My son is on an insulin pump and has very good control. He eats very good food and, basically, has a normal fat intake. He also needs to gain some weight. For some reason, butter tends to send his blood sugars very high. The nutritional information says that butter has “0” grams of carbohydrates. So, we gave him two pieces of toast and only counted for the bread. Does butter have any grams of carbohydrates?

Butter does not have any carbohydrate content; it is 100% fat (saturated fat, at that). Sometimes, blood sugars in some people with diabetes will remain higher after a meal that tends to be higher in fat content because of the delayed gastric emptying associated with the fat. If you notice higher blood sugars after higher fat meals, you may want to discuss some options you have with your son’s insulin pump that may be able to counteract these effects. A couple that are standard on most insulin pumps nowadays are extended and dual wave bolus options. Each pump has their own name for these features but they do the same thing: extend a bolus out longer to more evenly match the slower fat absorption.

JMS