# conference pears



## Dory (May 23, 2013)

hi guys,

i'm having a real problem with conference pears: I use my carbs & cals app to work out carbs for these and it recommends that for an average sized pear it's 15g.  This seemed a little high for me but i followed it for quite a while, but noticed i was always going low after.  

i've had to start reducing the carb value to around 12g (Which sometimes is still too high).

What does everyone else allow for a average sized conf pear?  I also find this with tangerines and apples too (although strangely, the carbs & cals is usually spot on for bananas, unless i have more than one, where I then have to knock off a few carbs).  

I know some fruit is high GI (sugars leaving before insulin working so too much left floating etc) but pears are low GI so would've thought that would've slowed down sugars? 

Even though I'm on a pump, do I need to start thinking about bolusing a short while before eating some fruits?


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## Pumper_Sue (May 23, 2013)

Pears are about 11 carbs/100gms. So have you weighed one to see how your guestimate compares? If not worth doing.
I also wonder about the insulin duration  and matching the carbs you have eaten. A pear if eaten on it's own would give you a quick spike and gone so thus you have 3 or 4 hours of insulin running around your body.
Perhaps if that's the case just eat them with a main meal.
Another option is to eat the pear first then bolus after.


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## Dory (May 23, 2013)

hmmm ok, so just weighed one of the pears (which is about the same size as all others).  it was 207g.  going off your calculations and what carbs and cals say i should be bolusing for around the 20g marker.  but i'm bolusing for only 13g now per pear and even that's too much!! 

i rely of fruit as snacking food throughout the day so eating only with other food is not an option 

but i like the delay between bolus and food idea (I'm sure you meant bolus, wait, then eat, not other way round Sue )

thanks


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## Hanmillmum (May 23, 2013)

How strange, we have found this too, always seems to end with hypo. Do you think the ripeness could be a factor ? I have tried shaving off 25 - 30% what book says to be on safe side


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## Dory (May 23, 2013)

i always factor in ripeness to any fruit i eat (I'll add a few grams for a very ripe banana, take off a few for an unripe-ish one) but i'm glad to hear i'm not the only one having this problem!!!!


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## everydayupsanddowns (May 23, 2013)

Way back when I was forst Dx the guide was 10g for a piece of fruit.

These days I usually allow more like 15-20g and that works for me. 

I tend to find apples/pears relatively low spike too. Certainly better (for me) than bananas and oranges. All different though (as ever!)

Does it have anything to do with a bunch of the carbs in fruit being fructose?


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## Dory (May 24, 2013)

mike i think you're spot on.  waaaay back in the day when i was first dx (late 80's) i was told not to carb count for any fruit (i'm guessing for the fructose reason; they were so focussed on starchy carbs back then).

I guess it's a case of test and see what works for you as an individual really.


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## Pumper_Sue (May 24, 2013)

Dory said:


> mike i think you're spot on.  waaaay back in the day when i was first dx (late 80's) i was told not to carb count for any fruit (i'm guessing for the fructose reason; they were so focussed on starchy carbs back then).
> 
> I guess it's a case of test and see what works for you as an individual really.



Funny that as I was diagnosed in the mid 1960's and have always counted the carb content of everything that went into my mouth.
At some point in the 80's the idea of carb counting was ditched by many due to the so called wondrous human insulin's. IMHO that was the biggest mistake ever made, it still shocks me that people who have had diabetes for 30 years can not carb count and have no idea how to adjust their insulin for carb content of a meal. 
The NHS bods still haven't worked out the link between high A1c's and the lack of carb counting.
So they then say oh you need a pump to control your diabetes, so once you have been taught how to carb count you can have a pump


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## Dory (May 24, 2013)

you've just described me Sue!

dx 88, was taught in the style of '1 piece of bread = 1 "exchange" (who remembers those?!), 3 biscuits = 3 exchanges', don't bother with fruit, you should aim for 18-20 exchanges a day  - never mind the size of the bread, type of biscuite etc!

now, can't fault them too much for lack of knowledge of things back then but what REALLY got my goat was that it wasn't until 2009 that a DSN in my current hospital sat me down and showed me how carb values had changed in 20 years, so i'd been wrongly counting for years.  in 20 years I never missed a clinic appointment (and i was having them every 6 months!) and they NEVER bothered updating me on carb counting.

solution in 2009? teach her how to carb count at the same time as putting her on a pump!


