Carbohydrate counting is one of several techniques used for diabetes meal planning. People on intensive insulin regimens use advanced carbohydrate-counting skills to estimate insulin needs, but the basic skills can be used by anyone who wants to control their carb intake for weight loss and improve blood glucose levels. While carb counting has been shown to aid blood glucose control, it's a skill that requires knowledge and practice to use effectively.
Carb counting is more complex than other types of diabetes meal planning in that it requires using math to figure out the number of carb servings, or choices, that are in a meal. You also have to take into account the total amount of carbs in your meal plan for one day. The goal is to spread out carb intake over the course of the day to help keep after-meal blood glucose levels from rising too high, or plummeting too low from not eating enough.
The Basics
Basic skills include using the nutrition facts label to determine the food's serving size, determining the total carb content in a serving, and being able to relate grams of carbs to number of carb choices. To begin, you need to understand which foods belong in the carb group, namely starches, fruit, milk and desserts. The starches include not only grain foods such as bread, crackers and pasta, but also starchy vegetables such as potatoes, corn, peas and winter squash. The portion sizes and frequency of eating these foods are important because the carbs are what the body turns into glucose for energy.
Advanced Skills
Advanced skills include balancing carb intake, physical activity, blood glucose levels and insulin doses. If you're considering using an insulin pump or moving to an intensive insulin routine, you will need to master these skills to self-adjust your insulin dose to accommodate your blood glucose levels and the amount of carbs you're eating. This requires both frequent blood glucose checks and logging the results to look for patterns in blood glucose levels to adjust diet and insulin doses.
Learning More
Carbohydrate counting is a self-management skill that requires knowledge and practice. Studies show that carb counting is an effective technique for lowering blood glucose levels. Always discuss all aspects of your diabetes treatment with your physician. A dietitian who specializes in diabetes education can help you master the skills of carb counting, whether you want to manage your weight and food intake, or you want to make the move to intensive insulin treatment.
References
- Carbohydrate Counting: A Practical Meal-Planning Option for People With Diabetes
- Joslin Diabetes Center: Carbohydrate Counting
- PubMed Central: Impact of Carbohydrate Counting on Glycemic Control in Children with Type 1 Diabetes
- PubMed Central: Effect of the Carbohydrate Counting Method on Glycemic Control in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes
