# Boiled potatoes vs oven chips



## slipper

I have tried new potatoes,boiled with dinner, but even 2 small ones give me a 1 hr peak often just into double figures, from a pre dinner of say 6.

I have tried oven chips, normal size ones, and still not good, yet the very small/thin oven chips are much better, and give me a 1hr peak at about 8.5. for a 100g portion.

Would be interested if someone could kindly explain why this is so, I understand that mash is even worse so is to do with the way the potato is broken down?


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## Mark T

slipper said:


> I have tried new potatoes,boiled with dinner, but even 2 small ones give me a 1 hr peak often just into double figures, from a pre dinner of say 6.
> 
> I have tried oven chips, normal size ones, and still not good, yet the very small/thin oven chips are much better, and give me a 1hr peak at about 8.5. for a 100g portion.
> 
> Would be interested if someone could kindly explain why this is so, I understand that mash is even worse so is to do with the way the potato is broken down?


The fat in the over chips slows down the absorption of the starchy glucose.

Mash is worse because the process of mashing has partially broken down the bonds as well, so the absorption is fast!

You might like to try boiled new potatoes which are apparently low GI and should be better.


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## Northerner

As Mark says, the fat slows the digestion of the oven chips, plus the thinned chips have more fat as a greater surface area is covered by fat.  Some people find jacket potatoes are as bad as mash


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## Steff

Oven chips are the only thing I have these days twice a week


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## slipper

Thanks guys, looks like I'm with you Steff.  I will miss my jacket pot though.

Will slow the diet down but I struggle with my Bergen which I love, so a chip butty may work.


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## Vicsetter

Continuing the peanut butter theme, you could try boiled new potatoes which you then add a dolup of peanut butter and swirl round the pan to get them covered in melted Peanut butter - yummy.

One secret to reducing the spike is to reduce the quantity, so only have a small jacket potato, or 6 chips etc etc.


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## Steff

Vicsetter said:


> Continuing the peanut butter theme, you could try boiled new potatoes which you then add a dolup of peanut butter and swirl round the pan to get them covered in melted Peanut butter - yummy.
> 
> One secret to reducing the spike is to reduce the quantity, so only have a small jacket potato, or 6 chips etc etc.



Gr I have 8 wonder if thats where im going wrong


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## slipper

I have 100g which I thought was a tiny portion, about a dozen or so. I have cut down my portions, but not as yet reduced further to reduce BG.  Thats another line of attack then thanks.

Its hard this diabetic thing isn't it?


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## Vicsetter

Steff said:


> Gr I have 8 wonder if thats where im going wrong



If I have chips it's somewhat more than 6 to be truthful, but I am on insulin so it's a bit easier to splurge every now and then.


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## Vicsetter

slipper said:


> I have 100g which I thought was a tiny portion, about a dozen or so. I have cut down my portions, but not as yet reduced further to reduce BG.  Thats another line of attack then thanks.
> 
> Its hard this diabetic thing isn't it?



From memory 100g chips/potato is about 50g carbs, it's up to you what you eat but unless you are hard on yourself your body will be hard on you (if you get my drift).  

Yes it is hard, especially as we all seem to react differently to the same things.  It makes a difference as to what medication you are on as well.  It's a lot harder than giving up smoking.

I test before I eat and try and adjust the carb content of my meal accordingly.  So if my bg is say 6.0 before lunch I might add a packet of crisps as my only carbs with the meal, but if my bg is 7 I will have no carbs at all.


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## FM001

Vicsetter said:


> From memory 100g chips/potato is about 50g carbs





Not as high as that unless they are coated in batter or something else, oven chips vary from type of potato used and brand, they can be anything from 17-25g of carbs for a 100g weight, home made chips fried in oil are 30g of carbs per 100g.  Boiled potatoes are the same depending on variety or if you leave the skins on or not, as a rule I just work on an average of 25g per 100g.


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## everydayupsanddowns

Some types of cooked potatoes (including chips and jackets I think) vary a great deal with CHO/100g before and after cooking, because of water/weight lost during cooking process.  If you are holding rough carb values in your head you need to be sure which is which!


