I've been reading a recipe book, Betty Crocker's Diabetes Cookbook. Great book
by the way.It mentions Carbhydrate choices. My so called dietician never
mentioned such a thing. I understand the theory but my question is how do I
know how many carb choices I can have per day?
1. Does anyone know of a site where I could get this info?
2. Does anyone know of a site that tells carb values of foods?

BTW, I no longer deal w/ that dietician. I wouldn't trust her answers anyway.

Please e-mail me if possible at

Thanks
Bill

When I was first dxed a "carb choice" was explained to me to be 15 grams
carb. Therefore if I was to have 3 "carb choices" for dinner then it would
be 45 grams carb. For a former Weight Watcher it was a little simplistic,
but in general it gets the idea across.
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Do not mail to t2_lurking (auto-delete)
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In the yellow haze of the sun
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"Wmkcross" > wrote in message
...
> I've been reading a recipe book, Betty Crocker's Diabetes Cookbook. Great
book
> by the way.It mentions Carbhydrate choices. My so called dietician never
> mentioned such a thing. I understand the theory but my question is how do
I
> know how many carb choices I can have per day?
> 1. Does anyone know of a site where I could get this info?
> 2. Does anyone know of a site that tells carb values of foods?
>
> BTW, I no longer deal w/ that dietician. I wouldn't trust her answers
anyway.
>
> Please e-mail me if possible at
>
> Thanks
> Bill

>When I was first dxed a "carb choice" was explained to me to be 15 grams
>carb. Therefore if I was to have 3 "carb choices" for dinner then it would
>be 45 grams carb.

15g = 1 carb choice.This much I understand. What I don't understand is how many
carb choices am I allowed each day?

Thanks
Bill

Bill...

The problem is, we're not all the same. These books and dietitians like
to tie everything up in neat packages and tend to give one size fits all
answers.

The best way to figure out how many carb choices YOUR body can handle,
is to use your meter.

This is the advice I give all newbies:

There is so much to absorb... you don't have to rush into anything. Begin
by using your best weapon in this war, your meter. You won't keel over
today, you have time to experiment, test, learn, test and figure out just
how your body and this disease are getting along. The most important
thing you can do to learn about yourself and diabetes is test test test.

The single biggest question a diabetic has to answer is:

What do I eat?

Unfortunately, the answer is pretty confusing.

What confounds us all is the fact that different diabetics can get great
results on wildly different food plans. Some of us here achieve
great blood glucose control eating a high complex carbohydrate diet.
Others find that anything over 75 - 100g of carbs a day is too
much. Still others are somewhere in between.

At the beginning all of us felt frustrated. We wanted to be handed
THE way to eat, to ensure our continued health. But we all
learned that there is no one way. Each of us had to find our own path,
using the experience of those that went before, but still having
to discover for ourselves how OUR bodies and this disease were coexisting.

Ask questions, but remember each of us discovered on our own what works best
for us. You can use our experiences as jumping off points, but eventually
you'll work up a successful plan that is yours alone.

What you are looking to discover is how different foods affect you. As I'm
sure you've read, carbohydrates (sugars, wheat, rice... the things our
Grandmas called "starches") raise blood sugars the most rapidly. Protein
and fat do raise them, but not as high and much more slowly... so if you're
a T2, generally the insulin your body still makes may take care of the rise.

You might want to try some experiments.

First: Eat whatever you've been
currently eating... but write it all down.
Test yourself at the following times:

Upon waking (fasting)
1 hour after each meal
2 hours after each meal
At bedtime

That means 8 x each day. What you will discover by this is how long
after a meal your highest reading comes... and how fast you return to
"normal". Also, you may see that a meal that included bread, fruit or
other carbs gives you a higher reading.

Then for the next few days, try to curb your carbs. Eliminate breads,
cereals, rices, beans, any wheat products, potato, corn, fruit... get all
your carbs from veggies. Test at the same schedule above.

If you try this for a few days, you may find some pretty damn good
readings. It's worth a few days to discover.

