Diabetes & carb counting
Book - 2024
The person with diabetes is at the center of their own care. They make the day-to-day decisions about what to eat, when to exercise, and how to use the data they get from blood glucose monitoring devices. In order to be successful, it is critically important to make those decisions based on sound advice from their healthcare team, diabetes experts, and reputable resources. Carbs and glucose levels go hand in hand when managing all forms of diabetes. Diabetes & Carb Counting For Dummies teaches you all about carbs and overall healthy nutrition so that you can make informed decisions about what to eat and how much. Get up-to-date guidance to improve your health and live the life you want. This updated edition covers the latest dietary gui...delines and standards, so you'll be on track with the best that science has to offer in diabetes management. You'll also get tips on exercise, interpreting blood glucose and A1C results, and continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) technology. Living your best carb-counting life starts with this Dummies guide.
Saved in:
- Subjects
- Published
-
Hoboken, NJ :
John Wiley & Sons, Inc
[2024]
- Language
- English
- Main Author
- Edition
- Second edition
- Physical Description
- xv, 424 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
- Bibliography
- Includes index.
- ISBN
- 9781394265572
- Introduction
- About This Book
- Foolish Assumptions
- Icons Used in This Book
- Beyond the Book
- Where to Go from Here
- Part 1. Getting Started with Carb Counting and Diabetes Management
- Chapter 1. Delving into Diabetes and Carb Counting
- Getting Up to Speed on Diabetes Basics
- Checking out concerning trends in the diabetes epidemic
- Improving outcomes and preventing complications
- Building your diabetes team
- Staying up to date with advances in diabetes care
- Examining the Carb-Glucose Connection
- Getting Acquainted with Carbs
- Introducing the so-called simple carbs
- Catching up on complex carbs
- Noting the nutrition in carb food groups
- Acknowledging that staying healthy isn't just about carbs
- Making the Case for Carb Counting: To Count or Not to Count?
- Counting carbs with type 1 diabetes: An essential tool
- Gaining tighter control over blood-glucose levels with type 2 diabetes
- Sticking with consistent carb counts when you're on set insulin doses
- Managing weight with carb counting and portion precision
- Regulating Carb Intakes
- Figuring out how much carb you need
- Timing your carb intake
- Counting Carbs Successfully
- Looking at the label lingo
- Gathering carb-counting resources
- Increasing carb-counting accuracy
- Living Well with Diabetes: The Seven Pillars of Diabetes Management
- Eating a healthy diet
- Staying fit with exercise
- Taking your medication
- Monitoring your blood-glucose levels
- Managing stress
- Learning how to problem-solve
- Reducing risk with healthy behaviors and regular medical checkups
- Chapter 2. Exploring the Diabetes-Carb Connection
- Wrapping Your Brain around Diabetes and Related Conditions
- Seeing how the body is supposed to process carbs
- Discovering what causes diabetes
- Noticing the symptoms of diabetes
- Distinguishing the types of diabetes
- Recognizing Diabetes Risk Factors and Getting Diagnosed
- Type 1 diabetes risk factors
- Type 2 diabetes risk factors
- Diagnosing diabetes
- Moving Forward with Managing Diabetes
- Knowing that diet matters
- Keeping in touch with your diabetes team
- Embracing your central role in your own self-care
- Chapter 3. Calling All Carbs: Recognizing Carbs in the Foods You Eat
- Looking at the Chemical Structure of Carbohydrates
- Introducing the So-Called Simple Carbohydrates
- Going au naturel with glucose, fructose, and lactose
- Finding other forms of sugar: Sucrose, maltose, honey, and syrups
- Spotting simple carbs in the grocery aisles
- Checking Out the Complex Carbohydrates
- Identifying the starches
- Focusing on Fiber and its many health benefits
- Spotting complex carbs in the grocery aisles
- Recognizing Carb-Free Counterparts
- Pumping up with proteins: Meat, poultry, fish, and other sources
- Finding the healthiest fats and oils
- Exploring the role of noncarb foods in diabetes management
- Chapter 4. Tracking Carbs through the Body
- Filling Your Tank and Fueling Your Cells
- Settling in your stomach
- Extracting glucose via digestion
- Traveling through your bloodstream
- Fueling your cells
- Saving Some for Later: Glycogen, the Storage Form of Glucose
- Making a layover in the liver
- Maintaining the muscles' glucose reserves
- Noting What Happens When Glucose Levels Remain Elevated
- Spilling glucose Into the urine
- Understanding A1C and glycosylation
- Recognizing the Risks of Undereating Carbs
