Carrot Juice

Hi Bob,

This is a subject that confuses me, also.  Somewhere I read that a raspberry smoothie had a low GI (33 or so) but overall we are discouraged to drink smoothies/fruit juices etc.  This is because the fruit has been broken down by the process of blending and in theory will act more quickly on your blood sugar.  It's probably best to eat the carrot and celery in their whole form, but if I were you I'd test my blood sugar at around 1-2 hours after drinking it and see what it does.  Any time you are unsure about a food, it's probably a good idea to test what it does to you.

Also, another tip is to look at the portion size of the juice you are drinking, and maybe team it with something you know is low GI so that if the juice is relatively quick acting the snack you team it with will slow the absorption.

Hope this makes sense!

Claire

Hi,

If you're going to test to find out the effects, 1/2hr or less before you eat or drink your carrot juice is ok, but after should be 90 mins not 2 hours.  Here is the reasoning for this.

In the past, we've all been told 2hrs after we eat. This was primarily to make sure the BS was on its way down into the safe zone, and anything sub 160 was ok.  However, even though the ADA hasn't officially changed its position, most Endo guys will tell you its the high BS that does the damage so they want to see how high you are going.  They even go as far as to recommend that if your A1c is under 7 you really don't have to do a fasting test each day but rather concentrate on the 90 minutes after you eat. 

Now 90 minutes, if you look at a typical graph for Blood Glucose, is the time that it takes for the sugars to peak after a meal.  After that they start to march back downward.  So, by measuring at 90 minutes we can see if our BS is going high enough for the spikes to be causing damage.

Its all about knowing how high, not how fast your BS is dropping. So test away, and see what foods push you to where. (since being on Byetta, I test routinely at 90 mins and occasionally at 3 hours. What I find is that I'll be about 120 at 90 mins and 70's at 3 hours, so I know my low point but also how high I go)

Im sorry Claire, I should have made a distinction.  Type one users have a very different agenda when taking BG readings.  The typical type 2 user takes a reading and goes "hmmm thats nice - maybe I shouldn't eat pizza next time" and they go merrily on their way.

The Type 1 person actually uses that reading to determine an insulin load and to adjust and subsequent doses. A type one is really concerend with the starting point (prior to a meal) and then DEPENDING ON THE INSULIN, the ending point.

What do we mean depending on the insulin?  Well, Humolog or Novolog users have extremely fast acting insulins that fall off very quickly after a meal.  They are great for use with Lantus a long acting insulin.  But if you use regular insulin it peaks in your system and lasts for MUCH longer than the fast acting stuff.  Once injected, Regular insulin takes 30 minutes to begin working, peaks between 2 and 4 hours and hangs on for 6 to 8 hours, long after the meal stopped raising the blood sugar. Humalog and Novolog, on the other hand, begin working in about 10 minutes, peaks at one to one and a half hours and are gone in about three and a half to four hours.

So what does all this mean?

1. If you are using one of these FAST acting insulins, testing at 90 minutes is important for determing your "lows" after a meal and making sure you don't go hypoglycemic.  90 minutes is when these insulin's peak in your body.
   
2. With regular insulin it is much slower, needing 30 minutes just to begin to work so at 2 hours you are still not at the peak for that injection (but its a much better time to test than at 90 minutes).

The point is that Type 1's use these readings to determine what the insulin is doing to them and how to adjust their doses. Type 2's on the other hand are using the readings purely for informational purposes and may make some longer term adjustment that may or may not affect BG. 

Therefore, depending on your insulin type, do your readings accordingly.  I hope this helps a murky subject.

Claire: Just a short add-on. I did a test this past Friday. I went to my regular juice stand and bought fresh squeezed carrot juice (with 2 stalks of celery) and took it home (I usually sit there and drink the juice). It is supposed to be a medium container (as they do not sell small), but I wanted to measure it to be sure of the size. I measured it and saw that it was 16 oz. One half (1/2) hour before drinking it, my BS was 102. One hour and a half (1 1/2) hours after drinking it, my BS was 156. Two (2) hours after drinking it = 129 and 3 (3) hours after drinking it = 102.

I've been drinking this combination for several years, two times a week. Does anyone have any suggestions? Should I continue to drink (the 16oz) twice a week, as I have been doing? Should I drink (the 16 oz) only once a week? Should I just buy the 16oz once a week and take it home and then just drink 8oz one day and the other 8oz on another day? Or, should I give it up completely? I only started because I thought it was healthy and just learned that some people say it is high on the GI; others have rated it at 43. Therefore, I am a bit confused. Thanks for any suggestions.

(FYI - As you might know, I do not take any medication.)

Post Edited (Robert2) : 12/11/2005 6:02:55 PM (GMT-7)

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 Warren