I have just been gifted 5kg of Jelly Beans ha...
I heard they are good for hypos and keeping your blood sugar up whilst exercising, so a friend who works in a sweet shop hooked me up with a massive bagful, should keep me going for a year or so ha.
Anyway, how many grams of carbs are in a single bean? Looks to be about 1g if I had to hazard a guess? So I am thinking about 15 of them to correct an average low?
I think you would have to know the brand of jelly beans to be able to determine what they are made from. Most contain some mixture of sugars, corn syrup and starches. I believe that Jelly Belly beans are about 29 g of carbs for a package containing 35 beans. Surprisingly, the data I saw suggested that there were 8g of fiber in that package (what the heck is that from?).
I sort of cheat in that I have a scale and the little bags of Starburst brand jelly beans I lug around
weigh about 30G, with each 40G of beans being 27G of carbs so the 30G bag= about 18G of carbs. I usually go for 5-10G of carbs/ low, depending on how low I am and what I'm doing.
Good idea using those bags acid rock..
I am hoping to be able to run and figure out on average how many beans per mile I will need to stay steady BG wise, for my normal pace. I exercise mostly to help lower my blood sugars, but I have to crank up my bloods to 150 to avoid going low and reduce my pump basal by 40%. Then I go high afterwards, so it kind of negates my efforts :(
87g of carbs per 100g of haribo jelly bean, so erm scratches head... looking at around 1.75g per bean ha, so 8-9 beans or so for me...
I am hoping I can start at 90 and keep it steady using these little blighters ha, loving the Garmin 405 by the way, especially the virtual pace feature.
Take it easy.
I always wondered how many of those to pop for a low. But, aren't there some which have cocoa, nuts - like pistachios, etc. Anyway, aren't these called different in this part of the world? Do I need to keep measuring every time I eat :(
Thanks for the info anyway, Bsc (you are always so resourceful:), also to others.
I buy these tiny bags in the jewelry (craft) section of our local Walmart. I fill with 18 beans. I use Sam's Club Member's Mark jelly beans (similar to Jelly Belly). SUPER cheap, and bring me up fast. Thought of it after seeing Jelly Belly market "Sport Beans". I run half and full marathons, and have completed several triathlons. This works to keep me going and SO much better than those chalky glucose tabs!
Buckley, at the end of longer runs last spring (>15miles) I had to take a big bolus (3-4 units) right at the end, even if my BG was 120. Kind of felt like swallowing a grenade, but kept me from going high afterwards. Don't give up and keep experimenting. Do you have a sensor? Helps tremendously, even if not as accurate as we'd wish... knowing the trends is amazing!
Erin
Yep I think you are right there, they all seem to have different things in depending on brand! :)
I am probably being a bit obsessional, but by being really strict when correcting lows and ensuring I never ate more than 15g of carbs per 15 mins I managed to knock 1% of my HBa1c over the last 7 months.
Just got to figure out how to stay stable whilst exercising now and I will be a happy man..
The bags AcidRock uses help control! If I stick to eating from the bags, I don't overcorrect and end up with a 300 afterwards. Some at work, in the gym bag, by the bed... perfect portion control when you are just wanting the low to be over as soon as possible.
Hey Erin,
Funny you should mention the sports bags, glaxosmithkline who make lucozade over here in the UK have started selling bags of 20 jelly beans as a running aid for about $2 a pop ha.
I will have to get myself some little baggies I think, I have registered for a couple of half marathons etc next year and I am really wondering how I am going to keep myself stable without bumping up my HbA1c.
I don't have a sensor unfortunately, I am thinking about it but I am not sure the technology is quite there yet and I kind of want to save my infusions sites for pumping. I'd love to have one for a couple of months though to get an overview. Although I was testing about 25 times a day when I first got the pump so have abit of trend data to look at ;)
I hate have been on those chalky glucose tabs for years and have really gone off them of late too ha!
Personally, I won't eat that for lows. But I do like the Halloween size chocolate candy. Right about 15 carbs. Enjoy your stash!
or, just use an old cleaned out test strip vial - bottle, it fills up to about 15 grams of carbs and easy to transport.
In the interest of full disclosure, I work for Jelly Belly in the PR department, and I also happen to be a type 1 (12 years now). So, with that resume, I like to think I know a thing or two about treating lows with Jelly Belly beans. Serving size on Jelly Belly beans is 35 beans, and carbs range from 35g-37g per serving depending on the flavor. It’s a small enough variation that, personally, I don’t concern myself with it. I think of it as for every bean I eat, that’s 1g of carb. And yes, I do keep a stash at my desk for when I get low. Okay and also for snacking. I should be honest. Also, remember that not all jelly beans are created equal. Other brands, depending on shape and size can have a different carb value.
In general, you’ll find jelly beans work better at treating lows than chocolate because chocolate doesn’t have as high of a sugar content, and the body tends to process the jelly bean faster because the sugars are so simple. But, when you exercise, your body will also metabolize those simple sugars faster and you'll burn right through them and bottom out pretty quickly. When I exercise, I have to suspend my pump and have a complex carb on board, like from a PowerBar or something that will last longer. It's a very long and careful experiment finding what works for your body.
All that being said, this is in no way and endorsement from Jelly Belly; rather these are my own opinions and if you have any questions about treating lows with jelly beans, do check in with your doctor. I hope this is at least a bit helpful!
Hi Jana. You're a natural for our group, Diabetics on the Jelly Bean Diet!
Thanks for the insight Jana.
I like the idea of them for running, as I can just take a couple of bags and pop them throughout the run. It seemed to work yesterday, I ran 11 miles started at 100mg/dl ate about 25 beans during the run, turned my basal down to 40% and came home at 72 which I was happy with.
Great little things and I have had enough glucose tabs to last a life time.. urgh..
I do love the Jelly Belly company, I was doing some work with them with in the UK with Accenture and we got so many free beans ha, great flavours too!
Auughh!!! I LOVE JELLY BELLIES!!! They are my preferred low treatment. The only problem I was having is that I would buy a package and, even with a blood sugar of like 30, I would take the time to sort through the colors to find the ones that I like (buttered popcorn, licorice, coconut, root beer, and orange). It would be hilarious if it wasn't so scary. Seriously, I found myself doing this one day and I was like, "What the f*&k am I doing??"
And then I found a store in my local mall that has a HUGE Jelly Belly display where you can buy individual flavors. It is low blood sugar heaven!!
And yes, I have always counted each bean as 1g of carbs. That's why they are the ideal low treatment - they work fast, taste way better than glucotabs, and I can really narrow down the exact amount of carbs I need to get my BG up. It's actually the one-gram-of-carb per bean that makes them such an ideal treatment for me.
Although I will admit that sometimes I convince myself I'm low just to sneak a few out of my purse :-)
We’ve found the “regular” size jelly beans (as opposed to the Jelly Belly size) are roughly 2.5g carbs per bean. We package them up in little baggies in groups of 6. We package the little beans in groups of 12-15 depending on the brand/size - Jelly Bellies are a smidge smaller than the Lifesavers ones we sometimes buy.
Like MyBustedPancreas, my son will pick through the Jelly Bellies to look for his favorites even when he’s low - he’ll trade you his buttered popcorns for your toasted marshmallows!
I do the exact same thing! Last night I was like what the heck am I doing just put it in your mouth.. you can have all my licorice and orange ones though! I looove the coconut and toasted marshmellow ones!
Thanks to the smart folks here I discovered the genius of the 1g per bean and have learned not to overtreat my lows. It's helped me get off the low-high roller coaster.