How to Count Carbs for Diabetics

Know what foods contain carbohydrates.

If you are diabetic, the first thing you must learn to do is to count carbohydrates. Carbohydrates convert to sugar or glucose. Insulin tries to move the sugar into your muscle cells for energy. If you eat too many carbohydrates at once, you are dumping too much sugar into your bloodstream and the insulin cannot control it. There are a few tricks to counting carbohydrates. Once you learn the techniques, it's quite easy to count carbs.

Things You'll Need

• Food log
• Exchange list for diabetes
• Carbohydrate guide
• Measuring cup
• Food scales

Instructions

1. Know what foods contain carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are found in bread, pasta, rice, legumes, peas, corn, winter squash, cereal, grains, crackers, baked goods, fruit and snack foods. Nonstarchy vegetables contain some carbohydrates. Dairy products contain some carbohydrates, as well.

2. Learn what one carbohydrate serving is. A half of a cup of cooked cereal, grain or starchy vegetables, such as peas, is one carbohydrate serving. A third of a cup of rice or pasta is one carbohydrate serving. One cup of milk is one carbohydrate serving. One slice of bread is one carbohydrate serving. One small fruit or one-half a cup of fruit is one carbohydrate serving. Three quarters to 1 oz. of snack food is one carbohydrate serving.

3. Learn to convert carbohydrates to grams. One carbohydrate serving is equal to 15 grams of carbohydrates. Depending upon your age, weight and gender, your dietitian will allot so many carbohydrates per meal and for the day. An average allotment is 45 to 60 grams of carbohydrates for each meal. For those trying to lose weight, you may want to cut down the carbohydrates to 30 grams per meal. Your dietitian will discuss your options with you.

4. Learn portion tips. Since you will not be home all the time, you must learn to measure carbohydrates other ways besides using a measuring cup or weighing your food. An open handful of snack food is equal to one cup. Your thumb is about the size of an ounce of cheese and 1 tsp. of butter or mayonnaise. Your fist is equivalent to a medium fruit, which is a little more than one carbohydrate serving.

5. Learn to read labels. Read the serving size on a label and then check how many carbohydrates are in one serving size. Next, check to see if there is any fiber. If there is more than 5 grams of fiber, divide the fiber in half and subtract it from the grams of carbohydrates. This is the true reading of carbohydrates. If crackers are 19 grams of carbohydrates for one serving, and the fiber is 6 grams, subtract three from the 19 and the carbohydrates is really 16 grams.
   The same is true with sugar alcohol. If the sugar alcohols are more than 5 grams, use the same calculations to figure the true carbohydrates.

Tips & Warnings

• At first, keep a food log to count your carbohydrates. Use an exchange list, so you can find out what foods have carbohydrates, proteins and fat. Look for food with high fiber. It has more density and fewer carbohydrates. Try to include fruit, dairy, and vegetables in your diet as part of your carbohydrates. Nonstarchy vegetables are equivalent to 5 grams of carbohydrates for 1/2 a cup. You can have 1 1/2 cups to equal one carbohydrate serving or 15 grams.

• Avoid carbohydrates that contain a lot of fat. Keep to 3 grams of fat per serving. Avoid carbohydrates that are prepared with a lot of salt. Avoid fast food that has 600 or more milligrams of sodium per serving. Watch out for hidden carbohydrates in croutons or salad dressing.

References

• Controlling Carbs
• Mayo Clinic

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish