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I have been diabetic for 20 years. I have tried every method, app, plan, and tool, including systems falsely marketed as "smart." No method works or delivers de

• foxyv 2y ago
  It doesn't help that food manufacturers intentionally make it hard to measure nutrition from most of their foods. They play around with serving sizes to hide carbohydrates making you have to do math just to keep up. Sometimes they will round down on grams of macros after setting the serving size so they can claim it has zero sugar when it does in fact have tons of sugar. Tic-tacs are the worst about this. They claim they have zero everything despite just being sugar tablets.
  • yellow_lead 2y ago
    Plus the whole sugar vs. sugar alcohol nonsense, which I still don't completely understand.
    • Dylan16807 2y ago
      Sugar alcohols seem simple enough to me. The properties vary but they generally have fewer calories per gram and a low glycemic index, and some of them are much sweeter per calorie.
    • freedomben 2y ago
      IANA nutritionist or expert at all in this area so take this with a grain of salt, but my understanding from looking into it is that the sugar alcohol doesn't break down in digestion and isn't absorbed, that's why the "carbs" from sugar alcohol "don't count." I would recommend taking it easy on the sugar alcohols even though they "don't count" because they can cause significant gas ;-)
      • foxyv 2y ago
        It depends on the type. Some are partially digested as carbohydrates. Others are not. You can look up their individual Glycemin Index. https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0261/4761/8864/files/Screen_Shot_2019-09-26_at_2.14.23_PM_large.png?v=1569531517 https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0261/4761/8864/files/Scree...
      • rini17 2y ago
        And some like xylitol are highly toxic to dogs, must be careful around them.
        • freedomben 2y ago
          Indeed. My dog loves the dissolve-on-your-tongue melatonin, but it is super deadly to her because of the Xylitol. I keep it on a high shelf now and am very careful to pick up any pieces that might get dropped. She made it through, but that was a terrifying few days D-:
    • MisterTea 2y ago
      I also hate the games they play with labeling such as "no sugar added." Bought a cherry pie from a local market labeled "no sugar added" thinking it was going to be extra tart only to take it home and taste sugar. Reading the label it listed sugar alcohol which I learned can cause gas and bloating in some people, which I soon found out. Once slice had me doubled over with gas pains a whole night and shit my brains out the next day. I got my money back for that piece of garbage pie. I want to punch whoever thought no sugar added means fuck all...
  • vanviegen 2y ago
    In the EU, food manufacturers are required to label macronutrients (and salt) in mg/100mg or mg/100ml for fluids. Easy to compare, works great.
    • UomoNeroNero 2y ago
      Yes. I can find everywhere on labels the carb amount. I use 2 app too. And after a lot of errors I acquired a six sense (that try to kill me everyday ;-D)
    • foxyv 2y ago
      This makes so much more sense than the labels in the USA.
      • steveBK123 2y ago
        US food labelling is insane. For example - lactose-free yogurt is often just regular yogurt with lactase enzyme added. If that's what I wanted, I'd buy regular yogurt and take a lactaid supplement.
        • BoiledCabbage 2y ago
          What other method would you deem appropriate for removing lactose from milk? A targeted enzyme that removes it seems pretty wise to me. Since they're not gonna use tweezers, :) are you suggesting instead engineer or breed a special set of cows that don't produce lactase in their milk?
          • steveBK123 2y ago
            A better description would be "lactase treated" milk. In any case, I found consuming it regularly for breakfast still lead me to feel unwell over time. However I can periodically consume dairy when I take a strong dose of lactase supplements. From some literature it does appear that manufacturers can use "lactose free" even for non-zero amounts of lactose (10mg per 100g). This is actually higher lactose density than many cheese varieties, especially considering I would be consuming say 150-200g of yogurt, whereas if I am eating cheese its in small careful quantity.
  • pkaye 2y ago
    The rounding rule is carbs <0.5g can be rounded down to 0 and calories <5 can be rounded down to 0. But I have a feeling even if they properly labeled it without rounding, people would eat the whole pack of tic tac anyway. https://foodlabelmaker.com/regulatory-hub/fda/rounding-rules/ https://foodlabelmaker.com/regulatory-hub/fda/rounding-rules...
    • foxyv 2y ago
      So you can just make the serving size so small that everything is less than 0.5g
  • BobaFloutist 2y ago
    My favorite example is that cooking spray advertises 0g of fat, giving a serving size of 0.33 seconds of spray
    • bluGill 2y ago
      That might even be realistic if you are spraying a baking sheet - since you cover the whole thing. But if you are cooking pancakes and spray the pan after each one you get a lot of carbs.
      • hilux 2y ago
        Carbs?
        • bluGill 2y ago
          Arrgghhh... Once more I wish I could edit things a day latter to fix all my stupid mistakes. (I blame is on diagnosed dysgraphia). Oil is not carbs of course. I guess I meant fat.
      • username135 2y ago
        Alt tip: dont use any fat on the pan when cooking pancakes. Gives the surface that restaurant quaility, smooth evenness.