- Depleting glucose reserves and dealing with hypoglycemia
- Making glucose from scratch (with possible loss of muscle)
- Producing ketones
- Chapter 5. Finding Your Sweet Spot: The Right Amount of Carbs for You
- Checking Out the Official Diet Guidelines
- Advice from the American Diabetes Association
- The Dietary Guidelines for Americans
- Recommendations from the National Academy of Sciences and Health Canada
- Figuring Out Calorie and Carbohydrate Intake Targets
- Estimating your caloric needs
- Understanding body mass index (BMI)
- Deciding on carb intake targets
- Distributing carb intake
- Leaving room on your plate for protein and fat
- Tweaking Your Carb Intake Target When Conditions Change
- Changing needs throughout the life cycle
- Altering Intake to account for activity
- Adjusting portions when blood glucose is out of control
- Managing sick days
- Chapter 6. Timing Your Carb Consumption
- Distributing Your Daily Carb Intake
- Striving to eat three meals per day
- Opting for smaller meals with reasonably sized snacks
- Trying time-restricted eating
- Fasting for religious reasons
- Stabilizing Blood-Glucose Levels at Breakfast and Dinner
- Breaking your fast: The importance of breakfast
- Considering the merits of an earlier dinner
- Understanding Insulin Action
- Comparing insulin options
- Checking out concentrated insulins
- Looking at blended insulin preparations
- Inhaling insulin
- Pumping insulin
- Coordinating Insulin Action with Meals
- Enjoying the flexibility of insulin-to-carb ratios
- Keeping carbs consistent when using sliding-scale insulin dosing
- Basing injection timing on pre-meal blood-glucose levels
- Being regimented if you use blended insulin
- Managing Carbs on Oral Diabetes Meds
- Keeping the carbs appropriate
- Knowing your limits
- Part 2. Carb Counting: From Basic to Advanced
- Chapter 7. Reading and Deciphering Food Labels
- Finding Your Way around Food Labels
- Scrutinizing the Nutrition Facts
- Sorting out Serving sizes and servings per container
- Calling out Calories
- Focusing on the fat
- Considering Cholesterol content
- Surveying the Sodium
- Focusing on Total Carbohydrate
- Pinpointing the Protein
- Taking note of other valuable nutrients
- Viewing various versions of Nutrition Facts labels
- Investigating the ingredients
- Identifying allergens
- Heading to the Grocery Store
- Looking at label claims
- Understanding label claims
- Preparing your carbohydrate cheat sheet
- Developing supermarket savvy
- Chapter 8. Mastering Carb Counting and Portioning Fundamentals
- Estimating Carb Counts for Foods without Labels
- Referring to food composition lists
- Solving carb-counting conundrums in mixed dishes and ethnic foods
- Calculating carbs in your favorite recipes
- Preparing your carbohydrate cheat sheet
- Sizing Up Servings with Measures and Weights
- Measuring with standardized cups and spoons
- Weighing in on whether to use a food scale
- Dealing with Special Cases
- Controlling carb intake when eating out
- Keeping track of the carbs you drink
- Guesstimating: When Carb Counts Aren't Critical
- Balancing your plate with the plate model
- Handling portions with the hand model
- Chapter 9. Adding Tools for Carb-Counting Ease and Accuracy
- Reviewing Written Resources
- Reading the fine print for carb counts
- Looking at labeling regulations for chain restaurants
- Tapping into Online Resources
- Digging up restaurant food facts
- Foraging through Internet food databases
- Using your search engine to count carbs
- Enlisting the Assistance of Apps: One More Reason to Love Your Smartphone
- Part 3. Going Beyond Counting Carbs
- Chapter 10. Accounting for Variations in Digestion and Absorption Rates
- Comparing Digestion Speeds for Fluids and Foods
- Looking at liquid carbs
- Singling out sugars
- Figuring out fruit
- Focusing on complex carbs and fiber
- Recognizing the fat factor
- Considering other variables
- Gauging the Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load
- Reducing Blood-Glucose Fluctuations: Tips and Tricks
- Controlling portion sizes of foods that pack a blood-glucose punch
- Adding activity for extra carbs
- Combining foods to reduce glycemic effect
- Altering the order in which you eat the components of your meal
- Aligning Insulin and Digestion Rates
- Optimizing mealtime insulin coverage
- Using your insulin pump's fine features
- Chapter 11. Rethink That Drink
- Noting the Importance of Hydration
- Exploring the Pros and Cons of Different Drinks
- Making water your beverage of choice
- Sipping and swigging low-carb beverages
- Mentioning the merits of milk and nondairy milk substitutes
- Facing the facts about fruit juice
- It's Not Just the Carbs - It's the Calories Too
- Using Nutrition Supplement Drinks
- Last Call for Alcohol: What's the Verdict?
