Balancing carbohydrates in the body with medications is critical for people with diabetes. Consuming too many carbohydrates but not taking enough medication can send blood sugar soaring. Consuming too few carbohydrates and too much medication can send blood sugar plummeting. Neither situation is good.
Counting the amount of carbohydrates in each meal or snack can help balance medications while stabilizing blood sugar levels.
How many carbohydrates should I eat at each meal?
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Half of each meal. The USDA recommends that 45% to 65% of your calorie intake should come from carbohydrates. This can be interpreted as half of your meal should be carbohydrates.
Counting carbohydrates in grams
To be more accurate, you can count carbohydrates. You can tell how many grams of carbohydrates a packaged food contains by reading the Nutrition Facts label. For non-packaged foods, you can find information online.
The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for carbohydrates is 130 grams. This translates to an intake per meal of:
- Men consume 60 to 75 grams of carbohydrate per meal;
- Women consume 45-60 grams of carbohydrate per meal.
Food choices for carbohydrates
Food choices can help monitor the amount of carbohydrates eaten into the body. With this approach, you can consume a certain “unit” of selective carbohydrate at each meal or meal.
- Men can consume 4 to 5 units of carbohydrate per meal.
- Females can consume 3 to 4 units of carbohydrate per meal.
- For both men and women, 1 or 2 units of carbohydrate should be consumed at each snack.
So what is 1 unit of carbohydrate?
So what is 1 unit of carbohydrate or 1 serving of carbohydrate?1 unit of carbohydrate is a food that contains about 15 grams of carbohydrate.
For example, 1 slice of bread is 1 unit of carbohydrate. A quarter of a large baked potato is also 1 unit of carbohydrate. So a baked potato contains the maximum amount of carbohydrate you should eat in a meal.
For more information on how many units of carbohydrate are in different foods, look online. You can also consult a dietitian or diabetes educator.
In general, it is best to keep the amount of carbohydrate you consume at each meal roughly the same. This eliminates the need to make many adjustments to your medication.
But Dawn Sherr, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Association of Diabetes Educators, points out that these are just basic ranges of carbohydrate intake.
“The specifics need to be determined based on the patient’s needs and goals. For example, are they losing weight? Is it trying to control cholesterol? Are there other health issues?” She explained, “Stay in communication with a doctor, diabetes educator or dietitian who can help adjust the range of carbohydrate intake to achieve goals.”
How do I know how many carbohydrates are in my food?
Be aware and check your food portions. Toby Smithson, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, says it’s difficult to know how many carbohydrates are in the food you eat, depending on the size of the serving and how many servings you’re eating.
“People today are used to eating fast and can inadvertently eat more than they think. We’ve gotten so used to restaurants and packing larger portions that what we think is 1 serving may actually be 2 or 3.”
Smithson suggests that reading labels may help, but it’s best to experiment in your own kitchen. “Measure 1 serving in a measuring cup and pour it onto a plate or bowl to see exactly how much it is. This will help prepare you for a meal out or a visit to a relative or friend’s house.”
Another way is to pour the food you normally eat into a bowl first, then use a measuring cup to scoop it out in portions. “One person’s bowl of cereal is not the same as another person’s. Some people may be used to having 1 serving of cereal in the morning, while others may be used to having 2.”
Smithson emphasized that it’s important to remember that foods like fresh fruit can vary greatly in content depending on their size. “An apple may contain 15 to 30 grams, or even 45 grams of carbohydrates, depending on its size.”
Use the mobile app. sherr encourages everyone to use technology products. “Many restaurants have nutrition facts on their websites, plus there are mobile apps that present information about common foods.” She said, adding that mobile apps can help you plan ahead when preparing for a meal out or buying essentials.
Stick to the tracker
Different foods have different effects on blood sugar. It depends on the type and amount of carbohydrates consumed and the insulin or medication taken, in addition to other factors such as frequency of exercise, Smithson said.
“I have patients keep a food diary from time to time. It takes a day or two to find out how diet relates to blood glucose readings.” Smithson said.
She advises patients to write down the type of food and amount of carbohydrates they eat, the insulin or medications they take, whether they exercise or do other physical activity, and their blood sugar readings.
“Try it yourself.” She added, “If you find that your blood sugar level rises after eating potatoes, then you can reduce the portion size or change the medication you take the next time you eat potatoes.”
Smithson said it’s important not to beat yourself up if you make a mistake counting carbs. “It can be confusing or overwhelming to do this at first. Remember, managing diabetes can be about more than just managing food. We focus on carbohydrates because they have the most direct effect on blood sugar, but that’s not the only factor that affects blood sugar.”
Not all carbohydrates are created equal
Remember that different carbohydrates have different effects on blood sugar. It is also important to understand that the body uses both single and complex carbohydrates to produce energy, and they have different effects on the body.
Single carbohydrates are sugars. The body digests single carbohydrates very quickly, so it raises blood sugar levels quickly. Such carbohydrates include sugars added to processed foods, such as:
- sucrose;
- Syrup;
- honey;
- High fructose corn syrup;
- Juice concentrate.
Fruit and milk contain natural single carbohydrates.
Compound carbohydrates are starches. They take longer to digest in the body than single carbohydrates. Therefore it takes longer after ingestion to affect blood sugar. The following foods contain complex carbohydrates:
- bread;
- Cereal;
- Rice;
- Pasta;
- Tortillas;
- Biscuits;
- Pretzels;
- Beans;
- Potatoes and yams;
- Peas;
- Corn;
- Whole fruit.
Fiber is also a carbohydrate, but the human body can’t digest it, so it doesn’t affect blood sugar.
Reading the Nutrition Facts label can help us understand the total amount of carbohydrates in a serving of food. Ask your doctor, diabetes educator, or dietitian if you can subtract any grams of fiber from the total carbohydrate count. Some carbohydrate counting methods consider it possible to subtract, while other methods require a full carbohydrate count.
When choosing carbohydrates, keep in mind that certain foods are healthier, Sherr emphasized. “The less processed a food is, the better.” Whole grains have a different effect on the body than sugary foods. “This is because the process of processing grains into flour removes fiber and nutrients. So when you need to slowly raise your blood sugar, you should choose whole grains, vegetables and fruits and other natural foods, rather than processed foods or beverages.