Question on eating candy-serious (buy, blood, diet, fasting)
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Just curious on this. I recently attended a class on diabetes nutrition and did learn a few things I'd never really retained in the past. I'm 6'5, 250 and advised I can do up to a 60-70 carb count per meal and basically eat what you want. Obviously the healthier the food (lower carbs) the more you can intake without going over. But, what happens if someone takes a bag of candy and the carbs contained within are say 15 carbs per oz. Can I (I'm not) eat say 4 oz and stay at 60 carbs and this be a meal? This just sounds absurd but I never thought to ask the diabetic nutritionist this while I was there.
Obviously the best thing to do would be to just avoid candy forever. But it's hard to live like that, so just choose your candy wisely and don't do it very often. If you buy a pack of snack size bars and let yourself have one a day, that's usually enough to give you the flavor and enjoyment of the candy without eating the whole package. Things like chocolate and candy with peanut butter are not quite as bad for you as licorice or jelly beans, which are pretty much straight carbs without any fat or protein.
The other reason it's better to have a small portion of candy as a snack than to replace a meal with candy is that you'll be hungry a lot sooner if all you eat is candy. It doesn't fill you up like a balanced meal will.
And the other thing you're probably wondering is if having a slice of cake on your birthday or another special occasion will doom your good efforts the rest of the time. It won't. The trick is to have the occasional splurge rather than everyday overindulgence.
It wouldn't be a very good meal, just empty calories. Not sure why you'd want to do that.
But your glucometer would probably give you a decent blood sugar reading, if that's all you're concerned about.
Is it your height/size that allows you to eat 60 carbs per meal? I can't go over 15-20 carbs per meal without raising my blood sugar too high.
First off. I'm not going to eat that much candy for my carbs I was just wondering how it worked. Can someone eat that much and not go over their carb limit and still see a tolerable BS reading? I know it's empty calories and dumb to do. Just trying to better understand this.
Regards to my carb intake. I've been to two diabetic nutritionists with the most recent one last week while I was hospitalized. Both said the same thing without knowledge of the other's comment. The most recent one said if I go to low on carbs then I likely won't feel satiated and will snack on something I probably shouldn't. My wife was with me and at 5'2 and around 140 she was told she's at the 50 carb count and she is not diabetic so your 15-20 sounds low. Based on my little knowledge of course.
You never mentioned if you were on insulin or meds.
The 60 grams figure is recommended by the ADA for people on insulin. Since the insulin lowers it a set amount you have to raise it by a certain amount to balance. The preferred way to do it is eat less carbs and take less insulin and try to prevent the lows that can be deadly. It is ludicrous to go by the 60g's per meal recommendation. If you dont get to the 60g and then take insulin you could go too low. It's a like a seesaw.
I try to keep it at 60g per day, 20 per meal. If you are on medications this works out differently. There are too many variables to go by someone else's recommendations. If you want to believe the "establishment" and go with the 60g per meal that is fine. It may work out for you or it may not but why leave things to chance. Learn to use your meter to test yourself fasting and after meals. This is even more crucial if you are on insulin. The idea is to stay at or below 140 at all times and you will probably be struggling to keep it under 180 which is what the ADA recommends. The 180 is too high in my opinion as is the 60g.
I've been diagnosed over 10yrs and have probably been T2 longer than that. I never got a thing. I was told to take the medication and that was it.
The type of carbs do not seem to matter. I stay away from sugar as much as possible as well as flour, rice, potatoes and corn. Eating those foods can quickly get your carbs way up and they are generally not good for you. You must be newly diagnosed. Sugar is like poison to diabetics and in reality you should not even be eating ANY sugar.
Can someone eat that much and not go over their carb limit and still see a tolerable BS reading?
As I mentioned before, your glucometer would probably give you a decent reading with it, if that is your normal carb limit. All your glucometer knows is how much sugar is in your blood...it doesn't know or care if you ate a balanced meal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigfoot424
... so your 15-20 sounds low. Based on my little knowledge of course.
My recommended carb count is courtesy of my glucometer.
The thing about candy is that one piece leads to another. No surprise as sugar is highly addictive in nature. That said, what do you guys think about the Atkins candies and cookies? Do you think that they are ok to have occasionally?
The thing about candy is that one piece leads to another. No surprise as sugar is highly addictive in nature. That said, what do you guys think about the Atkins candies and cookies? Do you think that they are ok to have occasionally?
The sugar free kind are fine to have occasionally, but the operative word here is occasionally. Some of the sugar free stuff, particularly the sugar alcohols, have unintended laxative effects. Sweeteners such as stevia and monk fruit are being used more often to make goodies but they tend to be expensive and the other ingredients in them are not calorie free. I do like to occasionally indulge in Lily or Choc Zero treats. There are also some candies and cookies out there specifically designed to fit in with the keto diet, if that is the route you are going. I will warn you though, many folks will tell you some of these products are acquired tastes because none of them fully replicate that sugar magic.
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The sugar free kind are fine to have occasionally, but the operative word here is occasionally. Some of the sugar free stuff, particularly the sugar alcohols, have unintended laxative effects. Sweeteners such as stevia and monk fruit are being used more often to make goodies but they tend to be expensive and the other ingredients in them are not calorie free. I do like to occasionally indulge in Lily or Choc Zero treats. There are also some candies and cookies out there specifically designed to fit in with the keto diet, if that is the route you are going. I will warn you though, many folks will tell you some of these products are acquired tastes because none of them fully replicate that sugar magic.
As a newly diagnosed diabetic (I am 73) I dislike any of the "fake sugar" treats. I find that I can have a couple small pieces of chocolate without driving up my sugar. The trick is SMALL portion, and consumed immediately after a meal, never by itself.
As a newly diagnosed diabetic (I am 73) I dislike any of the "fake sugar" treats. I find that I can have a couple small pieces of chocolate without driving up my sugar. The trick is SMALL portion, and consumed immediately after a meal, never by itself.
Lol, when I was younger and saccharine was the only sugar-free choice I discovered peanut m&m’s drove my sugar up less than plain ones, so if I were truly desperate I’d have about 6-10 of them. Usually right before my period. Imagine that.
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