[carolyn]

I expect this has been asked many times before, but not by me.lol. I had a lovely white roll for my dinner, last night. I had just butter on it and took the correct bolus for 4.5 white bread. I checked by bg before bed and it was 17.1 Why? I just don't understand where I went wrong. Help please.

[xMenace]

Originally Posted by carolyn

took the correct bolus for 4.5 white bread.

The problem with white bread is not that it makes you go higher but that it makes you go high quickly and our insulins can't match the action. I see nothing suggesting the roll as the culprit. Perhaps you mis-counted the carbs, you had hidden carbs, you had large portions of meat and fat, you had bad absorption, your insulin went bad, you have a new yet undetected sickness, you were stressed, you have an infection, dah, dah, dah...

[BlueSky]

Did you check your blood glucose before you ate? With high GI food like white bread, it also helps to bolus 20 minutes before eating. I find bolusing for bread so tricky that I hardly ever eat it anymore. When BG goes really high because of high GI food, it tends to not come down from the high level in spite of injecting copious amounts of insulin. In other works, a big spike invalidates the carb ratio.

[Emm]

Bluesky - white bread is 'evil' in my books! Just too tricky to cope with. On the odd occasion I have any bread at all it's thin slice grain bread which only has 17g per 2 slices. Even THAT gives me a little grief!

I did actually have a white roll a couple of nights ago at my father's birthday dinner. I shot so high up I was stunned, even though I thought I'd OVER-injected for everything *gasp*. So there ya go, some lessons we just have to re-learn lol. I don't even like white bread any more so I'll just go back to avoiding it totally. It's hard to believe I used to live off the stuff many years ago!

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by Emm

white bread is 'evil' in my books! Just too tricky to cope with.

I've nixed frozen breaded fish because even a couple pieces will spike me above 200-ish (11.0) with frightening regularity, despite correct bolus. I blame the white flour... which I've always considered "evil"... but now feel even more strongly about.

[gambi]

white flour! you might as well inject liquid sugar directly into your blood. That stuff if like poison to people with diabetes.

Sorry I'm a health nut, please don't take offense.

[Chappo]

I'm aware that some bread makers are now making Low-GI White-bread (which has a substantially high amount of complex carbs) in Australia. I usually stick to soy & linseed brown

[ohcarolina]

It's true! Sometimes I can't resist these amazing sourdough rolls at the restaurant when I'm starving, and they affect me like they have 80 grams of carbs, even though they are the size of an egg. It's like an evil magic trick. They are so gooood. But then I feel terrible so not worth it!
Luckily in my town the bakery makes whole-wheat sourdough and french, and they do what they're supposed to!

[davef]

I'm type 2 and not on insulin so don't bolus for eating, but I find I just have to stay away from white bread (rolls etc) as it just does not work for me, for me it is evil and I love the stuff

I have found some wholemeal (or as we call it Brown) bread that I tolerate really well, but some of the wholemeals are just as bad for me as white bread, there is a Hovis wholemeal (I mention it as you are in the UK and will know the brand) that I just can't touch. Just two slices for toasted for breakfast (starting around 5.1) sent me on a rollercoaster for a day.

Have I had white bread since DX, yes on the odd/special occassion, normally when I have a nice low starting number and once when after a few glasses of wine I got beligerent with my Diabetes and said to h*ll with it!

[REDLAN]

With high GI food like white bread

white flour! you might as well inject liquid sugar directly into your blood. That stuff if like poison to people with diabetes

wasn't taking offence

however white and brown bread have nearly identical GI's - aka digestion of starch by the body and rise in blood glucose are broadly similar - brown bread is slightly lower in carbs 45g per 100g as opposed to 50g per 100g for white bread - i.e. not a lot.

I don't think it's GI differences or carb load differences. If you are looking for a bread related issue....

then I think the most likely answer is by xMenace....

Perhaps you mis-counted the carbs

Bread in the UK does not seem to be made to a set standard particularly when it comes to density. Some breads end up heavier than others, which makes estimating them a nightmare.

2 identical sized rolls can have carb differences as high as 50%, because one is denser than the other. French bread sticks are just the same - big differences between different brands.

I always weigh bread before I eat it, and very rarely have a problem with spikes with either white or brown bread.

next time you go to your supermarket, have a look at the bloomers (Bloomers are usually 400g) and then see if you can find 2 different kinds which actually are the same size.

[Subby]

Originally Posted by REDLAN

wasn't taking offence

however white and brown bread have nearly identical GI's - aka digestion of starch by the body and rise in blood glucose are broadly similar - brown bread is slightly lower in carbs 45g per 100g as opposed to 50g per 100g for white bread - i.e. not a lot.
.

Fair enough to talk generalities with GI, but to be really useful you need to look at GI ratings for individual brands and types (which in themselves aren't the most accurate measurements of course, usually based on a small sample size/wide variation). Remember too that GI rating isn't a comment on carb content, although the two can have an obvious relationship of course.

With bread I only ever get Burgen Soy and Linseed (or a few other Burgen breads) that are rated about 30 - 40 on the GI scale. This is backed up for me personally in that they will not spike me much at all, unlike the vast majorities of brown or white or indeed other breads. The difference is remarkable. Nor are they anywhere near as addictive for me (probably mainly because they don't spike me).

If you can get these Burgen breads, (perhaps just Australia?) give them a go.

This is typical of the use of GI for me, it has helped me find some great foods that are on the very low scale of spiking, but the difference between say 60 to 100 in the GI scale doesn't seem to do much difference to me, and some ratings just don't translate to my experience at all.

[Emm]

Another thing we never seem to mention is how much of it we're eating! Naturally that makes a big difference.

I can get away with one slice of brown bread, even better if it's thin sliced. I could do the same with white bread but I find white bread a little addictive - I can't just have one slice.

I can have two slices of wholegrain if it's a lower carb bread, and most of them are lower to some degree. I always get one that's around 20g or less per 2 slices - my fav is a thin slice grain bread at 17g for two slices.

If I wanted to have more than that I'd be getting the same effect as if I'd eaten white bread, so a pig out on bread is totally OUT!