Food and Blood Glucose Monitoring

Once you understand how your body reacts to food, you can make better choices to help you manage your diabetes.

The food you eat directly impacts blood glucose levels. In order to create a meal plan that works best for you—one that helps you stay within your target range and eat the foods you like—you should be aware of how the foods you eat change your blood glucose level. Keep in mind:

• Carbohydrates: Be aware of how many carbs you are eating (the food label can help)
• Portion size: How much of an item you eat (serving or portion size) can make a difference in how many calories, carbohydrates and other nutrients you intake. For example, one serving of apple may not raise your blood glucose too high, but two servings of apple might be more than your limit of carbohydrates.
• Time of day: When you eat also impacts how your blood glucose responds. You may find it helpful to eat meals and snacks at close to the same time each day (and eat foods with similar amounts of nutrients), as a strategy to help your blood glucose stay in range.
• Beverages: Don't forget to include any juice, soda, alcoholic beverage or milk in your total calorie/carbohydrate count, and be aware that beverages can impact your blood glucose just like food.
• Snacks: Whether it's a handful of grapes, nuts or a cookie, don't forget to keep track of your snacks during the day, so you'll know—if you're testing—if those foods increase your blood glucose levels, too.

Monitoring means information

One way to get immediate feedback on the impact of food is to monitor your blood glucose. How often you test will depend on:

• The schedule you've set with your health care team
• Your level of control
• Your medication (or therapy type)
• How much your blood glucose fluctuates during the day.

Blood glucose testing around meals and snacks can give you and your health care team information to keep your blood glucose levels in range, and help you feel your best.

• Before a meal: Testing before each meal can help you decide what and how much to eat and, in some cases, how to adjust your medication. A typical blood glucose level target before a meal is 110 mg/dL.
• Two hours after a meal: By monitoring your blood glucose to see the impact of what you ate on your blood glucose, test two hours after you start your meal. The results will help you know whether what you ate had too many carbs and if you should eat less or eat differently the next time. Two hours after a meal, a typical target blood glucose level is below 140 mg/dL.

What are some ways you might use monitoring?

Be sure to discuss patterns with your health care team and explore opportunities for improving your blood glucose control. For example, if your blood glucose is highest after breakfast, consider testing before and after breakfast until you and your doctor come up with satisfying menu options that don't raise your blood glucose. Once you've mastered breakfast, reduce testing around that meal, and focus on another time of day (or event) you may find challenging. Or if you are trying a new food, consider testing before and two hours after eating to determine whether to add the item to your meal plan.