Help with food labels?

Question

My mum has diabetes. What do we need to know about sugar content in foods and how much of the carbs turn to sugar? How is the best way to analyse this information. She has Type 2

Answer 1

Don't get too bogged down with studying labels and trying to count carbs, just be sensible, keep sugar intake as low as she can get it (surprising what you can become used to), steer clear of so called diabetic foods (they taste like crap, cause you to gorge on so called guilt free treats, that also have a price to pay).

Carbs and sugars are what you look at, carbs turn to sugar/ energy when eaten.

Get interested in G.I. (glyceamic index) cookery and foods, it's not just another fad diet, for us diabetics, it's a good way of controlling intake.

Wish your Mum well, she really is not alone, and there is an awful lot of professional help out there that she should make full use of.

Get her to exercise regularly and most importantly of all don't let it ruin her life

Answer 2

Look at total carbohydrate content, as carbs are more significant than the sugars (some people will argue with this but im diabetic type 2 and have just done an expert patient course!). Of course you dont just ignore the sugars they have a role to play as well but watch the carbs and the sugars will be ok. Carbs are actually turned into sugar by the body.
Its really trial and error as to find what will suit your mum. Make a note of what carbs she has and the effect on her blood glucose, then you have a measure to adjust intake by....either up or down as needed.
Jesters suggestion of the GI diet is excellent, I use it too and it has helped my control to the extent that I have been able to lower my medication (on doctors advice!).
Again as Jester says exercise is important.
Good luck.

Answer 3

100% of carbs turn into sugar. Sorry I have type 1 so I don't know what the appropriate amount for someone with type 2 diabetes to eat is. On the above comment on fiber - the only reason that salad might improve your blood sugars is because it doesn't contain any carbs. There are lots of foods with no or hardly any carbs, eg. vegetables, meat, nuts, dairy. If your mum's struggling to know what to eat maybe should could ask her dr to refer her to a dietition. Also check out diabetes uk's web site: www.diabetes.org.uk.

Answer 4

All Carbs turn into sugar. Different types of cargs will affect the BS in different ways. example white rice will raise BS higher then Long grain wild rice or brown rice. Whe? you might ak because we humans have proccessed it making it take less timeand energy in our bodiesto digest it. Your Mom should have been given a meal plan telling her how many carbs, protien, fats and veg, she can have with each meal and or snack. When reading a label rember 15 grams of carbs equal 1 carb exchange. However the carbs in whole GRAIN bread is going to raise her BS alot less then white bread. Theclosest to how food is found in nature is the best way to eat it. For amounts or size portions your mom can use her hand. Your palm is the size of your protien exchange. make a fist and that isthe size of most carb exchanges, distance between point of index finger and thumb is banna, margrine is the size of your tumb from nail bed totip of finger, salad dressing cream cheese sour cream and the like if the size of your thumb. Soforabaked pot. tocount as 1 carb it can be no larger then the size of her closed fist. Diabetic education would really help her and yourselves. Most hospitals either have a program or can referre toa diatician. Insurance including medicare and most states medicaid will pay for these classes becuse proper compliance todiet and medication lowers the riskof life threatening and very expensive complications of Diabetes in the future. I am 40 as of today and have been a diabetic for 30 years and still have both legs my vision and function ofmy kidneys.

Answer 5

look for the carbohydrates of which sugars on the nutrition label present on all food products. take into account what sort of food item it is, for example pasta already has a high carbohydrate content so pick up a few different ones and compare the sugar content.....just another handy hint Thorntons do a great chocolate range specifically for diabetics. Remember having diabetes doesn't mean your mum has to starve she will just need to pay more attention on the sugar content of food products and eat regularly. I wish her all the best.

Answer 6

look at all food labels. a diabetic can eat something w/ 15 grams or less of sugar per package. Watch serving sizes too. a can of soda has 45 grams of sugar/serving but has 2.5 servigs per can. that's 90 grams per can! You really have to watch portion sizes for carbs and must limit white flour products as much as possible. The best thing you can do is go to a dietician and have the portion sizes explained and a caloric diet done for her size and weight.

Answer 7

Look for total carbohydrates. This indicates what will be broken down into simple sugars in order for your body to make use of it.

You will find that if you just use the figure given as 'carbohydrates of which sugars' this will not take all the carbohydrate content into consideration.

Hopefully, your mother will have seen a dietitian, or been given some indication of how many carbohydrates she should be aiming for within a 24 hour period.

Answer 8

dont get too carried away with food labels a healthy diet is ok for a diabetic person if you want to check the pack stick to sugar 4 or less and avoid diabetic foods they are expensive and can give you the runs

Answer 9

All carbs, with exception of fiber, are converted to glucose. Choose foods with the highest fiber content. Fiber is not digested and has no impact on glucose levels EXCEPT it slows digestion of other carbs and allows for slower release of glucose into your bloodstream. that gives the body more time to deal with glucose so that you get less of a rise in glucose levels.

Answer 10

Fiber helps to balance blood sugar. Salads are great (just be careful of the dressing), and stay away from breaded chicken.