- Being informed about the risks
- Going behind the scenes: How alcohol affects the body
- Looking at liquor's carbs and calories
- Drinking safely
- Chapter 12. Let Me Call You Sweetie: Sugars and Substitutes
- Comparing Sugars
- Sugar, honey, syrup, and other notables
- Novel sweeteners
- Natural fructose and agave nectar
- Examining Sugar Alcohols
- Staying Up to Date on Sugar Substitutes
- Digging into the details of nonnutritive sweeteners
- Exploring sugar-substitute safety records
- Using substitutes in cooking and baking
- Part 4. Embracing Whole Health and Happiness
- Chapter 13. Eating for Health and Happiness
- Eating a Rainbow of Fruits and Vegetables
- Loading Up on Whole Grains
- Identifying best-bet grains
- Increasing your options and trying new grains
- Leaning Toward Leaner Proteins
- Choosing the healthiest options
- Fishing for reasons to eat more seafood
- Vegging out with meatless proteins
- Daring to Do Dairy
- Watching the fat content
- Packing in more protein
- Boning up on calcium
- Checking out nondairy milk substitutes
- Focusing on Healthy Fats
- Having Diabetes and Dessert, Too
- Making your own treats
- Dressing up healthy fruits
- Enjoying dessert while controlling the carbs
- Trying Cooking and Serving Tips that Support Health and Weight Goals
- Opting for lower-fat cooking methods
- Controlling portion sizes
- Chapter 14. Reaping the Rewards of Fitness
- Exercising Safely
- Getting the green light from your healthcare provider
- Being prepared: What to keep handy
- Encouraging Exercise for Everyone
- Developing an exercise plan
- Enjoying the benefits of fitness
- Being mindful of medical limitations
- Clarifying What's Going on Behind the Scenes When You Exercise
- Controlling blood glucose; How hormones are supposed to do it automatically
- Identifying how diabetes alters fuel use
- Sustaining exercise by tapping into fuels
- Understanding hypoglycemia and delayed hypoglycemia
- Exercising with Type 1: Staying Safe While Having Fun
- Monitoring matters
- Fueling up or dialing down: Fine-tuning carbs and insulin
- Knowing when to postpone activity: Too high or too low, don't go
- Exercising with Type 2: Why It's Right for You
- Improving glycemic control
- Reducing cardiovascular risks
- Supporting weight-control efforts
- Chapter 15. Getting a Handle on Hypoglycemia
- Understanding Hypoglycemia
- Defining level 1, level 2, and level 3 hypoglycemia
- Identifying causes of hypoglycemia
- Recognizing the symptoms of hypoglycemia
- Losing symptoms of lows: Hypoglycemia unawareness
- Treating Hypoglycemia
- Choosing quick-acting carbs
- Taking the right amount of carb
- Rechecking your blood-glucose level
- Watching out for rebounds
- Requiring assistance: Severe lows and glucagon
- Strategizing for Common Hypoglycemia Scenarios
- Managing mealtime lows
- Sleeping safely after a bedtime low
- Considering insulin action when treating hypoglycemia
- Preventing Hypoglycemia
- Being prepared
- Looking for patterns and problem-solving
- Reflecting on prior exercise
- Remembering your carb intake
- Enlisting Your Doctor's Help
- Keeping and reviewing blood-glucose logs
- Sharing your data with your doctor
- Chapter 16. Keeping the Beat with a Healthy Heart
- Eating Smart for Your Heart
- Getting the facts on cholesterol and fats
- Acquainting yourself with types of fats
- Choosing fats wisely
- Adding soluble fiber to your healthy-heart regimen
- Creating a heart-healthy grocery list
- Cooking your foods the heart-healthy way
- Handling the (Blood) Pressure
- Taking a look at the DASH diet
- Shaking the salt habit and opting for alternate seasonings
- Identifying hidden sodium suspects
- Deciphering label claims related to sodium
- Embracing Heart-Healthy Habits
- Managing stress and diabetes distress
- Avoiding tobacco and secondhand smoke
- Staying active
- Controlling weight
- Chapter 17. Living with Diabetes throughout the Life Cycle
- Raising a Child with Diabetes
- Touching on key concepts
- Addressing type 2 diabetes in youth
- Managing Diabetes in Pregnancy
- Planning for pregnancy when you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes
- Developing gestational diabetes
- Understanding blood-glucose targets and fluctuations in pregnancy
- Employing eating tips for diabetes during pregnancy
- Keeping the Golden Years Golden When You Have Diabetes
- Evaluating seniors' dietary concerns
- Keeping physically fit
- Chapter 18. Going Gluten-Free: Does the Batter Matter?