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## cakemaker (May 24, 2013)

My husband loves pears, he usually has one a day. I am aware of their high carb value; approx. 15g., but didn't realise just how much they can affect some of you so we'll have to keep an eye on this. Our GP hasn't suggested self testing yet (although I frequently nag my husband to discuss this with the GP) so we don't really know how different foods affects him.  
I often give him a pear with a small ammount of cheese as a snack or after a meal. I read that if you eat high GI foods with another food group it can slow down the process.
I usually help him by eating one quarter then counting the pear as 10g carbs. The same with a large apple or orange. Small fruit, I count as 10g. each. Is this about right?


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## Dory (May 24, 2013)

hi cakemaker,

the trouble with fruit is that not only is it different is terms of type (ie conference pear v williams pear, granny smith apple v royal gala apple etc) it also depends on the ripeness of the fruit (eg very unripe banana will be lower in carbs than a very ripe one, although this will be down to the amount of fructose).  And, as you'll have seen, there is no 'one size fits all' for fruit.

the book (also comes as a smart phone app) a lot of people (inc myself) use is called Carbs & Cals and gives good visual images as well as weights of food types and portions so if you're helping out with OH's carb counting and don't have it, i'd recommend it.  I usually go on the basis that a medium apple (size of a tennis ball) is 16g cho.  an average conf pear, if you're going by 15g, would actually be just under 4g per quarter, so you should be allowing 11g (15-4) for his portion.  if his A1Cs are good then obvioulsy this works well for him.  if his A1Cs aren't great then i'd push for a testing kit (assuming he's type 2 from the way you've written about self testing) which will help him find out how certain foods react with him.

yes, if you combine fat/protein with any carbs it will slow down absorption due to the fat/potein taking longer to break down.  a good tip for helping against spikes.


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## Pumper_Sue (May 24, 2013)

Dory said:


> you've just described me Sue!
> 
> dx 88, was taught in the style of '1 piece of bread = 1 "exchange" (who remembers those?!), 3 biscuits = 3 exchanges', don't bother with fruit, you should aim for 18-20 exchanges a day  - never mind the size of the bread, type of biscuite etc!
> 
> ...



I was taught from day one or my mum was as only 4 1/2 at the time about the exchanges. 10 carbs was one exchange. So mum always checked weights and pkts. Same for fruit and veg she knew the carb values as had a book with them all in.
It sounds to me as if your mum had misunderstood what she had been told and no one checked with her.
That basic carb counting that mum taught me as I became old enough to understand is what is taught today.


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## cakemaker (May 24, 2013)

the trouble with fruit is that not only is it different is terms of type (ie conference pear v williams pear, granny smith apple v royal gala apple etc) it also depends on the ripeness of the fruit (eg very unripe banana will be lower in carbs than a very ripe one, although this will be down to the amount of fructose). And, as you'll have seen, there is no 'one size fits all' for fruit.

Hi Dory: How complicated!
I will search out the book you recommend.
I have been using on-line sites for info on carbs and cals. I started by weighing most of what my husband (T2) eats, now I just approximate everything.
We particularly love conference pears. We have a tree which is laden with fruit this year. We are hoping for a good harvest; last year we had just 1 pear which survived. I'll have to find a way of storing them other than freezing.
My husband annoys me immensely over his eating. As I'm the cook he leaves it to me to do the research into what he can and can't eat. I want him to take more interest, I tell him things and send him emails from posts on here but he still takes little interest.


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