[sandpointspud]

Just thought I would check in and say that I am still struggling with the BG. Tonight before dinner I was at 79. Then snacked on a few peanuts and was 107 an hour later. Then Tacos for dinner and 2 hours later 142. Is this a normal thing? Maybe I am concerned for nothing? I am thinking if I even look at something with carbs I will go up. The taco shells I used had a total of 32 grams of carbs. Is that too much at once for a lot of you. I guess I may have to just have the taco salad instead.

 

[breezeonby]

Just thought I would check in and say that I am still struggling with the BG. Tonight before dinner I was at 79. Then snacked on a few peanuts and was 107 an hour later. Then Tacos for dinner and 2 hours later 142. Is this a normal thing? Maybe I am concerned for nothing? I am thinking if I even look at something with carbs I will go up. The taco shells I used had a total of 32 grams of carbs. Is that too much at once for a lot of you. I guess I may have to just have the taco salad instead.

Your numbers look OK to me. You were at 79 pre-meal and 142, 2 hours post meal. What kind of ranges are you going buy? I have no trouble eating 32 grams of carbs at a meal. I take insulin, but that still doesn't give me the OK to eat as much as I want.

 

[ThoseBackPages]

tacoS (as in plural??) for dinner? that'll spike ya all the time

 

[beefy]

...Then Tacos for dinner and 2 hours later 142. Is this a normal thing?

For many of us, yes, quite normal. I'd probably be higher...

... The taco shells I used had a total of 32 grams of carbs...

Well, we're all different, but I've found I can't eat regular tortilla shells without getting a spike to around 9.0 (160) that lasts about 3 hours. So I removed regular shells from my diet. I'm pretty sure Eric (TheBackPages, he posted above me) has removed ALL breads/grains (including taco shells) from his diet altogether. That's what works for him.

For me, I was lucky to find some tortilla shells with 3 net carbs at a local specialty store for diabetics, and they don't spike me.

I usually have two tacos at a meal out of those shells and have no problems with them. The downside is they're PRICEY (double what regular taco shells normally cost. But I'm the only one in the family eating them, so it's not too bad.)

I also like to use them for dessert - I'll cut them into 6 pieces, deep fry them for a minute, quickly remove them and coat them with cinnamon and splenda.

I've also used them for a cheesecake tortilla snack that shanny wrote about. (just roll them around cream cheese and some sugar-free jam). Not bad at all.

As for numbers... I try really hard to keep my BG levels under 7.0 (125) for my 2 hour post reading. If I'm over 120 I usually hop on my exercise bike to bring that number down; it only takes 15-20 minutes (for me, anyway)

Good luck!

 

[Wink]

I can only handle about 8 carbs at a sitting or I get a one hour spike over 140. I use 3 carb tortilla wraps ALOT - they're basically the only "bread" I can eat.

 

[beefy]

I can only handle about 8 carbs at a sitting or I get a one hour spike over 140. I use 3 carb tortilla wraps ALOT - they're basically the only "bread" I can eat.

Have you tried any "sprouted-grain" breads, Vicky? They don't spike me near as much as other bread products. I buy mine at Costco, if I remember it has 12 or 13 net carbs per slice, but doesn't affect me like other breads do. If you haven't tried it, it may be worth looking at and testing with. If you have tried it, just ignore me. I do tend to blather.

 

[Vytautas]

142 is perfectly normal (7.8mmol/l) after a meal. 142 is by no means a concern and is actually good. What you need to avoid is a constant back and forth and keep it as stable as possible. Though within the marks you said it's not an issue. However if you were going up and back from ~220 then it would actually be more healthy to stay at ~160 than go between 110 and 220 constantly.

 

[sandpointspud]

Thanks for the info! Maybe I am getting concerned when there is no need to be. I am under the assumption that 140 is bad so I try not to go over that. I think if I could lick the DP in the morning I would be in decent shape, although I dont have readings under 100 very often. Hopefully it will get there since I have only been at this for 2 months now. I also read somewhere that if the protein out weighs the carbs it is a good food to eat. Is that true?

 

[joe_h]

140 is a good target for 2hr post meal and 142 is close enough (remember your meter is not perfect and 2 pts isn't that much) protien is less likely to cause a spike in sugar levels than carbs are generally. some folks go w/ a very low carb diet and others go w/ higher carbs w/ higher activity levels. definitely worth a talk to your doc/ nutrtiionist about it

 

[Shanny]

I think the thing with 140 (7.7) being "bad" is that it's the jumping off point for damage occurring from high glucose levels. Many studies have shown that going over 140 very often and/or staying above it for very long is less beneficial than lower numbers. But as Joe says, 142 is close enough considering the variation in meters, etc.

