# Porridge is off! or is it?



## Pine Marten (Jun 5, 2015)

Another query which I feel I should know the answer to, but feeling undecided here goes anyway… 

The other day I decided to test 1 hour after breakfast (which I hadn’t done for ages), and was surprised that my porridge & coffee spiked at 10.6! After 2 hours it was down to 5.0 (before breakfast was 5.5). The next day I had fried egg, mushrooms, tomatoes, 1 toasted Burgen slice & coffee, and it was only 6.9 one hour after (before breakfast it was again 5.5).

Question is: should I give up porridge, which I like, in favour of other breakfasts? I had always thought that it was ok for me..?


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## DeusXM (Jun 5, 2015)

A good rule of thumb is anything over 7 for more than half an hour or so causes damage.

That's quite a big spike from your porridge - although your 2 hour postprandial is good, that's probably a good hour and a half where your blood sugar is high. Sounds like maybe your initial insulin response isn't great but it catches up in the end.

With your other breakfast, meter error means that your blood sugar might not actually have moved - both those readings could easily be 'really' around the 6 mark.

Based on this, I would suggest cutting back on the porridge.


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## KookyCat (Jun 5, 2015)

I have trouble with porridge too, which is a shame because I liked it.  It doesn't seem to be the oats for me, more the hot milk.  I can have a cup of oats soaked in yoghurt overnight and it doesn't spike.  I've never tried porridge made with water like my grandad used to make but maybe I should.  

What about porridge saturdays?  Bergen toast during the week and a porridge treat at the weekend?  To be honest I'd do a bit more testing to be sure it wasn't a one off with the porridge before reaching a conclusion but it is a common culprit for spikes sadly


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## bill hopkinson (Jun 5, 2015)

When I add dry oats to my breakfast cereal mix I have problems. Not so much the spike which is normally due to the soluble part of oats but because it gives me the runs.
I can add flakes of rye, millet, buckwheat, no problem, but oat flakes and I am sitting on the throne in the bathroom.
Strangely, I have some gluten-free oats which I use for a friend who regularly eats with us, and I have no problem with that.


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## Pine Marten (Jun 6, 2015)

Thank you for the replies - this morning was interesting: after testing (result, 5.5) I had a breakfast of toast, mushrooms & tomatoes and tea, then went on a brisk stroll to the bank to pay in some cheques. On return an hour later I tested again and the result was virtually the same, 5.4!

As well as the porridge thing I have been exercising some time after meals - like the old rule of not swimming straight after eating - but I gather from other threads here that exercise is best shortly after meals. D'oh! the more I learn about D the more I have to learn! 

I was feeling fairly fed up and frustrated with it all yesterday, and ended up having a bit of a row with my husband about a lunch invitation we received. I am so glad I can come here and vent, or ask dumb questions, and just generally get support and good advice. Thank you!


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## KookyCat (Jun 6, 2015)

Pine Marten said:


> Thank you for the replies - this morning was interesting: after testing (result, 5.5) I had a breakfast of toast, mushrooms & tomatoes and tea, then went on a brisk stroll to the bank to pay in some cheques. On return an hour later I tested again and the result was virtually the same, 5.4!
> 
> As well as the porridge thing I have been exercising some time after meals - like the old rule of not swimming straight after eating - but I gather from other threads here that exercise is best shortly after meals. D'oh! the more I learn about D the more I have to learn!
> 
> I was feeling fairly fed up and frustrated with it all yesterday, and ended up having a bit of a row with my husband about a lunch invitation we received. I am so glad I can come here and vent, or ask dumb questions, and just generally get support and good advice. Thank you!



Gets to me too sometimes, and I have a moment (or few hours of anger) I think we'd have to be saints to not feel annoyed by it and I'm no saint . Exercise after food certainly makes my blood sugar drop, in fact I have to under dose insulin if I'm dog walking straight after breakfast so maybe porridge would work for you with a bit of activity straight after?  Hope you're enjoying the weekend


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## Pine Marten (Jun 25, 2015)

I thought I'd update on this. 

My friend (not diabetic) uses almond milk for some things, so this morning I tried it on a sachet of Alpen. Before breakfast my reading was 5.2; 1 hour after breakfast it was 7.7 (so not bad, I thought); and after 2 hrs (and a bit - I was on the phone and forgot!) it was back to 5.3!  So Alpen seems to be better for me than porridge, and I like the taste of almond milk, it's kinda fresher than dairy milk but not watery like skimmed. I'm going to try it with porridge and see what the difference is. Don't know if I fancy it in tea or coffee though...


