Counting Carbohydrates
Saturday, October 31st, 2009In order to control your blood glucose, counting carbohydrates in your food intake will certainly help you attain that control. Carbohydrates ,compared to other nutrients ,have a much higher potential to raise your blood glucose level as the body breaks down the carbohydrates in the food into glucose to be used for energy. Nutritious foods, for instance grains,fruits,vegetables and low-fat milk are rich sources of carbohydrates that also provide the body with energy, minerals,vitamins and fiber. Your blood sugar level can climb to an unhealthy level if more carbohydrates are taken in than the body can use. In order to keep track of the carbs you consume, the best way is carbohydrate counting.
A quick check of your blood sugar levels prior to and after meals will keep you updated whether you are consuming more carbohydrates than your insulin can cope up with. The basics of counting carbohydrates can be learnt easily in a relatively short time by any individual as you initially only need to know the foods that contain carbohydrates and the amount they contain. It isn’t necessary to know about the carbohydrates in all the foods but only in the foods you eat frequently. Counting carbohydrates in the foods that you eat most and determining how many carbs are in your usual portions is a definite start. Adjustments would have to be made to your carb count if you have several servings of a particular food. Writing down everything you plan to eat and picking out the foods that have carbs is a way to measure how much of each carbs you will be eating. Once you are more familiar with counting carbohydrates, checking your blood sugar level before and after each meal can give you a rough estimate whether the amount of carbohydrates in the foods you consume match with the body’s insulin levels.
Starting out is probably the hardest part about learning to count carbohydrates. When you have an idea about the amount of carbohydrates contained in a single food serving, it would not be that difficult. Those who use counting carbohydrates still have to follow a healthy meal plan.
It is vital that you pay attention to other types of food you consume, apart from counting carbohydrates to lose weight. Adults usually eat 6 ounces of meat so it might be advisable to limit the saturated fats that are eaten like bacon, cream, butter and high fat meats.If you have a high intake of meat and fats, it would cause weight gain and other problems such as heart disease.Counting carbohydrates will provide you with a more flexible choice of foods to consume and will help to regulate your blood glucose levels within the desired safe range.