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## slipper

To be honest I haven't been counting carbs as yet, too busy with the calories, yet cut the carbs and the calories go too I expect.

In a way, I am identifying the bad carbs for me with the testing after meals, but I haven't tested before a meal too much, just relied on previous 2 hour or the fasting reading, due to cost of strips.

I can see the point of doing that though, and adjusting carb content, so another angle of attack there. I need some computer softeware to keep track of all this,

Thank you guys, your great


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## GodivaGirl

Are sweet potatoes OK? or butternut squash? 

~Val~


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## Northerner

GodivaGirl said:


> Are sweet potatoes OK? or butternut squash?
> 
> ~Val~



Much better than ordinary potatoes (as long as your meter agrees! )


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## slipper

I tried sweet potatoes and despite messing the cooking up, they were better than normal ones, didn't likr them much though, too soft.

Have a butternut squash, but I keep looking at it and it looks back at me, not sure what to do with that.


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## GodivaGirl

slipper said:


> I tried sweet potatoes and despite messing the cooking up, they were better than normal ones, didn't likr them much though, too soft.
> 
> Have a butternut squash, but I keep looking at it and it looks back at me, not sure what to do with that.




I like sweet potatoes and butternut squash roasted, in just a smidgen of olive oil

~Val~


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## everydayupsanddowns

Had some chunky potato wedges tonight (in skins). Reading at 1.5 hours was 6.0 (less than +2 from pre-meal). Spuds seem to treat me very kindly compared to lots of people, though I guess the extra fat in them (and mass of accompanying coleslaw) probably helped!


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## Zosema

*Potatoes*

Hi everyone, I've just joined today (a real newbie) and I wondered if anyone could answer a question for me?

One of my favourite dinners during the autumn and winter is cottage pie, but from what I've heard/read mashed potato is a complete "no-no" with diabetes.  Is this true, am I never again going to have the pleasure of a lovely plate of hot cottage pie with HP sauce?

Thanks
Zosema


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## Katieb

Zosema said:


> Hi everyone, I've just joined today (a real newbie) and I wondered if anyone could answer a question for me?
> 
> One of my favourite dinners during the autumn and winter is cottage pie, but from what I've heard/read mashed potato is a complete "no-no" with diabetes.  Is this true, am I never again going to have the pleasure of a lovely plate of hot cottage pie with HP sauce?
> 
> Hi Zosema
> 
> 
> Thanks
> Zosema



Try mashing cauliflower or sweet potatoes as an alternative topping. Or you could try mixing cauliflower with the potatoes so you halve the quantity.
Only by testing your BG after a meal will you really know what effect mash has on your levels. Hope this helps! Katiex


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## everydayupsanddowns

Zosema said:


> One of my favourite dinners during the autumn and winter is cottage pie, but from what I've heard/read mashed potato is a complete "no-no" with diabetes.  Is this true, am I never again going to have the pleasure of a lovely plate of hot cottage pie with HP sauce?



Hi Zosema!

Welcome to the forum  

As Katie says, the only way to know for sure is to test for yourself with a BG meter. From what i can gather, chemically potato is *very* easy to digest, even more so when it has been crushed/partially broken down by mashing. Mashed and jacked potatoes tend to rank very high on GI tables (quite a bit higher than table sugar for example).

But D is a fickle beast. I know it's supposed to be terrible for me, but I seem to be able to cope with mash no problem when accompanied with lots of veg and something high-ish fat - like sausages.

Porridge, on the other hand, despite it's slow release reputation, consistently puts me in the teens if I have it for breakfast.


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## Natalie123

I still eat jacket potatoes as I find with plenty of salad and protein rich tuna or cheese and extra insulin, it is ok for me. I remembered when I was younger I used to scoop out the middle of the potato, mix with a filling with no carbs (usually cheese based because I love the stuff) and then put back in, that way you bulk out the potato and don't need to eat all of the filling. Not sure if that might be ok for you as an occasional treat?


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