# Rice & Pasta



## mum2westiesGill (Sep 9, 2017)

Why is it that very often things like rice, pasta can give you higher BG numbers?

I love my Indian & Chinese meals but my BG numbers go quite high for a short while after . I always bolus after I've eaten so that I know how much I've actually eaten.


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## Ralph-YK (Sep 9, 2017)

My understanding is because it's carbohydrates, and that it's carbohydrates that does that. As opposed to food. I've been told meet and fat does not affect BG.


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## Ditto (Sep 9, 2017)

There's no way we can have rice or pasta.  Or potatoes come to that. I feel fed-up thinking about it.  Also biscuits, we can't have them either I found out last night. Put me in double figures. 

We've got to be healthy and boring.


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## Kaylz (Sep 9, 2017)

Have you tried having a smaller portion of the rice/pasta etc OR what do you generally have with it? takeaway's often add sugar to their sauces and thickeners too so while you may thin your getting the carb count right you could be WAY out which with the results you posted on the other thread I would say you were x


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## Radders (Sep 9, 2017)

I don't bother with rice any more and I don't miss it at all. It was basically a very boring bit of the meal just there to soak up the sauce for me. I would rather eat the sauce with a spoon or pour it over more vegetables. 
I used to eat all the carby foods and inject enough insulin to cover them but this resulted in me gaining loads of weight and having an awful lot of hypos as well as huge post meal spikes. 
I know others prefer to keep their carbs and use various means to reduce the spikes but for me the weight gain and hypos made life very difficult and I feel much healthier keeping to the carbs which occur in fruit, veg, chocolate and lower carb breads and cereals. I don't aim for a specific amount but I estimate that my average carb intake is about 100g a day, some days higher, some lower.


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## Lucy Honeychurch (Sep 9, 2017)

If I have curry I don't have rice but a small naan instead and I'm OK with that, I definitely wouldn't have both.
Also, I bolus 10/20 mins before I eat, not after.


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## mum2westiesGill (Sep 9, 2017)

Lucy Honeychurch said:


> If I have curry I don't have rice but a small naan instead and I'm OK with that, I definitely wouldn't have both.
> Also, I bolus 10/20 mins before I eat, not after.



Thank you Lucy for this suggestion I will try that next time


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## Radders (Sep 9, 2017)

mum2westiesGill said:


> Thank you Lucy for this suggestion I will try that next time


I understand not wanting to bolus until after, but you can usually have a fairly good guess at the minimum amount you're likely to eat. If I am in that position as I find I have to pre-bolus quite a long time in advance to avoid spikes, I will pre-bolus for the minimum then top up when the food arrives. Perhaps you could try that.


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## Copepod (Sep 10, 2017)

Soaking and rinsing rice to remove "loose" starch, before cooking, reduces carbohydrate content slightly. Personally, I like a small amount of rice with curry or chilli con carne, but will always refuse too much if someone else is wielding the serving spoon.


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## Kaylz (Sep 10, 2017)

Copepod said:


> if someone else is wielding the serving spoon


Oh Copepod you do make me laugh!  x


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## Mark Parrott (Sep 10, 2017)

I have a chapatti with my curries.  I find them better than naans as they are slower release carbs.  If I have rice, I stick to a tablespoon and I seem to tolerate that ok.  Actually, nearly 2 years down the line from diagnosis, I am definitely able to tolerate more carbs.


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## phonic2k (Sep 11, 2017)

I also don't bother with rice anymore. I've completely switch to health food these days, even though I must admit, I did let go on holiday in August, well...what can I say it was all inclusive, but not sure why they wanted to offer 6 buffet meals a day.

Have you tried Lower GI versions of rice?  White rice streamed is high GI rating of 98, while Sunrise is 55 low.
Here' is one I found out:  SunRice is low GI, and Basmati is also lower than other types.

Low GI is a good option for diabetics, as it releases carbs slower, so not as much impact on your blood.


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## Stitch147 (Sep 12, 2017)

Ditto said:


> There's no way we can have rice or pasta.  Or potatoes come to that. I feel fed-up thinking about it.  Also biscuits, we can't have them either I found out last night. Put me in double figures.
> 
> We've got to be healthy and boring.



