What Do I Need To Get Started Counting Carbohydrates
To get you started counting carbohydrates, pick up these items:
- A calculator
- Measuring cups
- A food scale
It is tempting to eyeball or guesstimate food measurements. However, when you first begin carbohydrate counting, dont guess. Use measuring cups to see what portion sizes look like you may be surprised! For some foods, weighing out your food portion on a food scale may also be helpful. Estimating 1/2 cup of breakfast cereal, or selecting one ounce of bread or fruit isnt as easy as you might think.
To sum up, here are some tips about getting started with carbohydrate counting:
Create Your Own Meal Plan
This menu is only a three-day example of all the delicious foods you can fit into one day and while maintaining a 1200-calorie diet. If you need more variety, there are many nutritious foods you can enjoy, you simply need to learn how to calculate the nutritional value so you stay on track.
Using a recipe nutrition calculator can take all of the guesswork out of what you’re eating. To use it, simply input the recipe you’d like to make and it will give you an easy to read the nutrition label. You can also use it for side dishes, snacks, and beverages.
If the results for your recipe show it has too many calories for your diet, you can make adjustments. You can edit each ingredient and the calculator will show you a number of popular options to choose from.
This can be very useful when making out your shopping list. You’ll have a clearer idea of which options are lower in calories, fat, and sugar. Having a little knowledge before you hit the store can really help you make better decisions.
White Bread Tiger Bread Pumpernickel Bread Granary Bread Flat Bread Seeded And Pitta Bread
Serve with:
- lean chicken, ham, turkey or beef plus chopped tomatoes, grated carrot and cucumber
- egg and cress, with a little reduced-fat mayo and black pepper
- cottage cheese mixed with salsa and sweetcorn
- reduced-fat cheddar with grated carrot and sultanas
- Tabasco sauce, horseradish, mustard and chili sauce for a real fiery kick in jazzed-up sandwiches.
Per slice:
- White: 79Kcal 16.6g carbs 0.6g fat
- Tiger: 97Kcal 17g carbs 0.83g fat
- Granary: 85Kcal 17g carbs 0.8g fat
- Pumpernickel: 76Kcal 14.5g carbs 0.5g fat
- Pitta: 244Kcal 18.5g carbs 1.2g fat
- Seeded: 174Kcal 29.6g carbs 4.8g fat
- Bagel: 230Kcal 44g carbs 1.2g fat
Don’t Miss: Number Of Grams Of Sugar Per Day For Diabetic
Carbohydrates Per Day For A Borderline Diabetic Woman
If you have prediabetes, develop an exercise routine and adjust your eating habits in favor of nutritious whole grains rather than refined carbohydrates.
If you have prediabetes, your doctor will probably recommend lifestyle changes to prevent the development of Type 2 diabetes 18. You may have to adjust your diet as part of those changes, and its possible that reducing your carb intake can help you lose weight to prevent the onset of the disease.
How Many Carbs Are Right For You
To determine the right amount of carb grams to aim for in your eating plan, choose one of the categories below that best matches your stature, weight status, weight goals and activity level.
Consider the targets a starting point. Get a referral from your primary care provider or endocrinologist to meet with a dietitian and diabetes educator, and/or to attend a diabetes self-management education and support program to determine the best goals for your health.
Category 1: A Woman of Small Stature Who Wants to Lose Weight
You’re a woman who wants to lose weight, is small in stature and/or gets limited exercise. Consider the following:
Height: 4’10” to 5’2″
Daily calorie range: 2,300â2,800
Carb grams/day range*: 259â455 grams
Carb grams/meal range : 86â151 grams
*Based on 45â65% of calories from carbohydrate.
Note: Men who are under 65 years of age, moderate to large in stature, at a healthy weight and get a lot of exercise may need more calories and grams of carbohydrate.
Don’t Miss: What Is Considered Low Blood Sugar For Type 2 Diabetes
What Happens When We Eat Carbohydrates Protein And Fat
âYour blood insulin responds very differently to different macronutrients. Fat does not impact blood insulin levels. Carbs have a high impact, and protein impacts them moderately, but fat has no impact.
Carbs and fats can both provide energy for the bodyâbut not at the same time. When carbs are abundant in the diet, carbs function as the preferred fuel source. But when carbs are limited in the diet, fat becomes the preferred fuel source.
When you reduce your intake of one macronutrient, you have to increase your intake of at least one other macronutrient to avoid feeling hungry and not have enough energy.
In a low carb, high-fat diet, fat provides you with the energy your body needs, and it also reduces hunger and cravings.
Gestational Diabetes Treatment Plan
Many women with gestational diabetes have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies because they follow the treatment plan that their health care providers set up for them.
One of the most important things you can do to help ensure a healthy pregnancy is to make regular health care appointments and keep them.
