Pizza?

Ok, so last night I go out and get some pizza (4 slices). BG was 107, took 2 units of insulin and 2 hours later BG was 155… not so bad. So I decided to take 1 unit of insulin, just to drop it down before going to bed (I like it around 100 before going to bed so I can eat 15 carbs and wake up with pretty good numbers). I’m on Lantus and Novorapid.

Well, 1 hour later (3 hours after pizza) it was at 200 !! what the hell !! It should have gone down, not up !!.

Ok, so I take 2 units (every unit drops me about 40 points in 1 hour) hoping to be about 100 an hour later. But after 1 hour it was in 180, still pretty high. Then 2 hours later … 150. Finally I woke up at 84 this morning (after a lousy night).

So I’m guessing that the problem with pizza is not the amount of carbs, but the fat in it. And this fat makes it harder for the insulin to be absorbed, that’s why I had trouble bringing it down. Also it seems that fat takes much longer to be digested, that’s why BG kept going up 3 hours after eating ?

Any comments, experiences and/or knowledge from my wise fellow D’s is highly welcomed.

Much love and respect to all of you.

Santiago

That’s it exactly. Fat greatly slows down absorption. If you had meat toppings, that protein adds to the problem especailly since meat toppings tend to have a lot of fat also. Sometimes BG goes up from pizza longer than three hours.

I think you underestimated the amount of carbs as well , unless your carb ratio is high .

I can’t eat pizza because of celiac disease, but digging back in my memory bank, I recall needing way more than 2 units of regular to combat 4 slices of pizza. For 4 slices, my body would have needed 4 units when I ate and then 2-4 units more 2 hours later. I have an insulin pump so my combo boluses are automated now, but way, way back before the pump, I divided it that way.

And yes, the fat content in pizza delays absorption so the insulin needs to be spread out. Mexican food also frequently works that way.

Michelle
Western Washington State

Gracias everyone… I always get a lot of help for your wisdom :wink:

You are certainly not alone on this!!

I can see my blood sugar rise for 6 hours after eating pizza. Most of it comes after the first two hours.

Before I had the pump, I bolused for half the pizza before eating it and the other half two hours later. Next time you should probably take more insulin for 4 slices of pizza (it seems like you actually needed 5 units of insulin to bring your blood sugar back to normal).

Well, the pizza is really a challenge and you will learn by the time to handle it. It comes slow but the load of carbs is huge. You need to have insulin for all the carbs but in most cases the insulin will be quicker than the absorbtion. But this all depends on your digestion rate and the insulin you are using. NovoLog insulin will be too quick in most cases. With Acctrapid that lasts for 4 hours it can be achievable to catch it with one injection - try and error I suppose. I will inject 70% of the insulin NovoLog before I start to eat and the other 30% will be injected 2-3 hours later (depending on the BG and my physical activity). Hmm, I get hungry now!

I set an alarm clock for 3 hours. I test (but I know it’ll be up). Overall, I end up giving myself at least twice what I would normally take for a food with that amount of carbs. I never go hypo despite this. Fat, fat, fat.

I ate Pizza , when I was in Rome and area , 2006 and found their crusts quite different ( thinner , less fat ) and had no problem with my BG numbers …here ( Canada ) it is a challenge and I have not mastered the process as a pumper ( probably find it toooo much of hassle ) …maybe one day soon , I’ll try again .

did the pizza have a lot of protien on it?? for me protien will raise my blood sugar 4-6 hours after i eat it, not right away. if i have more than one serving of protien at dinner i’m usually always going high overnight, even if i’m perfect before bed. oh and how i wish i only had to take 2 units of insulin for 4 slices…oh how i wish. i’d take somewhere around 12-14 units for four average size slices. if it is only a cheese pizza i can be perfect 2 hours later with no suprising highs later on.

with pizza, the absorption rate is slow so you are better off doing half the amount of insulin you usually do before eating and then the remaining half about 40 minutes later. I am on the pump and am able to do this with the pump and it does work, this also works with chinese food. Good luck.

Priscilla

uuggghhh the dreaded chinese food…

Wow … you guys are amazing, such experts !! I usually only count carbs but now I see that fat and protein are also important. So how do you count them ? whats the measure ? do you use grams as well ? I know 15 grams of carbs is 1 serving, is it the same with fat and protein ?

Much gratitude to all of you for your help.

unfortuately i haven’t done very well with defeating protien with insulin so i just try not to eat more than a serving at a meal which is okay because too much isn’t that good for you anyway. i usually count 1 serving as 15 grams of carbs…a portion size that looks similar to a deck of cards is what i’ve always been told.

Well whaen u cheked it at 155 it might have still been going up. But I have a friend who is a type one diabetic But he told me that. Whenever he eats pizza after like 5:00 at night He has a high that night and the entire next day. It might just be one of the things that you should stay away from after a certain time. Expulrment with it but try not to do it to often. Good luck.

Lol I just had pizza and took 2 units

Pizza is really bad :confused:

I use the dual wave but never the square wave, and now I forget the difference. Anyone remember? I tend to use the dual wave for all high fat meals, but sometimes I am afraid of doing so at night because I am scared of what is happening when I am sleeping.

I agree with the post about the thin crust pizza…I usually get the thinnest crust possible and that seems to help. And I skip the meat toppings, which seems to make things worse for me, not sure why exactly.

I was just looking at a different thread about how many carbs people eat, and now I am worried I am eating too many carbs. I am guessing that some of them were Type 2 and possibly also trying to lose weight?Some people in there were eating way less than 50 per day. Pizza always exceeds that for one meal for me.

I have found that pizza is easier to control if you substitute alfredo sauce for the tomato sauce - Domino’s have a garlic parmesan which seems to keep it lower. I also opt for the thinnest crust. If you like ham, mushrooms, green peppers or black olives - these also seem to work well as opposed to high fat meats. I usually bolus at the time then after two hours and at three hours if needed. Works for me!

Pizza is nuts. I have to adjust my basal rate, and take a long bolus with my pump. Its taken me years to perfect it, and I’m not always good about it. Pizza has the carb load and the fat, which creates a double peak. Dave’s suggestion is a good one.