Day 4 - Diabetes Blog Week - To Carb or Not To Carb ...

To carb or not to carb – that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The ups and downs of blood sugar fortune

Or to take arms against a sea of cheese sauce on broccoli ...

I feel like I’m in London at the Globe Theatre getting ready to watch Hamlet holding a high carb banana in one hand and a cheese curd in the other.  What fate befalls us as we contemplate their destinies!

When I was younger, my Mum followed the Canadian Diabetes Association way of eating (aka American Diabetes Association).   It was what all diabetics followed, and as a child, full of energy I had no problems with the diet which was maybe higher in carbs then what the CDA recommends today.  This is all my Mum had to follow on, since young children with diabetes were a very small percentage of diagnosed diabetics (less then 1%).  She was VERY strict with measuring out my food, no seconds, even if I was hungry, you ate what you had on your plate.  Going to friends house was my way of escaping her careful food planning.  It seemed that my friends had food like there was no tomorrow, but then, none of them had diabetes.  Even worse, going to a birthday party was something that my Mum had I think a hard time dealing with, as there was really no control with what I ate again.  So, birthday parties, sleepovers, didn’t happen too often.  I keep on wondering, if I had been a Mum with a diabetic child like myself, if I would have been the same way, maybe not so much now, but still I can understand her worry. 

When I left home at 19, it was hard to not break the “training” my Mum had taught me, with measuring out food since the age of 7.  Though as most of us know, with time, we eyeball what we are eating, but still, we always are calculating in the back of our minds.  Take for instance the spaghetti (tossed with tomato pesto sauce) that I just had for lunch.  It’s about ¾’s of a cup, so I’m “guesstimating” about 30 grams of carbs.  My blood sugar (BG) at the time was 4.9 mmol/l or 88 mg/dl – so I took a few units of fast acting insulin and hopefully I’ll stay within range.  That’s one thing I miss with my pump holiday – the combo bolus – where you can spread out the insulin coverage.  I’ll probably be checking my BG’s in about 2 hours and a correction may have to be made.  I am a human dart board for the pen needle these days, but it’s okay, 32 gauge needle, way better then needles of the “Stone Age” when I first got diagnosed.

 So, as you can tell, I love to eat carbs with a limit (though sometimes I go hog wild and don’t feel bad about it as it’s only once in awhile)!  I try not to go over 30 grams of carbs per meal if I can help it.  I do tend to eat smaller portions then what my friends would eat.  I find that this way of eating, to me is subconsciously done (calculate, calculate), is how I have kept my diabetes in control of 43 years.  I’m not sure if a really low crab (LOL on Kerri Morrone Sparling blog post today)  diet would work for me since I do cook a few vegan meals, and of course, beans are high in carbs, so those meals generally are >30 grams or more. 

Off to test my BG's - as I have a feeling the insulin is doing it's job a wee bit too well for what I just ate!  The Roller Coaster Ride of Diabetes - Whoo! Whoo!