the next morning even if I eat nothing for supper. Somewhere between 1 and two bars "crosses the line".

This doesn't seem to happen with Atkins Advantage protein bars, which I've taken to eating once per day. They don't raise my blood sugar any more than about 5 mg/dl, if that.