I still have rice or pasta. I will have basmati rice now, which I rinse well before cooking. I usually have a couple of table spoons with homemade curry or chilli. And I am still able to have a small amount of pasta too. Potatoes are ok as long as I avoid mash!!! I still have the odd biscuit, but usually stop at 1, but I don't have biscuits in the house as my OH doesn't eat them and Id end up throwing them away.


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## MikeTurin (Sep 12, 2017)

The problem is that pasta, rice, potatoes and grainy food have an high starch content. Everybody thinks the problem for diabetics are sugars, but starches are glucose chains. Highly refined grains and some breed of rice are very high on starches, so maize flour and potatoes. And some culinary preparations make starches readily available. For instance parboiled Basmati has less available starches than  Roma  or Carnaroli rice and the cooking mode changes the starch content. 
Wholegrain bread an pasta have less starches due the increased fibre present and the bonded fibres can slow down the starches and sugars absorption.

Of course it's the total carbohydrate quantity in a food that ultimately matters.


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## Mark Parrott (Sep 12, 2017)

I had pasta in Crete.  I didn't order it, it was a free meal at the place we were staying.  First time I've had pasta since diagnosis.  BS went through the roof!  9.5!  Not used to those kind of figures.  I was 5 something before the pasta.


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## phonic2k (Sep 12, 2017)

MikeTurin said:


> The problem is that pasta, rice, potatoes and grainy food have an high starch content. Everybody thinks the problem for diabetics are sugars, but starches are glucose chains. Highly refined grains and some breed of rice are very high on starches, so maize flour and potatoes. And some culinary preparations make starches readily available. For instance parboiled Basmati has less available starches than  Roma  or Carnaroli rice and the cooking mode changes the starch content.
> Wholegrain bread an pasta have less starches due the increased fibre present and the bonded fibres can slow down the starches and sugars absorption.
> 
> Of course it's the total carbohydrate quantity in a food that ultimately matters.



This is so true.  My doctor just advised to cut down on sugar, and avoid high fat, but don't seem to understand the real reason. When talking about food he would say "oh thats low in sugar so should be fine", no it was not ok, it was 70gs carb per 100gs, and used white flour.  I would have been in a real mess if I had listened to my doctor, and no wonder why he was so shocked when I had reversed it.

My body needed time to heal after being bashed day after day with eating very high amounts of high GI food. I think I was on a minimum of 3,000gs carbs per day. I was very obese, a complete mess. Now I eat a healthily balanced diet, not low carb as some do, but healthily, and maintain a healthily weight and continue to exercise.


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## RFS (Sep 24, 2017)

I have just reduced portions still further. I tried (and utterly failed miserably) to sub almond flour or coconut flour for plain flour so I could still have my favourite Japanese Okonomiyaki pancakes ... in the end I just dropped the portion size from 75g to 60g and switched to spelt flour. A bit of a rise that settled in the second hour.

I tried, I really tried to enjoy the wholewheat pasta offered in the canteen where I freelance, and I failed. So again, reduce the quantity down and monitor to see what the effect is. A little spike that settled once the evening metformin SR kicked in. 

I have yet to try the strange wild rice/red rice/brown rice concoction my cousin suggested, and I invested in brown basmati rice, which I will try next week.


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## Beck S (Sep 24, 2017)

I haven't experimented with pasta yet,  but I'm going to try some this week. Measured out enough to fall in the 30g carbs per meal limit I've set myself at the moment, its not a happy sight. Still, it should satisfy my pasta craving.


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## RFS (Sep 26, 2017)

Beck S said:


> I haven't experimented with pasta yet,  but I'm going to try some this week. Measured out enough to fall in the 30g carbs per meal limit I've set myself at the moment, its not a happy sight. Still, it should satisfy my pasta craving.


What does that measurement come out to? I can't believe that back in the day (at Uni) I would have portions of pasta around 100g!!! Lord in heaven I dread to think what that is on a carb count!

I am thinking of dropping my pasta down to 50g


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## RFS (Sep 26, 2017)

Stitch147 said:


> I still have rice or pasta. I will have basmati rice now, which I rinse well before cooking. I usually have a couple of table spoons with homemade curry or chilli. And I am still able to have a small amount of pasta too. Potatoes are ok as long as I avoid mash!!! I still have the odd biscuit, but usually stop at 1, but I don't have biscuits in the house as my OH doesn't eat them and Id end up throwing them away.



