Part 3: Carbohydrate counting
Sunday lunch, and Rasheed sahib has a theory: only roti raises sugar. His family is about to prove him wrong, one katori at a time.
Tap someone in the picture to hear from them.
Sunday lunch at Rasheed sahib's house. Since the day of his hypo at the shop, he wants to understand what's on his plate.
“Only roti raises sugar, right? The chicken is safe. And mangoes are fruit, so they're healthy.”
Tap someone in the picture to hear from them.
“Let's test you, then.”
Which of these raises blood sugar the most?
Tap an answer to see what happens.
AA boiled egg
What happens instead
Rice is almost all carbohydrate. Eggs, chicken and oil have almost none.
BA plate of boiled rice
✓ The right step
Rice is almost all carbohydrate. Eggs, chicken and oil have almost none.
A plate of boiled rice is about four.
CA portion of chicken tikka
What happens instead
Rice is almost all carbohydrate. Eggs, chicken and oil have almost none.
Tap someone in the picture to hear from them.
Carbohydrate is the part of food that turns into glucose, and it raises blood sugar faster and further than anything else. It is in roti, rice, bread, daal and chana, potatoes, fruit, milk and dahi, and anything with sugar.
“So the mangoes count too.”
Meat, fish, eggs, oil and ghee have almost none. That doesn't make them free — they carry calories — but they won't raise your sugar the way roti does.
Many diabetes teams count in 'carb choices' of 15 g. A 6-inch roti, a small apple and a small banana are one choice each. A plate of boiled rice is about four.
“So my two rotis are two choices.”
“Let's count your plate, Chachu.”
Total: 63 g, about four carb choices. Swap one roti for half a plate of rice and the total becomes about 80 g.
- 2 rotis: 30 g
- 1 katori daal: 20 g
- 1 plate salad: 5 g
- 1 katori dahi: 8 g
Tap someone in the picture to hear from them.
“I'm on mealtime insulin, so I match each dose to the carbs I eat.”
People on mealtime insulin can match each dose to the carbohydrate they eat, using an insulin-to-carbohydrate ratio.
Your ratio, and any correction for high readings, has to come from your own diabetes team. This course and the carb counter count carbohydrate; they never calculate a dose.
Tap someone in the picture to hear from them.
“And if someone takes the same insulin every day?”
If you take the same insulin doses every day, the ADA advises keeping the carbohydrate at each meal about the same, at about the same times, from day to day. Big swings — a light lunch one day, a biryani the next — make hypos and highs more likely.
“Then no more light lunch on Monday and biryani on Tuesday.”
What to remember
- It is in roti, rice, bread, daal and chana, potatoes, fruit, milk and dahi, and anything with sugar.
- Meat, fish, eggs, oil and ghee have almost none.
- Many diabetes teams count in 'carb choices' of 15 g.
- A 6-inch roti, a small apple and a small banana are one choice each.
- Your ratio, and any correction for high readings, has to come from your own diabetes team.