Tips on Managing Meal Portion for Diabetesi With Carbohydrate Counting

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Diabetesi should not eat anything to keep blood sugar from jumping up. In addition to managing the portion of the meal, you also need to calculate carbohydrates in every meal. The reason, you could have a small portion of your meal but it turns out the menu remains high in carbohydrates. This is the danger. Excessive carbohydrate intake can increase blood sugar levels. So, calculate your daily carbohydrates by carbohydrate counting technique. But how effective is this?

How to calculate carbohydrate by carbohydrate counting

Carbohydrate counting is a way of calculating carbohydrates in every food you consume. The way is enough to see the description of carbohydrate content in food packaging labels.

The goal of carbohydrate counting is to provide the freedom for people with diabetes to determine their source of food, without having to worry about raising their blood sugar. So, if one day you want to eat foods that are usually challenged, such as fast food, you only see the carbohydrate content alone.

How effective is carbohydrate counting to help diabetics manage portions of food?

Setting a healthy diet through carbohydrate counting techniques can greatly help diabetesi to keep blood sugar levels stable. This is because carbohydrates have a huge effect on how the body produces blood sugar.

Carbohydrates are one of the main nutrients found in foods and beverages, in addition to protein and fat. Food carbohydrates are converted by the body with the help of insulin hormone into sugar (glucose) which is then channeled into the bloodstream to be used as energy.

Unfortunately, diabetes makes your body no longer capable of producing the hormone insulin. In fact, insulin serves to control blood sugar levels. Too many carbohydrates you eat, but the body does not produce enough insulin, can raise blood sugar to dangerous levels.

If you manage to keep your blood sugar levels stable through a healthy and balanced diet, this can help reduce the risk of diabetes complications such as kidney disease, blindness, nerve damage, vascular disease that causes heart attacks, strokes, and amputations.

Adjusting the diet through carbohydrate counting also helps the body to be healthier and overall stamina. The reason, foods high in simple carbohydrates can drop blood sugar levels in a short time after eating. That's why many people who actually feel weak and sleepy after eating. This condition is called hypoglycemia, and can be very dangerous for people with diabetes.

The benefits of carbohydrate counting will be more pronounced if you balance it with physical activity and discipline to take diabetes medication. Healthy lifestyle can help keep your blood glucose balanced.

So, how to implement this system?

The key to implementing a carbohydrate calculation system is simply calculating the carbohydrate-containing feedstock alone. You can find out how much carbohydrate in the food you eat by checking the nutrition label listed in the package.

As for knowing the amount of carbohydrates in homemade home-made foods, you need to estimate and add grams of carbohydrates from every cooking ingredient you use.

To find out, you can use a carbohydrate counting guide or search the sites that include carbohydrate content from home groceries to estimate the amount of carbohydrates in one serving.

Based on Household Size (URT), here is a list of some carbohydrate content in foods that you consume daily:

3/4 cup (100 grams) of white rice = 40 grams of carbohydrate
2 slices of whole grain bread = 40 grams of carbohydrates
4 biscuits = 40 grams of carbohydrates
5 1/2 tbsp (45 grams) oatmeal / oatmeal = 40 grams
1 1/2 pieces (120 grams) of cassava = 40 grams
1 serving (100 gram) gado-gado = 14.5 grams of carbohydrate
1 serving (100 grams) ketoprak = 22 grams of carbohydrates
1 serving (70 grams) vegetable curry = 2.5 grams of carbohydrate
1 serving (100 grams) of pickled vegetables = 14.5 grams of carbohydrate
1 1/2 pieces (100 grams) bakwan = 32.5 grams of carbohydrates
1 serving (100 grams) of instant fried rice noodles = 80 grams of carbohydrates
1 slice (100 grams) martabak eggs = 32 grams of carbohydrates
1 slice (100 gram) sweet maratabak = 42 grams carbohydrate
1 serving (100 gram) chicken noodle = 10 grams of carbohydrate
1 serving (100 grams) of meatball noodles = 20 grams of carbohydrates
10 pieces (100 grams) prawn crackers = 60 grams of carbohydrates
1 serving (100 grams) potato chips = 60 grams of carbohydrates

By knowing the amount of carbohydrates in the food you consume, you can find out whether your carbohydrate intake is excessive every day or even short of it.

Calculate your daily carbohydrate intake as well

Generally women require intake of carbohydrates as much as 45-60 grams and men 60-75 grams each meal. As for the food interlude morning and evening, both men and women require carbohydrate intake that ranges from 0-30 grams.

The above explanation may be a generic amount for many people. To find the right amount for yourself, you should consult this with your doctor and nutritionist.

It is important to remember if the same carbohydrate content does not always contain the same nutrients. That is why it is also important for you to keep in mind the balanced nutritional intake when applying this system.

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