        • bluGill 2y ago
          Depends on the pan and pancake. Restaurants use a fair amount of fat in their dough so fat on the griddle isn't needed, if you make your own batter (as opposed to store bought) you can control this and reduce the fat such that you need to add some to the pan. The pancakes will of course taste different. In my case I'm making sourdough on cast iron - I've never figured out the trick to make the first couple not stick (whatever I cooked the night before affects something)
          • username135 2y ago
  • tart-lemonade 2y ago
    The margins the FDA allows for class 2 and third group nutrients are also quite generous. I'm sure they made sense back when they were first introduced, but as food science has improved, the standards have not. > The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows calorie content to exceed label calories by up to 20% https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3605747/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3605747/ > Class I nutrients are those added in fortified or fabricated foods. These nutrients are vitamins, minerals, protein, dietary fiber, or potassium. Class I nutrients must be present at 100% or more of the value declared on the label > Class II nutrients are vitamins, minerals, protein, total carbohydrate, dietary fiber, other carbohydrate, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat, or potassium that occur naturally in a food product. Class II nutrients must be present at 80% or more of the value declared on the label. > The Third Group nutrients include calories, sugars, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium. [...] For foods with label declarations of Third Group nutrients, the ratio between the amount obtained by laboratory analysis and the amount declared on the product label in the Nutrition Facts panel must be 120% or less, i.e., the label is considered to be out of compliance if the nutrient content of a composite of the product is greater than 20% above the value declared on the label. https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents/guidance-industry-guide-developing-and-using-data-bases-nutrition-labeling https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidan... Edit: Expanded the quotes to include definitions.
  • casey2 2y ago
    [flagged]
  • interludead 2y ago
    And I think there's also a psychological angle here, for instance when people see that something claims to be zero sugar or low carb, it can trigger a sense of relief or permission to indulge.
• yapyap 2y ago
  I’m rather unknowledgeable on diabetes, so here’s a question that may seem basic: does choosing healthier meal, a salad instead of sweet ribs, not suffice for a good blood sugar?
  • skyyler 2y ago
    So, first off, commercial salad dressing almost always has sugar in it. Look at the nutritional facts label next time you're shopping for it. There's a few brands that offer "simple vinegar and oil" style dressings that don't have any sugar in them, but MOST salad dressings Americans come in contact with are full of sugar. Even low GI foods still cause blood sugar to raise by some amount. All of the vegetables in the salad have carbohydrates that will raise blood sugar. Carrots, onions, tomatoes, all of that will raise blood sugar. Croutons? Blood sugar. Obviously selecting a garden salad with no dressing is a healthier choice than "sweet ribs". Most diabetics (that are managing their condition) are not going to be ordering things with refined sugar in them. Where things get tricky is asking questions like "what's healthier, a honey-miso glazed salmon with brown rice or a salad with croutons and a honey and berry dressing?" or "What's better for you, grilled chicken with a sugary barbeque sauce or fried chicken with no sauce?"
    • barbazoo 2y ago
      > commercial salad dressing almost always has sugar in it. Look at the nutritional facts label next time you're shopping for it. There's a few brands that offer "simple vinegar and oil" style dressings that don't have any sugar in them, but MOST salad dressings Americans come in contact with are full of sugar. Making salad dressing is really easy btw in case anyone wants to try. Often all you need is olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and you're set for most salads. Even a restaurant should be able to whip that up.
      • skyyler 2y ago
        If you have an immersion blender, making mayonnaise without sugar in it is very easy: https://www.seriouseats.com/two-minute-mayonnaise https://www.seriouseats.com/two-minute-mayonnaise (And it tastes way better than commercial mayo!) I love this author's recipes; it's the opposite of the normal recipe-preamble-slop. All of the stuff before the actual recipe is relevant information. In more complex recipes, he goes over the testing and process that led to the finished recipe. It's a wonderful view into the world of recipe creation.
• barbazoo 2y ago
  That sounds really hard. Is the purpose of determining the amount of food so you can adjust the amount of insulin? Sorry, I don't know about the day to day of living with diabetes.
  • lukeschlather 2y ago
    Yes, diabetics need to precisely adjust their insulin intake in proportion to carbohydrate intake.
    • Jarmsy 2y ago
      Also when figuring out how much insulin is needed for a given amount of carbs you need to factor in the type of carbs, your individual response to that type of carbs, what fats/protein/fiber you eat with it (fats and fiber tend to slow down the BG rise from carbs, protein can cause a rise when eaten on its own but can also slow down the rise from carbs), what time of day it is (I need around double the amount of insulin for the same food first thing in the morning vs in the afternoon), your mood, what else is in your stomach already, the weather (hot weather can greatly increase insulin sensitivity), your current fitness level, what physical activity you have done over the last day or 2 and what you will do over the coming hours, where on your body you inject, if you are fighting any illness…
      • not2b 2y ago
        For my wife (type 1 diabetic), physical activity is the big one that throws off her calculations as a walk in a hilly area makes her blood sugar drop like a rock. Of course she always has something with sugar with her but then she has to figure out how much to consume.
        • pixl97 2y ago
          Yea, as a T1D myself the amount of insulin I need is massively different from days I'm arguing on the internet compared to days I'm up doing physical exercise. Things get concerning really quick when you're a distance from anything and your glucose starts dropping.
• je42 2y ago
  What works well is to measure the same food multiple times in a container (every time same volume ). after a while you can estimate carbs by visually inspecting the contents without scale. Add to that automatic bolus by a semi closed loop system to correct for errors, you can achieve good results with minimal effort.
• madrasman 2y ago
  I worked at Noom and the most successful users weighed the ingredients. Many users were frustrated about not losing weight even with calorie deficit, but the issue was they weren't logging accurately or skipped logging snacks and meals that were clearly not good.