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## Pine Marten (Jun 25, 2015)

Oops - I think I've mixed my timings up, and can't now figure out what I did. I'm going to do it again tomorrow and write it down accurately....


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## DeusXM (Jun 25, 2015)

Might just be the Alpen rather than the almond milk - remember, porridge is to some extent, pre-digested so it's easier for the carbs to be broken down quickly into sugar. Alpen is mostly a cross between sawdust and pot pourrit, so your body takes much longer to convert it into glucose.


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## everydayupsanddowns (Jun 25, 2015)

Typicaltwo said:


> (down from an HbA1c of 8 [144] to 2.4 [44] in less than two months).




Hello typicaltwo. Welcome to the forum. We have quite a few members who find moderating carb intake to one degree or other very helpful.

I think your conversions are a little off on your A1c. 144 would be significantly higher than 12 (which is 108mmol/mol) and 44mmol/mol translates to around 6.2%. I'm not even sure an A1c of 2.4% is possible.

Congratulations on your reduction - whatever it was!


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## Pine Marten (Jun 25, 2015)

I don't think is in reply to my porridge.... a slip of the finger?


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## everydayupsanddowns (Jun 25, 2015)

Pine Marten said:


> I don't think is in reply to my porridge.... a slip of the finger?



I think they were suggesting you avoided porridge altogether.


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## Pine Marten (Jun 25, 2015)

everydayupsanddowns said:


> Hello typicaltwo. Welcome to the forum. We have quite a few members who find moderating carb intake to one degree or other very helpful.
> 
> I think your conversions are a little off on your A1c. 144 would be significantly higher than 12 (which is 108mmol/mol) and 44mmol/mol translates to around 6.2%. I'm not even sure an A1c of 2.4% is possible.
> 
> Congratulations on your reduction - whatever it was!



Erm... this is what I was replying to - I'm not typicaltwo


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## trophywench (Jun 25, 2015)

Pinemarten I think there is a simple answer.  Mike made one of them mistake thingies!

He was obviously answering a Phantom Poster.  I'd not realised before that the forum was haunted, how exciting !


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## everydayupsanddowns (Jun 25, 2015)

Sorry for the confusion. The bit I quoted was from a post that seems to have been 'moderated' - but not in the normal way. And it still comes up as visible for me. I'll ask Alan what I did wrong. Sorry!


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## Pine Marten (Jun 25, 2015)

I thought that was what happened, but in my very non-techy way I got a bit confused myself :O !


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## stephknits (Jun 25, 2015)

So pinemartin, did you notice any difference with the porridge and almond milk?  I love almond milk and always have it.


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## Pine Marten (Jun 25, 2015)

I haven't tried it with porridge yet but I might do that tomorrow  but yes, the milk is very nice - I've got to try again with Alpen too, as I seem to have, er, buggered up the timings this morning...

I'll report back, and try to do it properly!


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## Pine Marten (Jun 26, 2015)

Well... I had coffee, Alpen & almond milk for breakfast and the odd thing is my readings were the same as yesterday even though I messed up the times yesterday. So today I did it properly and before breakfast: 5.2; 1 hr after: 7.7; 2 hrs after: 5.3. Pretty good, then


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## Robin (Jun 26, 2015)

I find I'm better with oats in their raw state, ie muesli, not porridge. I also think the seeds and nuts in muesli help slow down the absorption of glucose. I have Lidl own brand Swiss Style muesli with no added sugar, tastes like Alpen at a fraction of the price. I tend to put yogurt on mine, as that seems to cause less of a spike than milk. I haven't tried almond milk, I may give it a try.


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## trophywench (Jun 26, 2015)

Aaaahhhh - a Blast from the Past - in Spain, wherever you went, the town would ALWAYS have a Horchataria!  You could rely on there being one even if there wasn't a Taverna!


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## Pine Marten (Jun 30, 2015)

stephknits said:


> So pinemartin, did you notice any difference with the porridge and almond milk?  I love almond milk and always have it.



I tried it this morning with a sachet of Oat So Simple Multigrain (which is a bit gloopy), which includes rye and barley. Result: pre-breakfast: 5.2; 1 hr after: 7.6; 2 hrs after: 5.7, so somewhat similar to the result with Alpen - though I did add a smear of honey this morning.

Still, I am pleased that I can have a couple of different cereals which don't spike too much. I'm going to try some other muesli as well, which I used to like years ago pre-D. Thinking about such little things keeps me going - especially in this naffing heat, which is making me very sleepy...zzzzzz


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