Download Carbohydrates and diabetes - Sheffield Teaching Hospital

Carbohydrates and
diabetes
Information for patients
Sheffield Dietetics
There are many things that can affect your blood glucose levels. These
include what you eat, activity, stress, illness, alcohol and your diabetes
medication. This leaflet will focus on food and, in particular
carbohydrates. Carbohydrates can cause big changes to your blood
glucose levels. Understanding more about carbohydrates will help you
to better manage your diabetes.
1. Know your carbohydrates
Foods containing carbohydrate
Starchy carbohydrates
Bread, crackers, pitta bread, thick
sauces and soups, breadcrumbs,
pastry and Yorkshire pudding.
Potatoes
Rice
Pasta and noodles
Breakfast cereals
Oats
Starchy vegetables such as plantains,
yams and sweet potato.
Baked beans and other pulses such
as chickpeas
Naturally sweet carbohydrates
Fruit - fresh, tinned and dried.
Fruit juice
Milk
Yoghurt
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Sugary carbohydrates
Cakes and biscuits.
Ice cream, desserts and
puddings.
Sugar and honey.
Sugary drinks.
Jam and marmalade.
Sweets and chocolate.
Foods containing very little or no carbohydrate
Protein foods
Meat, poultry, fish,
cheese, eggs and nuts.
Fatty foods
Butter, margarines and other fat
spreads, oils, mayonnaise, oily salad
dressings and cream.
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Vegetables
Most vegetables and salad
Flavourings
Salt, pepper, soy sauce, garlic,
ginger, herbs and spices etc.
Sugar free drinks
Sugar free drinks - Tea, coffee,
sugar free fizzy drinks, sugar free
cordials, sugar free flavoured water
etc.
Artificial sweeteners
Saccharin and aspartame etc.
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2. Understanding carbohydrates and diabetes
How do my meals affect my blood glucose levels?
Our meals and snacks are made up of a mixture of carbohydrate, protein
and fat. Each one of these affects our blood glucose levels differently.
Carbohydrates have the biggest effect on our glucose levels after a
meal, as all carbohydrate foods are digested and broken down into
glucose. This glucose is then absorbed into our blood stream and causes
blood glucose levels to rise.
Foods high in protein and fat have less of an immediate effect on your
blood glucose levels after a meal. This is because these foods contain
very little or no carbohydrate.
Healthy tip
Taking care with your portions of protein and fatty foods will be of
benefit to your weight (which affects many aspects of your health
including your long term blood glucose levels), blood pressure and
blood cholesterol levels.
Is it just the sugary carbohydrates that cause my blood glucose
levels to rise?
No, it's all carbohydrates. Whether the carbohydrate comes from a
starchy food like bread, a sugary food like chocolate or a naturally sweet
food like an apple, they are all broken down in the digestive system to
the same thing - glucose. So therefore all carbohydrate foods will cause
a rise in your blood glucose levels. How much the levels rise, largely
depends on how much carbohydrate you eat.
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Would it be better to avoid eating carbohydrates?
Carbohydrates are important to all of us. They are our body's main
source of energy. It is important to include these foods every day to fuel
your body.
Your insulin, diabetes treatment and any physical activity you do will
help control the rise in your blood glucose levels after you eat
carbohydrates. They help glucose to move from your blood into the cells
of your muscles and brain where it is needed for energy. When this
happens your blood glucose will return to its usual level.
Healthy tip
For a healthy diet aim to choose mostly unprocessed carbohydrates
rich in goodness such as wholegrain foods (whole-grain breakfast
cereals, oats, granary bread), potatoes, pasta and rice, fruits, pulses,
low fat milk and yoghurt. These are naturally low in fat, and contain
vitamins, minerals and fibre.
Many of these are low in salt and also have a lower glycaemic index,
which is a good thing for people with diabetes. Avoid adding fat to
these foods or keep fat to only very small amounts.
3. Keeping the balance
Eat carbohydrates in the right amounts at the right times. This is the way
to get steady blood glucose levels. Learn how to do this by following
steps 1 to 3 below.
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Step 1
Similar carbohydrate portions
Keep your portions of carbohydrate the same day to day.
Each day you are taking the same doses of your tablets and/or insulin.
So in a similar way, it is best to keep the amounts of carbohydrate you
have at each meal about the same. As a rough guide, approximately one
third of your plate should be carbohydrate foods.
Step 2
Eat at the right times
Eat a breakfast, midday meal and evening meal, 4 to 6 hours apart.
Your food is best balanced with your diabetes treatment when it is
spread out evenly over the day. It is not essential that you eat at exactly
the same time each day. However, you should take care not to have
meals and snacks too close together or too far apart.
Step 3
Take care with snacks
Avoid unnecessary snacking and if you need one, choose a small low fat
carbohydrate snack. See the ‘Carbohydrate Snacks’ leaflet for ideas.
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Issue Date: November 2015. Review Date: November 2017