High-Risk Pregnancy
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salad = high blood sugar?
Okay, so I thought I was being good by having a salad for lunch (just bagged salad w/raspberry pecan dressing) and I had a glass of milk with it. I ended up having a reading of 134!!! Yesterday, I had the same thing but I also had some 6 crackers with pb and my reading was only 112 (which I thought would go down without the extra carbs of the crackers).
Is it because I didn't have any protein? I haven't seen a nutritionist yet (I go next week) so I was just curious why it spiked.
I'm also wondering if I tested too soon. The midwife told me to check 2 hours after my first bite but it took me almost 20 minutes to finish eating so it seems too soon.
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Re: salad = high blood sugar?
You didn't have any protein with the salad, I think you're right and that it caused it to spike. I'd munch on some peanut butter now for your snack. Maybe throw some meat on top of your salad next time? I wonder why the protein affects it so much though?
If I have the same cereal I always have, but without an egg or two than my blood sugar goes up by 20-40 points.
I had a salad w/ steak from Chipotle for lunch and my reading was 119. I actually thought it would be lower than that, but I think the dressing (which I hadn't thought about) could've made it higher. It had pinto beans in it too, but I think the dressing probably gave it more carbs than what I was anticipating.
It's all about trial and error, which is tough!
With the GD diet it's important to watch the carbs, but it's also just as important to have a well rounded meal. If you have a salad as your whole meal then it needs to have a decent amount (3 ounces) of chicken (or other protein) in it . Plus you still need some carbs too-- so maybe some fruit or crackers to go with it. I'm allotted 50-55 carbs with lunch and I much pretty try to hit that every time. If you don't eat enough you'll end up spilling ketones because you're not getting enough calories.
eta: most likely the salad greens wouldn't cause the spike since they are a "free" food, but if the dressing had sugar or something in it then that could have caused the spike.
Thanks! No one has told me anything about how many carbs so I've just been trying to balance. I have a feeling once they tell me, I'll have trouble hitting the numbers because I don't eat all that much before feeling full. It's helpful to know how much it can mess with your numbers if you don't have protein!
The only dressing I eat is Ranch- since I know that gives me good numbers.
I get the BEST numbers for lunch when I have (from the cafe downstairs) a salad (with eggs and tomatoes and ranch) and a big scoop full of Chicken salad. Today I got an 89 with that meal!!!!! And I was SOOO full I thought I was going to burst.....
Protein is definitely important with your meal!
before I had my class I followed what this website has for my carb counts
https://www.dhmc.org/dhmc-internet-upload/file_collection/gestational_diabetes_905.pdf
it helped a lot. There's a blank menu that tells you how many starches to have as well as how much protein to have with each meal/snack.