Testing Out New Food/Drinks

Diabetes Technology Insulin Pumps
1

I am wondering if you are trying a new meal/food, or drink with alcohol, what is the process you use to figure out how to bolus it for in the future. Like do you have a method of just eating and seeing how your sugars react then bolusing, or just taking an educated guess and hoping it works out?

2

If I am at home I count all the carbs by measuring and then looking for carb counts on the label and on calorieking.com. If I am out it is more of an educated guess but as you have more time doing this you will get better at it. You can also look at a menu online and then check with calorieking.com for the assumed amounts and ingredients - if you know what you're eating ahead of time you have a better chance at it. Those of you with smart phones can do that at the table. Personally, I used to LOVE going out to eat but like it less since my diagnosis. I'd much rather know exactly how many carbs I'm eating so I can bolus accordingly. I would never eat and then wait to see how my blood sugar reacts before bolusing. If I'm really unsure I'd rather bolus conservatively and add more later. If I wait, I will be chasing highs for hours.

3

if im eating out, ill try to stick with things that are low carb so that i can bolus conservatively and not have bg too out of whack. desserts, however, i cant say no to and so i eyeball them and try to guess. if i check two hours later and am high, ill walk or cycle home and/or have a glass of wine, which usually even things out.

my bg usually behaves ok, so im pretty lucky. (for now).

4

All my cookbooks are slowly getting marked up with carb counts. So at least when I repeat a recipe I don't have to refigure it all again!

5

nd I wish cookbooks would start to include the nutritional info! We're not the only ones who want to know. To the original question, after doing your best guess, test 1 and 2 hours after to see how close you were matching insulin to the new food so you can get it right the next time

6

Hi!

I usually follow the same method as you when dinning out but there's this fantastic app. called Figwee (iPhone only) that really helps when you're not so sure. Of course if it's in their menu...

Good luck! :)