Junk food & diabetes

[diabeticgirl101]

Is it bad to eat too much sweets/junk food because you have diabetes? I know it's bad in general, but can it do anything to diabetes??

Also the other day I had a candy bar (I was out with my mom and forgot my snack and she just happened to have a candy bar). It was in not over my carb limit, but I still went high. Is it true that sugar (even if it's in your carbs) can raise your blood sugar?

Any information would be helpful. Thanks! :p

[Ellen]

It's an interesting question. My son is vegetarian by choice and eats a lot of healthy food. He also eats sugary foods although we don't have much in the house with trans fats.

Generally I think moderation is the key as is the importance of balancing good control with quality of life. However, did you ever notice when you read about the elderly who have survived with type 1 for over 50 years, they almost always say they never eat sweets? It tugs at my guilt strings, because my son eats sweets and takes insulin accordingly.

[cydnimom]

I am going to say that a carb is a carb, but different carbs react differently with everyone. If you look at the glycemic index you will notice that different foods will be broken down more slowly by your body than others. Most of it is because of the type of sugar (simple or complex) it is, plus the other accompanying ingredients with the carb like fibre, fat and protein (which all slow down absorption to some extent).

You may find that with the chocolate bar that because of the fat content you may have a delayed high. This can also happen when you eat other high fat foods like pizza and fried chicken and fries. I know that when I eat a high fat/high carb food, especially like pizza, that I end up taking 2/3 of my H at the time that I eat and then take the other 1/3 about 1.5 hrs later. I just know how my body treats certain foods and I did a bunch of experimenting with numerous finger pokes, etc. Something to consider anyways. I haven't done this to my son because he's on N and H right now, which has a couple of peaks rather than one.

I think more T2's are introduced the glycemic index than T1's, but I think it is worth looking at.