The Importance Of Counting The Carbohydrates Intake

Why is counting carbohydrate intake important? You may have noticed that all diabetic diets are based on the concept of counting carbohydrates. This is no coincidence; carbohydrates are responsible for increasing blood sugar levels!

No other food component (such as protein, fat, or alcohol) can raise your glucose levels. This means that your consumption of carbohydrates is the number one factor that determines the blood glucose level for a diabetic. Don’t leave that factor up to chance! Count your intake of carbohydrates in order to gain control of your blood sugar and your diabetes. Blood sugar control is the only way to prevent yourself from experiencing eventual complications from your diabetes.

To begin counting your carbohydrate intake, you will need to first make an appointment with your dietitian. He or she will make a customized plan for you that tells you the quantity of carbohydrates that need to be eaten at different times of the day. This plan will take into account several factors, including your body size and activity level, if you are trying to lose weight, the medications that you take and the time of day that you take them, and your general daily routine. Without this plan, there is nothing to count!

Once you have your personalized diabetic plan, you will begin counting the grams of carbohydrates in your food. Some foods that you eat frequently you will quickly remember. For example, if you eat a sandwich every day for lunch, you won’t have to look at the food label many times before you remember that a regular sized slice of bread contains 15 grams of carbohydrates. For awhile, you will have to look at the labels for many foods until you learn them by heart. Once you are accustomed to your diabetic diet plan, only rarely will you come across a food whose carbohydrate count you do not know.

How do you know if you are counting carbohydrates correctly? One of the best ways to tell if you are correctly counting the amount of carbohydrates in your food is to regularly test your blood sugar level using a glucometer. This is especially true for the period of time that follows a meal. If your blood sugar is high, this tells you that something has gone wrong. It could be a problem with your medication dosage or the diet plan that has been made for you, but chances are higher that the cause is a counting error on your part. Double check to see if you are truly measuring one serving of the food and calculating it right.

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