I have some super awesome friends that want to learn about type 1 diabetes. One of these awesome friends asked me to write about foods that are technically ok, but not really worth it to my guys to eat. In the DOC (diabetes online community), I have seen the phrase bolus-worthy used often....is it worth the insulin (either from injection or pump)?
First, if you can eat it then a person with type 1 can eat it. A big misconception is that PWD (persons with diabetes) can't eat sweets. Truth is, no one should eat sweets often. Same for PWD. As a treat, sweets are fine.
So here are a few things that my guys have determined really aren't worth it.
1) Sugar-sweetened tea and soft drinks, especially fountain drinks. These are super hard to calculate! Example: A Route 44 Powerade from Sonic is supposed to be 64 g of carbs, according to the nutrition info on their website. Is that with or without the ice? What if the mix is not quite right? Too many variables, so it's not bolus-worthy. Sugar free drinks are just easier. Also, they are so used to sugar free drinks that they don't even LIKE the regular ones anymore.
2) Fruit juices. Seth uses juice boxes for lows, so they just aren't appealing to him otherwise. He had a big glass of orange juice with brinner (breakfast for dinner) one night, and the blood sugar spike was not fun for him. He felt icky for several hours. He decided to reserve oj for lows, or only small amounts for breakfast.
3) Milk. Neither of them have acknowledged this one, but our milk consumption has SERIOUSLY gone down since their diagnoses. Unless it's with a meal, they don't drink milk anymore.
Seeing a trend here? Drinks appear to be the biggest carb issue.
4) Cereal. Jason isn't a huge cereal eater anyway, so this isn't a big deal for him. But for Seth....oh my. This kid LOVES cereal. It has really been causing him problems lately, so he is taking a cereal break. Every time he has cereal for breakfast, he goes low in the afternoon. Weird. He is hoping to figure out how to dose for it so he can enjoy it again!
Other than that, everything else is fair game. Sometimes they will choose not to eat something because they don't want to take a shot right then. But nothing is truly off limits. All things in moderation.
Fantastic post Cassie. I don't think I ever thought about the whole ice factor at Sonic. Maybe its because when we left TX we left behind Sonic. There is a Sonic in Nor Cal but it is 45 minutes away - too far to get a Sweet-Tea cut in half. Actually when I was in TX last week I stopped at every single Sonic I came across. I ordered a different flavored tea each time. Blackberry was my favorite. Yum. Oh how I miss it. My kids would all get slushes - yes for the week we were there they were bolus worthy because we can't get them here.
ReplyDeleteCereal is a real problem here too - I mean Im fairly certain it is the arch nemesis of most PWD. My daughter (T1) refuses to start her day without a bowl of hot cheerios. Yes hot Cheerios. SHe warms a cup of milk in the micro then pours in a cup of cheerios. She gets it from her dad. And let me tell you this - the smell of hot cheerios is right up there with vomit. Yuck. Still everyday she eats it along with a greek yogurt and a hard boiled egg.
We found that if we bolus at least 30 minutes prior she doesn't get a huge spike. If we miss the bolus time window she spikes to 300. Stupid Diabetes.
Anyway - great post. Hope yall are doing great.
Thanks, Christina! Glad you liked it. Diabetes is stupid. And hot Cheerios.....hmmmmmm. Think I'll skip that one.
DeleteJust read your post. I'll go over there and comment!