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ShareHow Well Do You Count Carbs?
One of the first things you learn about food and diabetes is what foods contain carbohydrates and how to keep track of the carbohydrates you eat. Over time, you'll want to double-check your estimates occasionally.
Counting Carbs
Accurately keeping track of the carbohydrates you eat and adhering to your individual guidelines are keys to controlling your diabetes. Counting carbohydrates, or carbs for short, is a common approach to diabetes meal planning because research shows carbohydrates have the greatest impact on blood glucose.
How many carbohydrate grams are in a small bowl of rice? A large apple? Howard Wolpert, M.D., a senior physician at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston and coauthor of Smart Pumping (American Diabetes Association, 2002), posed these questions to 40 people who wear insulin pumps. Their guesses ranged from 10 to 60 grams for the rice and 10 to 40 grams for the apple.
The real answers? About 15 grams for 1/3 cup rice and 30 grams for the large apple. What would you have guessed?
