August 5, 2002
Meal Planning, Food and Diet
Question from Marianna, Florida, USA:
How important is the combination of foods eaten compared to the type/amount? I can eat three pieces of french toast, made with eggs and cooked in butter, with reduced sugar strawberry jam, then take my usual oral medication and my sugars will be 130 mg/dl [7.2 mmol/L] or less by the two-hour mark. A biscuit, sausage and egg for breakfast, however,depending on activity level, can leave me “riding high” until well into the afternoon. I also notice when I have fruit (no juice) cooked into a dish, my sugars don’t seem to shoot as high, although fruit by itself, or fruit juice, tends to send numbers up.
Answer:
You ask some very good questions about diabetes meal planning. For people with diabetes, it is important to monitor portions eaten as well as combining carbohydrate with a moderate amount of protein and smaller amounts of fat (especially more of the “healthier fats”. Carbohydrates by themselves can raise blood sugars faster and higher than combinations of protein and carbs at a meal. This is why this aspect of meal planning is always stressed as a way to control postprandial blood sugars.
JMS
