January 8, 2000
Meal Planning, Food and Diet
Question from California, USA:
My 18 year old son has Type 1 diabetes, diagnosed almost a year ago. He is going off to college soon and we have been working on carbohydrate counting in relation to planning his meals, etc. I know that he should be watching the amount to fat in his diet. How can he convert fat grams into equivalent carbo grams for use in planning regular insulin doses? For instance, if he knows he will be eating a high-fat meal of pizza, how can he calculate extra fat grams into carbo grams? Normally, we don’t worry about converting fats to carbo grams because we eat a relatively low-fat diet at home. But when he goes away to college, I know he will probably eat a higher fat diet in the dorms, at fast food places, etc.
Answer:
There really is not a formula for determining the amount of insulin needed to cover fat. Sometimes extra insulin can be given to cover the fat from foods, but it is a trial and error issue as far as I know. Since fat slows down the absorption of all nutrients, increasing the amount of fast acting insulin may or may not be the answer.
I would suggest he try some higher fat meals and check blood sugars two and four hours after the meal to see what response there is to the fat. Some children do not have much of an elevation of blood sugars with fat. I would recommend he speak with his diabetes team for further suggestions.
JM