A general treatment plan to control gestational diabetes may include these items:
- Knowing your blood sugar level and keeping it under control
- Eating a healthy, balanced diet
- Getting regular, moderate physical activity
- Maintaining a healthy weight gain
- Keeping daily records of your diet, physical activity, and glucose levels
- Taking medications as prescribed, you may need a medication if:
- Your blood sugar level is too high.
- Your blood sugar level is high too many times.
- Your blood sugar level remains high, but you are not gaining much weight or are not eating poorly.
- You cannot safely add physical activity to your treatment plan.
What If You’re Making Healthy Choices And Still Have High Blood Sugar
According to American Diabetes Association guidelines, most people with type 2 diabetes should start taking a blood glucose-lowering medication, typically metformin , as soon as they are diagnosed.
Most people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes have had blood sugar levels in the diabetes range for months if not years before diagnosis. Don’t think of taking blood glucose-lowering medication as failing. Type 2 diabetes, with prediabetes as its starting point, is a progressive disease during which people slowly lose their insulin-making capabilities over time. It’s of no health value to severely restrict the amount of carbs you eat to manage your blood sugar levels and/or to delay medication. The recommended course of action to stay healthy with type 2 diabetes is to get blood glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure numbers under control soon after the time of diagnosis-and maintain target goals-adjusting diet and medication as needed.
Great Now Which Foods Have Carbs
Generally, the foods with the highest carbohydrate counts are grains, starchy vegetables, sugar, and processed foods.
Low-carb foods include leafy vegetables, lean meats, dairy, oils, nuts, and seeds. These foods wont spike your blood sugar and will help your energy levels feel more even throughout the day, especially when eaten consistently at every meal.
Three Ways To Plan Meals
Some people with diabetes use a program called the exchange meal plan as a guide for what they eat each day. The exchange meal plan is really useful for people with diabetes who are overweight or who need to pay close attention to the balance of calories and nutrients they eat each day.
For this meal plan, foods are divided into six groups: starch, fruit, milk, fat, vegetable, and meat. The plan sets a serving size for foods in each group. And each serving has a similar amount of calories, protein, carbohydrate, and fat. This allows a person some flexibility in planning meals because they can exchange, or substitute, choices from a food list. The number of servings from each food group recommended for each meal and snack is based on the total number of calories that the person needs each day.
The other two types of meal plans help make sure that the amount of carbohydrates that a person’s eating matches up with the insulin or other diabetes medicines he or she is taking. Focusing on carbohydrate intake is important because carbs are mainly responsible for the rise in blood sugar that occurs after eating. With the constant carbohydrate meal plan, the person eats a certain amount of carbohydrates in each meal and snack. Then he or she takes insulin or other diabetes medicines at the same times and in the same amounts each day. This plan is easy to follow for people who usually eat and exercise about the same amount from day to day.
Page 4
Type 2 Diabetes: How Many Carbs Per Meal
If youve had a type 2 diabetes diagnosis for more than about 5 minutes, you may have come across some misguided nutrition advice stating that you can eat several hundred grams of carbohydrates every day and still achieve good blood sugar control.
Many diabetes-centered publications even suggest that you should consume plenty of high-carb grains like rice, oats, and wheat regularly. While this advice may be acceptable for the general population, if you have diabetes, knowing how many
Heres what we suggest you do instead
Give a nutrient-dense low carb diet a try!
Here at DMP, our goal is to help you treat your diabetes through healthy diet and lifestyle changes. We dont want you to merely get by. We want you to thrive! Thats why we continually push a science-backed, lower carb approach for those with type 2 diabetes and prediabetes.
A whole food, low carb diet has been shown to be the best diet for improving fasting blood sugar levels, A1c, cholesterol, blood pressure, weight, inflammation, and other factors over the long-haul.
So, now you may be wondering what a low carb diet looks like in practice. How do you pick a carb goal for yourself and how do you plan your meals accordingly?
How Do You Know How Many Carbs Are In What Youre Eating
Be mindfuland check your portion sizes. Knowing how many carbs youâre eating can be tricky because it depends on serving size and how many servings you eat, says Toby Smithson, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
âNowadays we can get into the habit of eating our meals really fast and eating more than we think without even realizing it. Weâre used to seeing larger portions in restaurants and packaging, and what we think is one serving may actually be two or three.â
Reading labels helps, but itâs best to experiment in your own kitchen, Smithson says. âPour a serving into a measuring cup, and then pour it onto your plate or into your bowl to see how it looks. This will help you prepare for going out to restaurants or to your friendsâ or relativesâ houses.â
Another strategy is to pour what you normally eat into your bowl first, then scoop it out with a measuring cup, Sherr says. âOne personâs bowl of cereal is different from anotherâs. One person might be used to eating one serving of cereal for breakfast while another is used to eating two.â
Keep in mind that foods like fresh fruit can vary greatly by size, Smithson says. âAn apple can be anywhere from 15 to 30 or even 45 grams of carbs depending on how big it is.â
Tips For Prediabetes And Diabetes Meal Planning
WASECA, Minn. Poor diet can obviously lead to health problems and weight gain. Conversely, proper food choices help people become healthier and manage certain conditions. For those with diabetes and prediabetes appropriate monitoring and management of diet is extremely important. Mayo Clinic Health System registered dietitian Sue Seykora offers these meal-planning tips to help keep diabetes under control and maybe avoid it all together.