- Weighing In on the Gluten-Free Debate: Fad or Fact?
- Avoiding gluten fastidiously when you have celiac disease
- Forgoing gluten if you are allergic or have an intolerance
- Choosing to go gluten-free for personal reasons
- Going Against the Grain; Beginning a Gluten-Free Diet
- Avoiding grains that contain gluten
- Eliminating gluten-containing foods
- Finding hidden gluten
- Avoiding cross-contamination
- Staying Gluten-Free Without Nutrient Deficiencies
- Embracing foods naturally free of gluten
- Incorporating gluten-free grains and starches
- Watching out for nutrient deficiencies
- Part 5. Sampling Menus Complete with Carb Counts
- Chapter 19. Beginning with Breakfast Menus
- Starting Your Day Right with Breakfast
- Personalizing Your Breakfast Meal Plan
- Chapter 20. Looking for Lunch Menus
- Loving Your Lunch Options
- Personalizing Your Lunch Meal Plan
- Chapter 21. Delving into Dinner Menus
- Determining What's for Dinner
- Personalizing Your Dinner Meal Plan
- Chapter 22. Surveying Snack Ideas
- Choosing Carb-Controlled Snacks
- Picking Packaged Snacks
- Part 6. The Part of Tens
- Chapter 23. Ten Tips for Monitoring Your Blood Glucose
- Picking a Meter for Your Needs
- Obtaining a Blood Sample
- Acknowledging Margin of Error
- Assuring as Much Accuracy as Possible
- Disposing of Lancets and Needles Properly
- Varying Your Blood-Glucose Check Times
- Knowing Your Blood-Glucose Targets
- Keeping a Log and Reviewing Your Data
- Getting Your A1C Done Regularly
- Considering Continuous Glucose Monitoring
- Chapter 24. Ten Tips for Controlling Carbs
- Saving a Step with a Measuring Cup
- Weighing Fruits in Advance
- Having a Carb-Counting Contest
- Making Better Breakfast Choices
- Packing Your Own Lunch
- Choosing Wisely at the Deli
- Considering the Condiments
- Fitting in a Favorite Dessert
- Planning and Portioning Snacks
- Curbing Late-Night Snacking
- Chapter 25. Ten Worthwhile Websites to Help You Manage Diabetes
- Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
- American Diabetes Association
- American Heart Association
- British Heart Foundation
- Diabetes Canada
- Diabetes UK
- MyPlate
- National Diabetes Prevention Program
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- WebMD
- Chapter 26. Ten Things to Add to Your Healthcare Checklist
- Building Better Health and Becoming Your Best Self
- Seeing Your Diabetes Team Regularly
- Taking Your Medications as Prescribed
- Controlling BGs and BPs
- Prioritizing Mental Health
- Taking Care of Your Feet
- Keeping Current with Dental Screenings and Cleanings
- Screening Annually and Having Recommended Stood Labs
- Getting Vaccinated
- Setting Goals and Evaluating Progress
- Part 7. Appendixes
- Appendix A. Exchange Lists
- Appendix B. Conversion Guide
- Index