Eventually you can slowly add back carbs until you see them affecting your
meter.

The thing about this disease... though we share much in common and we
need to
follow certain guidelines... in the end, each of our bodies dictate our
treatment and our success.

The closer we get to non-diabetic numbers, the greater chance we have of
avoiding horrible complications. The key here is AIM... I know that
everyone is at a different point in their disease... and it is progressive.
But, if we aim for the best numbers and do our best, we give ourselves the
best shot at heath we've got.
That's all we can do.

Here's my opinion on what numbers to aim for, they are non-diabetic numbers.

FBG under 110
One hour after meals under 140
Two hours after meals under 120

or for those in the mmol parts of the world:

Fasting Under 6
One hour after meals Under 8
Two hours after meals Under 6.5

Recent studies have indicated that the most important numbers are your
"after meal" numbers. They may be the most indicative of future
complications, especially heart problems.

Listen to your doctor, but you are the leader of your diabetic
care team. While his /her advice is learned, it is not absolute. You
will end up knowing much more about your body and how it's handling
diabetes than your doctor will. Your meter is your best weapon.

Just remember, we're not in a race or a competition with anyone but
ourselves... Play around with your food plan... TEST TEST TEST. Learn what
foods cause spikes, what foods cause cravings... Use your body as a science
experiment.

You'll read about a lot of different ways people use to control their
diabetes... Many are diametrically opposed. After awhile you'll learn that
there is no one size fits all around here. Take some time to experiment
and you'll soon discover the plan that works for you.

Best of luck!

Jennifer


Wmkcross wrote:
>>When I was first dxed a "carb choice" was explained to me to be 15 grams
>>carb. Therefore if I was to have 3 "carb choices" for dinner then it would
>>be 45 grams carb.
>
>
> 15g = 1 carb choice.This much I understand. What I don't understand is how many
> carb choices am I allowed each day?
>
> Thanks
> Bill

On 11 Nov 2003 00:17:32 GMT, erospam (Wmkcross) wrote:

>I've been reading a recipe book, Betty Crocker's Diabetes Cookbook. Great book
>by the way.It mentions Carbhydrate choices. My so called dietician never
>mentioned such a thing. I understand the theory but my question is how do I
>know how many carb choices I can have per day?
>1. Does anyone know of a site where I could get this info?
>2. Does anyone know of a site that tells carb values of foods?

Go to the USDA site (www.usda.gov) and use their values for general
information, but it's always better to get the carb counts off the packages
you're actually cooking with.

Also, I stay away from "choices" and "exchanges". It's just extra work. I
count the carbs. I know that in general X carbs will raise my BG Y amount
because I've been testing myself for a long time now. That's really the
best thing for you to do. Take the time to test yourself a lot to see what
foods impact you in what ways.

For instance, I can have pizza no problem, as long as I eat one entire
slice, and the toppings off the rest of the slices.

--
Siobhan Perricone
"Who would have thought that a bad Austrian artist who's obsessed with the human physical ideal could assemble such a rabid political following?"
- www.theonion.com

On 11 Nov 2003 02:45:57 GMT, erospam (Wmkcross) wrote:

>>When I was first dxed a "carb choice" was explained to me to be 15 grams
>>carb. Therefore if I was to have 3 "carb choices" for dinner then it would
>>be 45 grams carb.
>
>15g = 1 carb choice.This much I understand. What I don't understand is how many
>carb choices am I allowed each day?

Why do the math? Why not just count the carbs and figure out how many carbs
at which meals do what to your BG?

For instance, if I went by the generalized ADA recommended "you should have
three to four choices/exchanges of carbs per meal" my BG would SKYROCKET at
breakfast. No way I can afford 45 to 60 carbs for breakfast. I have to
eat under 10 grams of carbs most mornings if I'm not going to get a good
chance to walk briskly after breakfast. Even so, I can eat more carbs of
nuts in the morning than I can of cottage cheese.

However, I can do 60 carbs for dinner no problem.

