Director, Book Publishing, Abe Ogden; Acquisitions Editor, Victor Van Beuren; Editor, Greg Guthrie; Production Manager, Melissa Sprott; Composition, ADA; Cover Design, Vis-à-Vis Creative Concepts; Writer, Jennifer Arnold; Printer, Thomson-Shore, Inc.
©2011 by Hope S. Warshaw and Karmeen Kulkarni. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including duplication, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the American Diabetes Association.
Printed in the United States of America
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The suggestions and information contained in this publication are generally consistent with the Clinical Practice Recommendations and other policies of the American Diabetes Association, but they do not represent the policy or position of the Association or any of its boards or committees. Reasonable steps have been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the American Diabetes Association cannot ensure the safety or efficacy of any product or service described in this publication. Individuals are advised to consult a physician or other appropriate health care professional before undertaking any diet or exercise program or taking any medication referred to in this publication. Professionals must use and apply their own professional judgment, experience, and training and should not rely solely on the information contained in this publication before prescribing any diet, exercise, or medication. The American Diabetes Association—its officers, directors, employees, volunteers, and members—assumes no responsibility or liability for personal or other injury, loss, or damage that may result from the suggestions or information in this publication.
ADA titles may be purchased for business or promotional use or for special sales. To purchase more than 50 copies of this book at a discount, or for custom editions of this book with your logo, contact the American Diabetes Association at the address below, at [email protected], or by calling 703-299-2046.
American Diabetes Association
1701 North Beauregard Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22311
DOI: 10.2337/ 9781580404365
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Warshaw, Hope S., 1954-
Complete guide to carb counting : how to take the mystery out of carb counting and improve your blood glucose control / Hope S. Warshaw, Karmeen Kulkarni. -- 3rd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-58040-436-5 (pbk.)
1. Diabetes--Diet therapy. 2. Food--Carbohydrate content. I. Kulkarni, Karmeen, 1953- II. Title.
RC662.W313 2011
616.4’620654--dc22
2011000233
eISBN: 9781580403979
This book is dedicated to all people with diabetes. We hope it provides you with the knowledge and skills to make carb counting a central part of your diabetes careand helps you to achieve the diabetes control and quality of life that you desire.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: What Is Carb Counting?
Chapter 2: Basic Carb Counting
Chapter 4: Protein, Fat, and Alcohol Count, Too
Chapter 5: Weighing and Measuring Foods—A Key to Your Success
Chapter 6: The Food Label Has the Facts
Chapter 7: Carb Counting in Real Life—How to Count Convenience Foods and Recipes
Chapter 8: Carb Counting in Real Life—How to Count Restaurant Meals and Take-Out Food
Chapter 9: Blood Glucose Pattern Management—Fine-Tuning Your Control
Chapter 10: Blood Glucose–Lowering Medications and Insulin
Chapter 11: Advanced Carb Counting
Appendix 1: Carb Counts of Everyday Foods
Appendix 2: Carb Counting Resources
Appendix 3: Record-Keeping Forms
Foreword
Carbohydrates (or more precisely, lack thereof) have received a lot of attention over the last decade. It seems that with the recent popularity of low-carbohydrate diets on the market (diets, it should be noted, that have not been backed by serious scientific evidence), it’s nearly impossible to visit a grocery store, eat at a restaurant, or even open a newspaper without hearing about carbs. For those with diabetes, attention to carbohydrate is nothing new. Even before the discovery of insulin, early meal planning techniques focused on restricting carbohydrate intake. Over time, our understanding of carbohydrates improved. As the decades passed and research continued, it became clear that carbohydrates had the largest impact on blood glucose levels. Eventually, it was shown that not only sugar had this effect, but all carbohydrates. By the turn of the century, one of the main challenges of diabetes therapy was to match carbohydrate content to insulin availability (whether made by your body or injected from outside).
Just from a conceptual point of view, this notion seems easy enough to understand. However, as anyone who has ever tried to put this theory into practice appreciates, the process can be exceedingly difficult. Immediately a host of questions springs to mind: What is a carbohydrate? What foods contain carbohydrate? How much carbohydrate should a person eat? How do you count all of this carbohydrate? And perhaps ultimately, how does this help with diabetes management? Suddenly, what at first seemed like a simple matter of adding numbers can become overwhelming.
Fortunately, this is a good time to be a “carb counter.” There are a variety of resources available to help you in your pursuit of counting carbohydrates. Nutrition information detailing the amount of carbohydrate in foods is widely available, whether it is printed on the Nutrition Facts label on packaged food products, available in a menu at a restaurant, listed on a website, or catalogued in a carb count book. Many cookbooks, including all of those from the American Diabetes Association, list the nutrition information for their recipes. Scales and measuring