Hahah yes I had mash in the staff canteen where I was freelancing yesterday and bounced from 4.7 to 9.2 in the first hour! We'll strike THAT one off the list on Sausage & Mash day in future!


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## Kaylz (Sep 26, 2017)

RFS said:


> Hahah yes I had mash in the staff canteen where I was freelancing yesterday and bounced from 4.7 to 9.2 in the first hour! We'll strike THAT one off the list on Sausage & Mash day in future!


Have to be careful of the sausages too! lol x


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## RFS (Sep 26, 2017)

Kaylz said:


> Have to be careful of the sausages too! lol x


I only had one, much to the complete disbelief of the woman serving. She was all "you know you can have, three, yes?" Yes Love... I realise that but I actually only want one!


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## Kaylz (Sep 26, 2017)

RFS said:


> I only had one, much to the complete disbelief of the woman serving. She was all "you know you can have, three, yes?" Yes Love... I realise that but I actually only want one!


Oh god no, I love sausages and could NEVER have just 1! Haha, the Tesco Finest ones are my fave and I always have 3!  x


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## Beck S (Sep 26, 2017)

RFS said:


> What does that measurement come out to? I can't believe that back in the day (at Uni) I would have portions of pasta around 100g!!! Lord in heaven I dread to think what that is on a carb count!
> 
> I am thinking of dropping my pasta down to 50g


40g of pasta is 29g of carbs (I'm using Tesco Fusilli as a measure).  It didn't look more than about 25-30 pieces of pasta.  I showed my housemate and then we were stunned to think that our normal amount of pasta is way, way beyond a healthy limit.



Kaylz said:


> Oh god no, I love sausages and could NEVER have just 1! Haha, the Tesco Finest ones are my fave and I always have 3!  x


Me neither!  I tell people that I'm having to diet because of my diabetes, and then sit down to a plate of sausage, bacon, and egg for breakfast.  Love it though.  I think canteen sausages are probably not the best for me though.


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## Kentoldlady (Sep 27, 2017)

The heck 97% meat sausages have (I think) the lowest carb count. I can have 2 with no problem.

And has anyone tried the "cook it twice " method for rice and pasta? I have not done this, just went cold turkey with no carbs, but wonder what others have found.


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## phonic2k (Sep 27, 2017)

I think the real problem is the struggle to change the way we eat, trying our best continue the way things were.

For me, I never went to cut size of meals, but changed completely the food I eat, including snacking, sleep, water intake, and more importantly exercise level(was zero). It's also a good idea to count your carb intake, as if you're not burning it, your pancreas will need to produce more insulin to deal with it, and if it can't, blood glucose goes too high. It's best to give it a rest and cut your carbs down, and eat to your activity levels.

If you really need to eat rice, you may want to check out Cauli rice, Low-GI and very low in carb, or Wholegrain Basmati rice and has the lowest GI (glycaemic index) of all rice types.

For bread you could try Lidl LowGI or high protein bread, I think other stores sell low go bread now, but not tried. It takes a complete life long change to deal with it.


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## Kaylz (Sep 27, 2017)

Kentoldlady said:


> The heck 97% meat sausages have (I think) the lowest carb count. I can have 2 with no problem.
> 
> And has anyone tried the "cook it twice " method for rice and pasta? I have not done this, just went cold turkey with no carbs, but wonder what others have found.


Tesco finest british traditional pork sausages are much lower at 1.6g carbs for 2 sausages x


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## Wirrallass (Sep 27, 2017)

Ditto said:


> There's no way we can have rice or pasta.  Or potatoes come to that. I feel fed-up thinking about it.  Also biscuits, we can't have them either I found out last night. Put me in double figures.
> 
> We've got to be healthy and boring.


To my knowledge I believe Rich Tea biscuits have the lowest amount of carbs in comparison with other bickies x


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## phonic2k (Sep 27, 2017)

Ditto said:


> There's no way we can have rice or pasta.  Or potatoes come to that. I feel fed-up thinking about it.  Also biscuits, we can't have them either I found out last night. Put me in double figures.
> 
> We've got to be healthy and boring.



I would not say being healthy is boring.  It's a choice, and for some a complete life change. If it's worth the effort, is up to you.

Over 2 years ago, I decided to be strict and kick myself into action(as painful as it was for me) and I got the reward from my hard work. However, I still don't eat junk, and never will again as I want to see my children enter University and get married one day, and so want to remain in good health as I can, as there are more serious health related problems that can be avoid(or reduce the risk of) by trying to live a heathy live than just type 2 diabetes.


