Counting Carbohydrates

While all foods cause glucose levels to rise, carbohydrates have the swiftest impact, producing an increase in blood sugar within two hours of a meal. However, several factors -- such as how much fiber or fat the meal includes -- can affect speed of digestion. About half of your calories (from 45 to 65 percent) should come from carbohydrates.

If you are taking insulin, carbohydrate counting is actually the most flexible eating plan. Carbohydrate counting allows you to more accurately estimate how much insulin you'll need to inject before eating in order to accommodate the ensuing rise in blood sugar. Your doctor or dietitian will recommend a number of insulin units per grams of carbohydrates in a meal. Chances are, at first you may need to experiment a little to find the right proportion. Carbohydrate counting can also help you eat roughly the same amount of carbs at each meal, which will help to maintain even, healthy blood sugar during the day.

If you're not taking insulin, the strategy of counting carbohydrates is kind of like living on a fixed income. You will get a set daily limit of how many carbohydrates you can eat, as measured in grams, but it's up to you to decide how you want to "spend" them at each meal. A slice of wheat bread has 13 grams of carbohydrates, and a medium-size apple packs about 20. Meanwhile, a small slice of chocolate cake will set you back 32 grams. Slurp down a McDonald's strawberry milk shake at lunch and you just blew 67 grams from your daily carb account.

Carbohydrate counting is not difficult; it just takes a little practice and access to two pieces of nutritional information: the number of carbohydrates in each food that makes up a meal and the amount of each food (or serving size) you will be eating. There are several good ways of getting this information:
  • Labels. With packaged foods, this information is printed on the Nutrition Facts panel.

Food Labels
The Nutrition Facts panel has all the information you need to
count carbs in packaged foods.

  • Your own research: For nonpackaged foods, books and Web sites for carbohydrate counters are available. Some restaurants provide the information.
  • Exchange lists. To make it simple to add variety to meals, the American Dietetic Association and the American Diabetes Association publish these easy-to-use lists. Foods are grouped by categories, such as starches, vegetables, fruits, meats, and so on, with predetermined portion sizes. All food exchanges within a category have roughly equivalent nutritional value and impact on blood sugar levels. For instance, if you wake up some morning and decide you want a bowl of cereal or oatmeal instead of your usual toast, an exchange list can tell you how much cereal or oatmeal you can eat and still keep your blood sugar level in the target range. Ask your diabetes educator or dietitian about exchange lists.
Counting your carbs is one step you can take to manage your diet with diabetes. The next section talks about choosing the right carbohydrates to improve your glucose control.

For more information on diabetes, diet, and related topics, try the following links:
  • For more information about how diet affects diabetes, see our Diabetic Diet page.
  • To learn how exercise relates to diet when you have diabetes, see our Diabetes and Exercise  page.
  • For more information on diabetes in general, whether you want to learn about type 1 or type 2, visit the main Diabetes page.
  • To learn about how to take care of yourself when you have diabetes, visit our main Diabetes Treatment page.
This information is solely for informational purposes. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. Neither the Editors of Consumer Guide (R), Publications International, Ltd., the author nor publisher take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action or application of medication which results from reading or following the information contained in this information. The publication of this information does not constitute the practice of medicine, and this information does not replace the advice of your physician or other health care provider. Before undertaking any course of treatment, the reader must seek the advice of their physician or other health care provider.