Understanding Carbohydrates for People with Diabetes
Are carbohydrates bad for someone with diabetes? Let’s explore what carbohydrates, or carbs, actually are.
Types of Carbs: Simple and Complex
Simple Carbs
Simple carbs are sugars found in foods like sugar, soda, sweet drinks, candy, honey, maple syrup, popsicles, fruit juice, and fruit. These carbs can raise blood glucose within 15 minutes because they are quickly broken down in the body. This is why a small glass of juice (4 oz.) can help treat low blood glucose quickly.
Complex Carbs
Complex carbs are made up of chains of simple sugars and take a bit longer to digest. Although these sugars are linked together, it doesn’t take long for the body to break them down into easily absorbed sugar molecules. Foods that are considered complex carbs include rice, potatoes, pasta, bread, winter squash, peas, and legumes. Complex carbs will raise blood glucose levels within 1-2 hours.
How Carbs Affect Blood Glucose
When you eat carbs, they are digested in your gut and absorbed into your blood as glucose, causing your blood glucose levels to rise. This rise is called postprandial glucose.
The peak of postprandial glucose is usually measured about 2 hours after finishing a meal, although it might take a bit longer for some people. If you use a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), you can see this rise as a curve that goes up and then down.
Returning to Baseline After a Meal
After eating, your blood glucose levels should ideally return to their pre-meal levels (baseline) within 4 hours. Typically, blood glucose peaks around 150 mg/dL, but it can go up to 180 mg/dL before it starts to decrease. If it takes more than 4 hours to return to baseline, say 5 or 6 hours, your next meal might start with a higher blood glucose level since it never returned to baseline.
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