Last night I had Indian food. I had chicken vindaloo and maybe 2 tables spoons of rice and a garlic nan. 4 hours later my BS was still 171. Has anyone else had this experience??? Or are there just some cuisines that do that. I have had more carbs in pasta when I should not have and been lower than that. I have noticed that this only occurs when I have Indian food. Just throwing it out there…
It’s tough to tell when eating out – I had one Indian place I used to go to where I was fine and another where I always underestimated the carb count. Probably all because there is no way to really tell how much sugar or other sweet they put in the sauces. The one cuisine that gets me is chinese, even when I tell them no extra sugar and no msg. Always seems to get me high (BG, that is).
I rarely eat take-out style Chinese food. It has a very high carb count, but that’s not the problem. The problem is that it keeps my bgl’s crazy high for many hours afterwards, despite taking crazy amounts of insulin to cover the carbs and correct the highs. It’s just too problematic to deal with. Home made Chinese food is no problem at all. I think restaurant food is often chancy because you just don’t know how much fat and sugar etc. is being added to the food.
I remember my endo once commenting that he’s seen some really crazy numbers after chinese food, and precisely for that reason - who the heck knows what’s in it?
There’s a vegan Buddhist restaurant not far from my parents’ house, and most of their stuff has been pretty ok for me - but their fake pork? I look at it and say, “this looks like bread.” My parents poo-poo me, so I ask the waitress. Yup, bread. Bread in sauce. I ate my dad’s veggies instead.
– Dov
chinese food and pizza. Two of my favorite foods! bagh
Ron, India foods are saucey and often made with potatoes. And, they are free with the sugar. I like places that serve good salads, and I take my own dressing in a small jar-- in a zip lock. You can’t trust eateries. They love sugar too much. Balsamic Vinegar is sugary. I make my own dressings, and I like Newman’s Own Italian.
Mel
We had to stop giving my son chocolate milk in one of those packages that needs no refrigeration, because even after we accounted for the carbs in it, he’d stay high. Nothing else seems to do that to him. I’m not sure what’s in the milk that does that–it’s made with sugar, not high fructose corn syrup, and there don’t seem to be any extraordinary ingredients. Chocolate milk made from powder + milk doesn’t do that. So it’s weird.
I didn’t know it until this morning…but cupcakes with either pink or chocolate frosting are not the best choices for
breakfast if I want to control my diabetes.
Go figure.
That is so depressing to find out. I bet the same holds true for brownies. Why can’t someone invent a food that tastes like cake frosting but actually reduces BG and has no harmful effects? Is that asking too much?
My son has trouble w/ Pizza and fried chicken. On a brighter note, if he “mixes” foods ie. eats a salad w/ pizza it doesn’t affect him nearly as much.
And when they’re done with the brownies maybe they could work on the cheesecake. Sure there’s great sugar-free cheesecake but it’s still full of carbs and the oft-used sugar alcohols - I’m very sensitive to their laxative effects. 
(Looks around, sees no one else volunteering)
Um… I’m in research… I guess I’ll get right on that…
I’m exactly the same with Indian food. For some reason no matter what I do, it sends my sugars all over the place. Last time I tried to eat it, I started feeling high halfway through and ended up giving up. Think it’s just one of those things that can’t be explained!!
All food sends my bgs soaring
I think sometimes the question is what type of cuisine makes you tend to overeat? For myself, I find that it’s really easy to blame the food without acknowledging that maybe the portion size was way too big. And for me there is also a huge difference between pasta carbs, rice carbs and bread carbs.
All that aside, when I read the question I was going to say East Indian food, but, that’s because I love basmati rice and cannot stop at a regular sized portion. You are making me hungry just thinking about it!! I
CHINESE FOOD FOR ME:)
Pizza. And depending on the day, Chinese, Itilian, and Mexican. 
But pizza’s the biggie. I’m great for about 3 hours. Four or so later I am through the roof (over 250) and I have to fight forever to get it back down.
Today - GREEK food. My favorite. Ugh. I never know how to figure the carbs and fat, but how can I turn down all that deliciousness? I stayed about 130 mg/dL above my normal average from 1-6pm after a wonderful Greek lunch today around noon.
I can’t handle Indian food either & I love it! I pass on the rice & bread (I’d kill for some garlic naan!), but even avoiding these still sends me high for a long time & worse than 171. I think it’s the richness of the sauces. Aside from sweetners, it’s also the high fat content–cream, ghee, yogurt–that keep BG high for a while. The insulin’s gone & the fat slows down digestion.
Can’t even look at pizza without spiking. Am thinking of trying to make homemade pizza to see if this will help, but it won’t be near as good.
I haven’t had Chinese food, or Thai, since being diagnosed. Know it would send me sky high with all those veggies.
I used to have the exact same problem with pizza – because of all the carbs, my bolus was so big. What often happened was that I would get low an hour or two after having the pizza, think I had it the bolus just right, fix the low and then go soaring upwards later. What worked for me was a big bolus, split equally between a normal bolus and a 3 hour square wave, followed by another normal bolus the same size as the original normal bolus 90 minutes after the pizza. Complicated, but it worked (for me, at least).