Wow! Carbs, sugars....

[My Peach Emily]

I have no clue how to advice her what to eat. I read the thread on snacks and it seems important to count carbs. I always looked at the sugars. Know that you guys brought it to my attention I remember reading about carb converting to sugars in the body. Does anybody have any tips for me? Should we look for carbs or sugars? What's your favorite food with low carbs and sugar or whatever is good on keeping your blood sugar down?

[HeatherP]

First, all sugars are carbs, but not all carbs are sugar. Carb counting is based on the fact that it's the carbs you eat that cause a rise of insulin in the system. If you are resistant and/or not producing enough as in T2, or not producing any as is T1, then this insulin must be replaced.

Your absolute best bet would be to have your Grandmother work with a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE)/Dietician. Carb counting is easy to learn and practice without all that much work. For a T1, the amount of carbs in any given meal is what you base the insulin dose on. This is called your insulin to carbs ratio. T2 may be a little more complicated, so I will leave that to those w/ personal experience to elaborate.

There are many different schools of thought on carb consumption. You'll find some of us eat "high" amounts, I eat a moderate-carb diet and others follow lower carb eating guidelines.

As for snacks, nowadays low carb is the rage, so more products are available to us than ever before. They don't all taste great however. Proteins are no carb, so they can make good snacks, however you have to take into account any other health conditions that may be affected by the protein and fats. Including kidney disease, which can be a complication of diabetes.

I'll leave it at that for now, but you'll get plenty of other input, and PM me if you'd like some more help!
HeatherP