Diabetes Community

"All I had for lunch is Brown Rice (2 cups), Spinach, Low fat curd, Lentils."
Different foods affect different people differently but your "all I had for lunch" choices would have driven my own blood sugar well above 250. It is a myth that brown rice is "good" for diabetes. While it does contain a little fiber and some added nutrients compared to white rice, the total amount of carbs is just as catastrophic. In fact, some diabetics, based on actual blood tests, have reported that brown rice is worse than white rice when it comes to raising their blood sugar levels. For me personally (I am insulin-dependent), both are equally bad choices and two cups, combined with the lentils, would be gluco-toxic to my system without additional injected insulin.

Your readings (over a 2 minutes time frame) could be due to a strong phase one insulin response. If the beta cells in your pancreas still produce plenty of insulin and your phase one stores were intact, it could very well have lowered your blood sugar levels within the two minutes you experienced. You can do a search for biphasic insulin release (or secretion) if you would like to view more detailed information on the topic. If you were to look at functional beta cells under a microscope and phase one secretion was intact, insulin would appear as little beads or bubbles attached to the surface of the cells. These beads of insulin are released in response to elevated blood glucose levels (phase one); then phase two kicks in where additional insulin is produced and secreted as needed.

That was a lot of carbs. It is true foods react differently on different people but high carb is not a good deal with diabetes. In the two cups of brown rice alone was approximately 90 carbs, add to that the lentils which is 19 carbs per 1/2 cup serving total of 110 carbohydrates for one meal.

Personally I steer clear of rice because of the high carbs involved and also it "burns up" in the body too fast leaving me hungry until it's time to eat again. I keep cooked barley as a replacement for rice in my freezer and use it for soups, stir fry and side dishes. With ground turkey it makes a really tasty stir fry. Plus it stays with me so I'm not hungry before it's time.

Thanks NutriJoy and DianaRs.
I have been eating this everyday and my sugars were fine except for that day. Now its back to normal. The only thing I am not able to reason out was the sudden drop in the level. Moreover, I waited for an hour and checked them again. It was 150. Now its back to the usual range. < 110 before meal and between 130 and 160 two hours after meal.
But I will keep the carb count in mind and try to remove rice from my diet.
Thanks again.

It could also be that you took all those consecutive readings in the same finger. The blood in that finger would then get diluted from plasma without as many red cells from all the squeezing. There is also a variation of about 15% higher and lower with all the meters we not use. Aque (sp.?)check I understand was the last meter to change its strips over to some new "standard" which is not as error free as the old strips due to some governmental or DA new rules. Some people now send for their strips from Canada.

Flute, it's Accu-Chek. And the newest Roche combo is the Nova, supposed to be more accurate and precise than the old standards. I worked for that company for a number of years, and can assure you that their quality control is very tight.

Nancy

Whoops, NWSmom, it's the Nano (I do that all the time). Sorry.

Nancy

In the last few months Dr. Richard K. Bernstein's monthly webcasts, he has been talking about the lower readings mandated by the FDA with newer strips to make sure they do not let people go low as had happened due to one period of time when several people died because of some weird combination of information (?). All the other companies had already changed their strips except Roche, which just recently changed their strips to the new U.S. standard, being that what you see is really lower than your actual blood sugar. His patients are now buying the older, more accurate strips from Canada. Check out his site. He is very strict. His book is Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution.