Carb Counting for People with Diabetes
Carb counting, or “carb counting,” is a meal preparation strategy for handling your blood glucose levels.
Carbohydrate counting helps you to keep track of how much carbohydrate you are consuming. You set a limit for your maximum quantity of carb to eat for a meal, and with the right balance of physical activity and medicine, if you require it, can help to keep your blood glucose levels in your target variety.
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How Much Carbohydrate?
How much carb you eat is extremely individual. Finding the right amount of carbohydrate depends on many things including how active you are and what, if any, medicines you take. Some individuals are active and can eat more carb. Others may have to have less carbohydrate to keep their blood sugar in control.
Finding the balance for yourself is very important so you can feel your best, do the important things you delight in, and lower your risk of diabetes complications.
A location to begin is at about 45-60 grams of carbohydrate at a meal. You might need basically carbohydrate at meals depending upon how you manage your diabetes.
You and your health care team can determine the correct amount for you. As soon as you understand how much carbohydrate to eat at a meal, choose your food and the part size to match.
What Foods Have Carbohydrate?
Foods that contain carbohydrate or “carbs” are:
- grains like rice, oatmeal, and barley
- grain-based foods like bread, cereal, pasta, and crackers
- starchy vegetables like potatoes, peas and corn
- fruit and juice
- milk and yogurt
- dried beans like pinto beans and soy items like veggie burgers
- sweets and snack foods like sodas, juice beverages, cake, cookies, sweet, and chips
Non-starchy veggies like lettuce, cucumbers, broccoli, and cauliflower have a little bit of carb however in basic are very low.
See also: What Foods Don’t Contain Carbs?
How Much Carbohydrate is in These Foods?
Reading food labels is a fantastic method to know how much carb is in a food. For foods that do not have a label, you have to estimate how much carb is in it. Keeping general serving sizes in mind will assist you approximate how much carbohydrate you are eating.
For example there is about 15 grams of carbohydrate in:
- 1 small piece of fresh fruit (4 oz)
- 1/2 cup of canned or frozen fruit
- 1 piece of bread (1 oz) or 1 (6 inch) tortilla
- 1/2 cup of oatmeal
- 1/3 cup of pasta or rice
- 4-6 crackers
- 1/2 English muffin or hamburger bun
- 1/2 cup of black beans or starchy vegetable
- 1/4 of a big baked potato (3 oz)
- 2/3 cup of plain fat-free yogurt or sweetened with sugar alternatives
- 2 small cookies
- 2 inch square brownie or cake without icing
- 1/2 cup ice cream or sherbet
- 1 Tbsp syrup, jam, jelly, sugar or honey
- 2 Tbsp light syrup
- 6 chicken nuggets
- 1/2 cup of casserole
- 1 cup of soup
- 1/4 serving of a medium french fry
Protein and Fat
With carb counting, it is simple to ignore the protein and fat in meals. Always consist of a source of protein and healthy fat to cancel your meal.
Using Food Labels
Carbohydrate counting is much easier when food labels are available. You can take a look at how much carb remains in the foods you wish to eat and choose how much of the food you can eat. The two crucial lines with carb counting are the serving size and the overall carbohydrate amount.
- Look at the serving size. All the info on the label has to do with this serving of food. If you will be eating a bigger serving, then you will need to double or triple the info on the label.
- Take a look at the grams of overall carb.
- Total carbohydrate on the label includes sugar, starch, and fiber.
- Know the quantity of carb you can eat, figure out the part size to match.
- If you are attempting to reduce weight, look at the calories. Comparing items can be handy to find those lower in calories per serving.
- To cut risk of heart disease and stroke, take a look at saturated and trans fats. Try to find products with the lowest quantity of saturated and trans fats per serving.
- For individuals with hypertension, take a look at the sodium. Look for foods with less salt.
Also read: Low-Carb Foods: Diabetic Snacks