This is TRULY a your mileage may vary thing. You really need to just do
your own testing and see how things impact you personally.

--
Siobhan Perricone
"Who would have thought that a bad Austrian artist who's obsessed with the human physical ideal could assemble such a rabid political following?"
- www.theonion.com

On 11 Nov 2003 00:17:32 GMT, erospam (Wmkcross)
wrote:

>I've been reading a recipe book, Betty Crocker's Diabetes Cookbook. Great book
>by the way.It mentions Carbhydrate choices. My so called dietician never
>mentioned such a thing. I understand the theory but my question is how do I
>know how many carb choices I can have per day?
>1. Does anyone know of a site where I could get this info?
>2. Does anyone know of a site that tells carb values of foods?
>
>BTW, I no longer deal w/ that dietician. I wouldn't trust her answers anyway.
>
>Please e-mail me if possible at
>
>Thanks
>Bill

It's really simple. Read Jennifer.
If in doubt, have half the carbs you think you need and check the one
and two hour results. If it was OK, a little more may be OK. If not,
you learnt something, next.
Results will vary by time of day as well as type of food. For some of
us, we can eat for dinner what we can't eat for breakfast. The only
way to find out for you is to test, test, test.

Cheers Alan, T2, Oz
dx May 2002, diet and not enough exercise.
--
Everything in Moderation - Except Laughter.

"Wmkcross" > wrote in message
...
> >When I was first dxed a "carb choice" was explained to me to be 15 grams
> >carb. Therefore if I was to have 3 "carb choices" for dinner then it
would
> >be 45 grams carb.
>
> 15g = 1 carb choice.This much I understand. What I don't understand is how
many
> carb choices am I allowed each day?

That really varies from person to person and regardless of what the
dietician tells you, you meter must be your guide. On a good day, I eat 10
servings of carb. No more than 2 for breakfast, 3 for lunch, 3 for dinner,
and 2 for bedtime snack. I will eat less if my BG is too high.

--
Type 2
http://users.bestweb.net/~jbove/

Wmkcross wrote:

> >When I was first dxed a "carb choice" was explained to me to be 15 grams
> >carb. Therefore if I was to have 3 "carb choices" for dinner then it would
> >be 45 grams carb.
>
> 15g = 1 carb choice.This much I understand. What I don't understand is how many
> carb choices am I allowed each day?

While a planning device such as "carb choice" is flexible, I personally don't find
them very useful for long-term planning. I'm happy to use the older Exchange device
from the American Diabetic Association modified slightly with a direct carb count.
The Exchanges have a specific list of exchanges for how many calories you want to
consume every day, with the added benefit of being nutritionally balance; exchanges
are not "carbohydrates" but "bread" and "meat" and "dairy" and "fat" and "fruit"
and "vegetable." You can go to the ADA website (http://www.diabetes.ORG) and do a
search on "exchanges" for more info.
--
Gregory Gadow

http://www.serv.net/~techbear

"If you make yourself a sheep, the wolves will eat you."
-- Benjamin Franklin

In article >,
erospam (Wmkcross) writes:

>
>I've been reading a recipe book, Betty Crocker's Diabetes Cookbook. Great
>book
>by the way.It mentions Carbhydrate choices. My so called dietician never
>mentioned such a thing. I understand the theory but my question is how do I
>know how many carb choices I can have per day?
>1. Does anyone know of a site where I could get this info?
>2. Does anyone know of a site that tells carb values of foods?
>
>BTW, I no longer deal w/ that dietician. I wouldn't trust her answers anyway.
>

Although the book sounds good, I have found most of the diabetic books to have
far more carbs than I can eat.. My mother thinking she was being helpfull, sent
me three cookbooks for diabetics she sent away for. The majority of the recipes
were for deserts, pastas, breads and rice dishes...Sigh.. Nice thought...Even
some of the books being touted as lowcarb do the same thing..
As always YMMV and this is JMO
Jeanne Type 2 Diagnosed 05/28/02
189/154/120