While people with type 2 diabetes who don't take mealtime insulin may not need detailed carb counting to keep their blood sugars in line, some prefer to do it. This advanced form of carb counting is recommended for people on intensive insulin therapy by shots or pump, such as those with type 1 and some people with type 2.
You will use what's known as an insulin-to-carb ratio to calculate how much insulin you should take in order to manage your blood sugars after eating. If you take mealtime insulin, that means first accounting for each carbohydrate gram you eat and dosing mealtime insulin based on that count. People taking other medications may use a more basic form of carb counting than those taking insulin.Ĭarb counting at its most basic level involves counting the number of grams of carbohydrate in a meal and matching that to your dose of insulin. To avoid high blood glucose, it helps to eat a consistent amount of carbs at meals and snacks throughout the day. It’s important that you be mindful of your carb intake. Type 2: If you have type 2 diabetes, you are resistant to the insulin your body makes and you don't produce enough to reach your target blood glucose levels.To do this, you have to know how many carbs are in your meals and snacks-cue carb counting! Type 1: If you have type 1 diabetes, your pancreas stops making insulin, so you need to take insulin to manage blood glucose changes from the food you eat.How carb counting can help you manage your blood glucose depends on what type of diabetes you have and your treatment plan.
If you have diabetes, there's a problem with the insulin used to process blood glucose. In people without diabetes, blood glucose levels rise after eating but the body's insulin response keeps levels from rising too high. When foods and drinks with carbs are digested, the carbs break down into glucose to fuel our cells, and the body's blood glucose, or blood sugar, level rises. For example, grains, sweets, starches, legumes and dairy all contain different amounts of carbs. Carbohydrates, or carbs, are naturally found in certain foods.