Here is a good writeup about those studies: Research Connecting Organ Damage with Blood Sugar Level

 

[beefy]

I think it's also important to note that MANY things can inflate your BG readings higher than normal too, especially stress.

If you stress/worry about readings, they might be higher than they need.

When you're sick (cold/flu/whatever) the readings are almost always higher than normal.

So many things can impact that number, not just your food and your body's response to it.

As folks said, 140/142 isn't anything to get too worried about, unless it's happening ALL THE TIME. If I see one or two meals a week that put me there, I shrug it off. Typically I'm in the 6.5 (give or take, around 120) range 2 hrs post, and I like it there. But a 7.5 every so often doesn't scare me, though it does annoy me a little.

I don't know about you, spud (can I call you 'spud'? hope that's ok), but I'm a perfectionist. So anything outside of what I 'expect' of myself gets me perturbed. (which, truth be told, probably doesn't help MY bg levels...)

 

[Wink]

I appreciate the suggestion, Beefy... but it doesn't work for me. My sprouted bread is 11 carbs and even with no other carbs (but including fats) one slice puts me a bit over 150. Apparently, I'm just very carb sensitive - the low GI doesn't work for me - no matter what carbs I eat the spike comes in about 45min to an hour. The good news is my BG goes down quickly - I'm always back to normal by 2 hours. I have been able to eat some flax "breads" and egg-y type rolls but haven't found one yet that's worth eating.

 

[foxl]

Peanuts would spike me. Tacos would spike me.

Your pre-prandial looks okay, but that typically is ... at first.

Your reaction to food seems pretty okay, you are learning how your body responds to carbs. Are you measuring the amount of food that causes this reaction? Was this a large or small handful of peanuts?

 

[sandpointspud]

I think it's also important to note that MANY things can inflate your BG readings higher than normal too, especially stress.

If you stress/worry about readings, they might be higher than they need.

When you're sick (cold/flu/whatever) the readings are almost always higher than normal.

So many things can impact that number, not just your food and your body's response to it.

As folks said, 140/142 isn't anything to get too worried about, unless it's happening ALL THE TIME. If I see one or two meals a week that put me there, I shrug it off. Typically I'm in the 6.5 (give or take, around 120) range 2 hrs post, and I like it there. But a 7.5 every so often doesn't scare me, though it does annoy me a little.

I don't know about you, spud (can I call you 'spud'? hope that's ok), but I'm a perfectionist. So anything outside of what I 'expect' of myself gets me perturbed. (which, truth be told, probably doesn't help MY bg levels...)

Yes Beefy, Spud is fine! I think we must have some things in common. For me it is a newbie thing still combined with the posts I read of some people being concerned because they went up to 110! I wish I had that problem! I think I may lack a little patience as well! I expect to not eat carbs and drop to below 100, and when it doesnt happen I get discouraged and start having a few carbs again. I dont think having 0 carbs is going to work for me so I am trying to figure out what I can hack and what I cant. I have always seen that 2 hours after meal you should be back where you started. Thats not happening. (End of Meltdown)

 

[sandpointspud]

Peanuts would spike me. Tacos would spike me.

Your pre-prandial looks okay, but that typically is ... at first.

Your reaction to food seems pretty okay, you are learning how your body responds to carbs. Are you measuring the amount of food that causes this reaction? Was this a large or small handful of peanuts?

Hi foxl, What i do is figure out how many carbs it is, 3 taco shells were 21grams. The rest of the taco should be 0. Just having some trouble still figuring all this out. Peanuts seem to be low in carbs but it seems they are no good for me either. Enter the confusion. Some veggies look to be high in carbs but do not affect me much. I dont get it!

 

[foxl]

Hi foxl, What i do is figure out how many carbs it is, 3 taco shells were 21grams. The rest of the taco should be 0. Just having some trouble still figuring all this out. Peanuts seem to be low in carbs but it seems they are no good for me either. Enter the confusion. Some veggies look to be high in carbs but do not affect me much. I dont get it!

Well ,for me virtually ANY starch wipes me out, fast. Faster than sugar.

And peanuts are starchy!

What else was in those tacos? Any onion? Any salsa? They weren't Taco Bell's "oatmeal-based meat filler" were they?

 

[sandpointspud]

Noooo! No Taco bell! Lettuce Cheese Olives, Sour cream and Fresh Ground beef. Oh and Taco sauce.

 

[foxl]

Taco sauce is typically LOW -- I substitute it for Ketchup! :-D

You may just be carb-sensitive. Like me, hopefully NOT.

 

[sandpointspud]

I'll probably have to gave taco salad without the chips! Still good, but no crunchy to it!

 

[sandpointspud]

That should say Have!