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## Radders (Sep 27, 2017)

wirralass said:


> To my knowledge I believe Rich Tea biscuits have the lowest amount of carbs in comparison with other bickies x


Rich Tea are Soooooooo boring I would rather do without, I think. Garibaldis have 7g per biscuit, and I think the Lotus ones that Kaylz eats are even less, is that right Kaylz?


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## Kaylz (Sep 27, 2017)

Yeah the Lotus biscuits are 5.7g per biscuit, Tesco do a lovely milk chocolate Viennese thin that are 5.2g per biscuit and their vanilla Viennese thins are only 4g per biscuit x


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## Wirrallass (Sep 27, 2017)

Radders said:


> Rich Tea are Soooooooo boring I would rather do without, I think. Garibaldis have 7g per biscuit, and I think the Lotus ones that Kaylz eats are even less, is that right Kaylz?


........but rich tea are sooooo nice dunked in a cuppa tea I love Garibaldis, one of my favourites  x


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## Ralph-YK (Sep 28, 2017)

phonic2k said:


> your carb intake, as if you're not burning it, your pancreas will need to produce more insulin to deal with it


burning as in use! My understanding is that the insulin is so your cells can use (burn) the blood glucose.  So insulin is produced so you can burn it.  Whether _more_ insulin is produced if your not using it I don't. I don't see why more insulin is needed if your not using it in particular.


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## Beck S (Sep 28, 2017)

Kaylz said:


> Yeah the Lotus biscuits are 5.7g per biscuit, Tesco do a lovely milk chocolate Viennese thin that are 5.2g per biscuit and their vanilla Viennese thins are only 4g per biscuit x


This may be my favourite post today!! Very good to know.


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## phonic2k (Sep 28, 2017)

Ralph-YK said:


> burning as in use! My understanding is that the insulin is so your cells can use (burn) the blood glucose.  So insulin is produced so you can burn it.  Whether _more_ insulin is produced if your not using it I don't. I don't see why more insulin is needed if your not using it in particular.



With type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes, you have a higher level of insulin resistance to a point your pancreas can't cope anymore, as your pancreas is over producing, and continuing to eat high carb meals will only make things worse.  It was logical to me to try and give it a rest.

When you exercise you burn the energy, and a good way to use up any excess blood glucose and more importantly makes your muscles more sensitive to insulin for hours after helping with reversing insulin resistance.  Like today 5.7 before, 3.7 after. and next meal 4.9mmol/l at 1 hour 30. 2 hours 4.6. I would not expect this low, normally 5s for me, but exercise supercharges the body.

Increased muscle glucose uptake after exercise. No need for insulin during exercise.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3899806


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## Kentoldlady (Sep 30, 2017)

Kaylz said:


> Tesco finest british traditional pork sausages are much lower at 1.6g carbs for 2 sausages x



Did not know this.. thanks! Have just got 4 packs of heck, so think the rest of the family might be eating alot of them for a while cos I will switch to tesco!


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## Kaylz (Sep 30, 2017)

Kentoldlady said:


> Did not know this.. thanks! Have just got 4 packs of heck, so think the rest of the family might be eating alot of them for a while cos I will switch to tesco!


Me and my partner love the Tesco ones, they are delicious!  x


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## Radders (Sep 30, 2017)

wirralass said:


> ........but rich tea are sooooo nice dunked in a cuppa tea I love Garibaldis, one of my favourites  x


I have happy memories attached to Rich Tea biscuits: as a small child staying at my Grandparents my brother and I would join them in their room for their morning cuppa and they taught us to dunk Rich Teas! I still find them dull though. Garibaldis on the other hand are much more interesting!


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## PURPLESALLY (Oct 6, 2017)

Love Rich Tea dunked in coffee BUT NO WILL POWER so 1 would lead to half a packet. So that's a no buy then!!!!!


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## Mark Parrott (Oct 6, 2017)

I can only east biscuits dunked.  There was a time that I could get through a packet when dunking.  How i've managed to control myself now, I don't know.


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## Vicsetter (Oct 6, 2017)

Back to the original topic....
Try brown rice, the extra fibre over white rice means it has a GI of 50 instead of White Rice which is 89!
Takes longer to cook of course but it does have more flavour.


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