BG control - what meals work best for you?

rheddmobile

Let's talk about blood glucose control! Different people respond very differently to the same foods. Do you have any favorite meals which work particularly well for helping you keep your blood sugar steady? Any foods or food combinations which are unexpectedly bad?

I've been eating oatmeal for breakfast recently - I aim for a 500 calorie breakfast. The following combination seems to work particularly well for me: (4 servings) 1/2 cup steel cut oats made with 3 cups 2% milk, 1/2 cup walnut pieces, and 2 small Granny Smith apples. When serving Mix in 1 tbsp all natural peanut butter per serving, side of .5 cup 2% cottage cheese. 35g net carbs, 492 calories. Despite this having 35 g carbs, it seems to magically not spike my blood glucose at all - often it's lower after eating than before.

On the other hand, flour tortillas really spike me - a 26g carb tortilla consistently puts me high for over two hours.

Anyone else? Please post about what works for you!

nvmomketo

I usually eat an animal based ketogenic diet. Meat, eggs and dairy make up the bulk of my calories. Without the carbs I don't get glucose spikes. It's only the dawn phenomenon that brings BG up higher than I'd like.

Breakfast is usually coffee with coconut cream and some protein powder. Lunch is usually leftovers - today will be a burger patty with cheese and mayo. Dinner will be an egg casserole. I'll probably have some nuts for a snack.

Fasting BG was 5.6 today. By bedtime my BG will probably be a high 4 or low 5. I have reactive hypoglycemia so my highest BG reading is about 30 minutes after eating. It drops after that. It's the main reason I add cream and protein to my morning coffee - it brings down my BG faster.

EdinTx

I don't eat any meat or dairy and keep processed "vegan" foods to a minimum (maybe twice a month or so) such as store bought fake meats and veggie burger types if frozen foods. I've also cut my oil consumption to a minimum-I've totally stopped cooking with it.

Most of my breakfasts are rolled oat bars that I make myself. Each one is roughly 350 calories. Lately though, I've gotten into kale/spinach and fruit smoothies. Lunch varies from veggie wraps with hummus to leftovers from the night before. I tend to rotate all types of beans, quinoa, Lentil and rice dishes with lots of root veggies that include Indian, Asian and Mexican varieties. I've found that BONZA pasta is best for me when I have a craving for pasta. It's a chickpea pasta and high in fiber and protein.

65 to 75% of my diet is carbs (plant based) and my blood levels are good and stable...so much so that I've eliminated some of my meds. This Whole Foods, plant based, low to no oil seems to be working for me.

rheddmobile

Really interesting - three different approaches to carbs - moderate, low, and high - and all resulting in good glucose control!

RalfLott

Yes, it certainly is!

One might almost think people are not all the same,..

rheddmobile

Here's a weird one - I know I have issues with tortillas so I tried eating half of one and making my other tacos out of red cabbage. Total 38g net carbs, of which most was vegetables and beans, so slow acting carbs apart from the tortilla. At 1 hr had a bg spike of 143 (from starting 90) which was down to 106 an hour later. (I am testing a lot right now trying to figure out how much I can handle.) Since I really don't like to peak over 140, I think I am giving up on flour tortillas completely and seeing if corn works any better for me.

So then I have my snack, mamey sapote ice cream made with 100 g mamey fruit, cinnamon, milk, ice, and Greek yogurt. No additional sweeteners, but mamey is pretty carby, 36g net total. One hour later, my blood sugar has gone DOWN thirteen points, to 93! No exercise, I've been sitting all day, and no meds except metformin with breakfast.

So, tortilla, beans, and veg 38g net carbs results in a 53 point rise, while mamey fruit and dairy 36g net carbs results in a 13 point drop. So much for predicting what my sugar is going to do based on net carbs!

RalfLott

@rheddmobile - Whew! That's a puzzler.

Any chance your Metformin timing could be playing a role?
Relatively new, well-rated meter?

rheddmobile

I don't think it's the timing of the Metformin, it seems to be flour tortillas in particular whatever time of day - the last time I ate a full one I had a big spike to almost 170, the first time I've been that high in eight months! I dunno why, but it seems clear they aren't worth it for me.

The mamey sapote milkshake also consistently puts me lower than expected, I think the USDA info on how many carbs are in mamey fruit may be way off or something. I would suspect the dairy proteins are upping my insulin response and dropping my glucose quickly, but it's the same when I make it with almond milk.

By the way, I strongly recommend mamey fruit if you are going nuts for sweet stuff you shouldn't have - it tastes kind of like pumpkin pie, has the texture of an avocado, and really scratches that itch for me. The only problem is it's only available at the Mexican market here and even then you have to get it quickly before it's all gone!

rheddmobile

Tried Mission Carb Balance low carb tortillas, and they were a big fat fail. Supposedly these are 6g net carbs per tortilla, but my glucose meter says they are lying McLiarsons, and several other people on diabetic forums have had the same experience. Ate one tortilla plus a small amount of carby vegetables, meat for protein, and avocado for fat, total supposedly 14g carbs, and at 1 hr was 144, which for me is a reading I would expect to see if I ate 45g or more carbs. And even weirder was still quite elevated, 126, at 2 hrs. I typically come back down to 100 or close to it before 2 hours. Turns out others have also complained about a delayed spike while eating these.

Looking at the ingredients list, I don't see anything that would make them low carb. The first ingredients are still starch and flour, it looks like they have just added cellulose and subtracted the extra fiber from the carbs. But food does not work that way! They don't get to subtract fiber without counting the fiber in the gross carbs in the first place!

These were expensive and I intend to phone and get my money back if possible.

RalfLott

@rheddmobile, thanks for the report. I'm even less tempted now to try the lyin' *kittens*.

BarneyRubbleMD

EdinTx wrote: »

I don't eat any meat or dairy and keep processed "vegan" foods to a minimum (maybe twice a month or so) such as store bought fake meats and veggie burger types if frozen foods. I've also cut my oil consumption to a minimum-I've totally stopped cooking with it.

Most of my breakfasts are rolled oat bars that I make myself. Each one is roughly 350 calories. Lately though, I've gotten into kale/spinach and fruit smoothies. Lunch varies from veggie wraps with hummus to leftovers from the night before. I tend to rotate all types of beans, quinoa, Lentil and rice dishes with lots of root veggies that include Indian, Asian and Mexican varieties. I've found that BONZA pasta is best for me when I have a craving for pasta. It's a chickpea pasta and high in fiber and protein.

65 to 75% of my diet is carbs (plant based) and my blood levels are good and stable...so much so that I've eliminated some of my meds. This Whole Foods, plant based, low to no oil seems to be working for me.

Thanks for this! I've heard of these items but never had them. The quinoa looks & sounds quite tasty (I've had couscous before and really liked that) but never had chickpea pasta. I've had to ditch all wheat pasta (which I really, really like), at least for now, as it raises my blood sugar too much.