Carbohydrate counting
Carbohydrate counting is a meal-planning approach that focuses on the total number of carbs consumed. It’s an easy method to follow and allows variety in food choices that fit preferences and lifestyle.
Most of the foods you eat contain carbs: breads, crackers, pasta, rice, potatoes, milk and many more. Carbs are often thought of as bad foods. In reality, your body needs carbs to create energy. The problem is that many people dont choose healthy types and amounts of carbs. People should consume healthier carbs like fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy foods. All foods even healthy foods need portion control, says Seykora.
Although there is no universal amount of carbs you should ingest, the following guidelines serve as a good starting point and can be adjusted as needed :
- Women: Three to four carb servings per meal one serving for a snack
- Men: Four to five carb servings per meal one to two for a snack
The plate method
Actions for people with prediabetes
No Cost Health Kit To Lower Your Risk Of Diabetes
Keeping your prediabetic carbs per day in check can lower your risk for diabetes by helping you lose weight and by preventing wild blood sugar swings. Its not so difficult to be sensible about healthy carbs. Choose 1 to 3 small servings of healthy carbs per meal or snack, and you will be well on your way!
How Do You Determine Your Optimal Carb Intake
To determine your ideal carb intake, measure your blood sugar with a blood glucose meter before a meal and again 12 hours after eating.
To prevent damage to your blood vessels and nerves, the maximum level your blood sugar should reach is 180 milligrams per deciliter , or 10 millimoles per liter , 2 hours after eating. However, you may want to aim for an even lower ceiling .
To achieve your blood sugar goals, you may need to restrict your carb intake to less than 10, 15, or 25 grams per meal. Also, you may find that your blood sugar rises more at certain times of the day, so your upper carb limit may be lower for dinner than for breakfast or lunch.
In general, the fewer carbs you consume, the less your blood sugar will rise and the less insulin or diabetes medication youll require to stay within a healthy range.
If you take insulin or diabetes medication, its very important to speak with a healthcare professional to ensure the appropriate dosage before reducing your carb intake.
SUMMARY
Determining the optimal carb intake for diabetes management requires testing your blood sugar and making adjustments as needed based on your response, including how you feel.
Many studies support the use of carb restriction in people with diabetes. Research has confirmed that many levels of carb restriction can effectively lower blood sugar levels.
Blood Sugar Levels And Carb Intake: Why It Matters
There are two main misconceptions around carbohydrates.
The first is that all carbohydrates are bad for you, and the second is that carbohydrates are the cause of diabetes.
First things first all carbohydrates are not the same. Refined carbohydrates found in artificial sweeteners enter your bloodstream quickly and can cause elevated blood glucose quickly after eating a meal.
On the other hand, whole carbohydrates found in fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains are surrounded by fibers and a host of micronutrients. As a result, your digestive system absorbs glucose at a reasonable physiological rate, resulting in a slow rise in your post-meal glucose.
Second, carbohydrates are not the underlying cause of diabetes, which can be a bit confusing at first since blood glucose levels are the key measurement for people living with all forms of diabetes. Since the goal with all forms of diabetes is to regain control of your blood glucose, it seems natural to carb count.
However, its important to understand that high blood glucose levels are a symptom of diabetes, not the root cause.
The underlying cause of most struggles with diabetes is actually an excess of dietary fat, which creates insulin resistance, which in turn increases your blood glucose values in the fasting and fed state.
Insulin resistance is the direct cause of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, and can be an additional complication some people experience on top of type 1 diabetes.
Where To Get Started With Carbs
Since most people usually have to lower carb intake quite a bit, 120 grams is often a comfortable place to start and then you can tweak and reduce your own individual intake from there.
In the 30 Day Turnaround Program, we show you how to reduce your carbs to lower blood sugar and A1c, giving you delicious healthy food options, ideas, and alternatives for all the normal high carb foods you might be used to eating.
But, lets break 120 grams down per meal right now.
Carbs per meal
- 2 x snacks: 15 g carbs each or 3 x snacks 10 g carbs each
This tends to work fairly well for the majority of people when getting started.