# Good & Bad Carbs



## john pardo (Dec 11, 2016)

Hi gang
I know that your body turns carbs into sugar which is not good for us but i am wondering are there good & bad carbs. I have cut down my bread to 2 slices a couple of times a week but i love my potatoes, rice and pasta and we have on of them everyday with our dinner.
I suppose it's about moderation a little bit of each.


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## grovesy (Dec 11, 2016)

I tend to stick to new potatoes as they cause less  spikes. If I have rice or pasta I only have a small amount.


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## stephknits (Dec 11, 2016)

The best way to find out would be to test your blood sugar and find which works best for you.  You could also try swooping your pasta for cougetti, or mixing your rice with cauli rice.  At least then you can have the same type of meals


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## Ljc (Dec 11, 2016)

I've cut down a lot, a tablespoon af cooked rice, 6 chips, half or if I'm feeling hard done by three quarters of a small roast potato , not all at once lol. 
I agree with Stephknits, the best way to find out how foods affect your BGs is by testing  just before and two hours after eating, apologies if you already do so.


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## Dave W (Dec 11, 2016)

john pardo said:


> Hi gang
> I know that your body turns carbs into sugar which is not good for us but i am wondering are there good & bad carbs. I have cut down my bread to 2 slices a couple of times a week but i love my potatoes, rice and pasta and we have on of them everyday with our dinner.
> I suppose it's about moderation a little bit of each.


The important thing about carbs as far as a diabetic diet is concerned is not just how many carbs one consumes but how quickly and how far they spike one's BG levels. The main way this can be assessed, apart testing as Steph has said, is to look at the Glycaemic Index (GI) and probably more importantly the Glycaemic Load (GL).
New potatoes boiled in their skins have a GI of 63 and GL of 10. Old potatoes roasted have a GI of 85 and GL of 22 so no contest as to which will push up your BG.
The _Diogenes index_ contains a vast list of foods and their GIs and GLs - there's a list of at least 60 references to potatoes alone. It is presented in Excel format which isn't the easiest format to look through, but can, as I've done be converted to an easily searchable database format.
For a very good explanation of GI and GL and for some links to other sites with data about various foods have a look at -
http://foodwatch.com.au/blog/carbs-...n-and-what-s-the-difference-between-them.html


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## SadhbhFiadh (Dec 11, 2016)

My brother told me he eats plant based diet, and his vegetables are mostly ones that grow on top of the ground. I have revamped our menu for this week. We shall see how that works. Small amounts of rice, barley, and porridge. Lentils and kidney beans. Fruit, some fruit. No dairy. 

For him, after being on metformin for about 10 years, his diabetic nurse said he can go off the tablets now and see how he does. His fasting blood work has been around 5 for over a year now. 

S.


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## stephknits (Dec 11, 2016)

Not sure why you would want to cut the dairy, unless for some other reason than watching your blood sugars.


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## SadhbhFiadh (Dec 11, 2016)

No, it's true, except he was on a mission to lose 2 1/2 stone as well. It worked, and he stopped losing weight at the right weight. He just felt so much better, he figured he would not change his new habits. He's been eating that way for over two years, now. Sorry, I guess it was mixed goals. 

S.


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## HOBIE (Dec 11, 2016)

Hello John. Is that you on the picky with a MK2 Escort ? Years ago I had a good go in a RS2000 MK2.


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## Ditto (Dec 11, 2016)

john pardo said:


> Hi gang
> ...love my potatoes, rice and pasta and we have on of them everyday with our dinner.
> I suppose it's about moderation a little bit of each.


I daren't touch any of those! I wouldn't anyway because I have 8 stone to lose but my BG would soar I've no doubt. I read somewhere that a baked potato is the worst thing to eat if you're diabetic so they're out too. 

If you feel you have to have a white mound added to a meal cauli makes a good substitute. My mother doesn't think a meal is a meal if it doesn't have potatoes!


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## john pardo (Dec 12, 2016)

I will cut down my portions of spuds, rice and pasta next time.


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## Stitch147 (Dec 13, 2016)

I can tolerate a small amount of rice and potatoes without too much of a spike. I use basmati rice and have reduced the amount of potatoes I eat. If I want chips I now have sweet potato versions. But I still have roast potatoes, just not as many as I would have had before.


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## Ditto (Dec 13, 2016)

I had corned beef hash and mixed veg at the hospital. Divine. Forgot to take meter so don't know if it spiked me or not. Came home and had bacon, cabbage with butter and boiled potatoes, not too many. I _luvs _potatoes. BG was 7.1 an hour afterwards. I think that's good! It was a 'one off' kind of day because I was eating out. Considering it's a hospital everything contained white stuff, all the salads contained pasta and all the dishes contained potatoes. I asked "Do you have any vegetables?" She replied "Yes, chips, baked, mash or mixed veg."  I went with the mixed veg which contained corn and carrots. I don't normally eat either.


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## Ralph-YK (Dec 14, 2016)

Ditto said:


> I read somewhere that a baked potato is the worst thing to eat if you're diabetic so they're out too.


I found through self testing that breakfast ceriel is much worse. A baked (jacket?) potatoe (with other food) gave me a rise in BG of around 2.5 if I remember correctly.


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## ChrisSamsDad (Dec 14, 2016)

There is a school of thought that says GI doesn't matter to diabetics - as far as your HbA1c is concerned, it's an average, so if you have a fasting level of 6 and go up to 12 for an hour then back to 6, that's the same difference as going to 9 for two hours then back to 6. (1 x 6 = 2 x 3) 
I'm possibly illogically fearful of spikes in of themselves, so would be happier with lower GI food, as I suspect that it's a matter of overload and haven't so far tested the same amount of grams of carb and its effect on BG in low and high GI forms. 

If anyone has or has links to good quality information on this, I'd be glad to know.


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## Robin (Dec 14, 2016)

ChrisSamsDad said:


> is a school of thought that says GI doesn't matter to diabetics - as far as your HbA1c is concerned, it's an average, so if you have a fasting level of 6 and go up to 12 for an hour then back to 6, that's the same difference as going to 9 for two hours then back to 6. (1 x 6 = 2 x 3


OK, yes, this will give you the same average HbA1c, but I'd have thought two hours at 9 were safer for your body than an hour at 12. Once above 10, your body will try to rid itself of excess glucose, by peeing it out. This puts a strain on the kidneys ( I think the larger molecules of glucose cause the damage, but I can't find a reference for this). Apart from which, sugar in your urine causes UTIs, thrush, etc, which we'd all rather avoid!


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