What is carbohydrate counting?
Carbohydrate counting is estimating the amount of carbohydrate in a food. All carbohydrate, not just sweet or sugary food, is broken down into glucose. Insulin helps your body use the glucose for energy.
Carbohydrate counting will help you match the amount of quick-acting insulin, e.g. NovoRapid or Humalog, you need to the amount of carbohydrate you are eating. This allows you to be more flexible with what you eat and when.
Which foods contain carbohydrate?
A healthy diet consists of food groups as shown on the Eatwell Guide below. Foods within each group contain carbohydrate; (click the link below)
https://Eatwell guide 2016 FINAL MAR29
Further examples of these are shown below.
- Fruit and fruit juice
- Bread, pasta, rice chapattis, cereals, potatoes, grains and yams
- Anything made with sugar, flour, potatoes, corn, breaded or battered items
- The majority of foods in the beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins group do not contain carbohydrates unless they are breaded or battered
- Milk, yogurt and milk puddings
What carbohydrates will I need to count?
| Starchy carbohydrates | For example bread, cereals, pasta, rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, chapattis, grains |
| Foods and drinks with added sugar | Full-sugar pop or squash drinks, sweets, cakes, biscuits, sugar |
| Natural sugars | Fruit, fruit juice, milk, yogurt, honey |
Plain meat, fish, eggs, cheese, butter, margarine and oil do not contain carbohydrate.
Vegetables (apart from potatoes) contain very little carbohydrate and don’t need to be counted.
Pulses and nuts: e.g. lentils, kidney beans, chick peas, almonds, cashews, peanuts.
(You may need to count for half the carbohydrate in baked beans as there is some additional carbohydrate in the sauce).
How will I know how much carbohydrate a food contains?
Food labels can be used to find out how much carbohydrate is in a food. When looking at the labels use the total carbohydrate content, not the ‘of which sugars’ value.
The carbohydrate content of the food will be listed per 100g of product and may also be listed per serving. Remember the weight of the food is not the same as the carbohydrate content.
If your portion is the same size as this ‘serving’ you can use this value.
| Per 100 g | Per serving | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy (kcal) | 350 | 105 |
| Protein (g) | 8.5 | 3.0 |
| Fat (g) | 1.7 | 0.6 |
| Carbohydrate (g) | 70 | 20 USE THIS VALUE |
| Sugar (g) | 2.9 | 1.0 |
When a nutritional label only has the carbohydrate content of the food per 100g, or you have a different sized portion, the amount in your portion will need to be worked out.
Carbs and cals is a useful book to help calculate the carbohydrate in your portion.
Ask about the carbohydrate workshops for practical advice to help with carb counting.
Back to topHow much insulin will I need?
Your diabetes team can advise you on how much quick-acting insulin you need for every 10g of carbohydrate you eat. This is called your ‘ratio’.
Many people start with a ratio of 1 unit of quick-acting insulin for every 10g of carbohydrate
Quick-acting insulin ratios
0.5 unit per 10g of carbohydrate
| grams of carbohydrate | Unit of Insulin | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 0.5 | ||
| 20 | 1 | ||
| 40 | 1.5 | ||
| 40 | 2 | ||
| 50 | 2.5 | ||
| 60 | 3 | ||
| 70 | 3.5 | ||
| 80 | 4 | ||
| 90 | 4.5 | ||
| 100 | 5 |
1 unit per 10g of carbohydrate
| grams of carbohydrate | Unit of Insulin | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 1 | ||
| 20 | 2 | ||
| 30 | 3 | ||
| 40 | 4 | ||
| 50 | 5 | ||
| 60 | 6 | ||
| 70 | 7 | ||
| 80 | 8 | ||
| 90 | 9 | ||
| 100 | 10 |
1.5 units per 10g of carbohydrate
| grams of carbohydrate | Unit of Insulin | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 1½ | ||
| 20 | 3 | ||
| 30 | 4½ | ||
| 40 | 6 | ||
| 50 | 7½ | ||
| 60 | 9 | ||
| 70 | 10½ | ||
| 80 | 12 | ||
| 90 | 13½ | ||
| 100 | 15 |
2 units per 10g of carbohydrate
| grams of carbohydrate | Unit of Insulin | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 2 | ||
| 20 | 4 | ||
| 30 | 6 | ||
| 40 | 8 | ||
| 50 | 10 | ||
| 60 | 12 | ||
| 70 | 14 | ||
| 80 | 16 | ||
| 90 | 18 | ||
| 100 | 20 |
Putting it all together
Carbohydrate counting example (ratio 1 unit per 10g carbs)
- Identify all the foods in your meal/ snack that contain carbohydrates.
- Add up all the carbohydrate from your meal or snack.
- Use your ratio to work out how much quick-acting insulin to take. Your diabetes team can help you work out your ratio.
Quick acting insulins include NovoRapid, Humalog and Apidra. Quick acting insulin should be taken just before eating carbohydrates.
Snacks:
Snacks that contain up to 15g of carbohydrate for example, a small pot of yogurt, 1 piece of fruit or a small bag of crisps do not usually need quick-acting insulin, especially if you are active.
Back to topActivity:
If you are planning to be active, you may need less quick-acting insulin before the activity to reduce the risk of hypoglycaemia (low blood glucose). You may require a carbohydrate containing snack (approx. 15-20g carbohydrate) with no insulin. Your diabetes team can help you develop a personal plan for activity.
Alcohol:
Alcohol increases the risk of overnight hypoglycaemia. When drinking alcohol have a 20-30g carbohydrate snack with no insulin before bed to reduce this risk. For example, 2 medium slices of toast, 2 crumpets or get a takeaway on your way home such as a burger bun, chips, pitta bread or rice.
Potatoes and other starchy vegetables
| Weight (grams) | Carbohydrate content | |
|---|---|---|
| Raw or boiled potato | 1 egg-sized (60 g) | 10g |
| Raw or boiled potato | 100 | 15g |
| Cooked jacket potato | 100 | 20g |
| Average jacket potato, cooked weight | 200 – 300 | 40g – 60g |
| 5 oven chips | 33 | 10g |
| Yam (boiled) | 100 | 35g |
| Raw plantain | 100 | 50g |
| Fufu | 130 | 40g |
Rice, pasta, grains and flour
| Weight (grams) | Carbohydrate content | |
|---|---|---|
| Cooked rice, pasta or couscous | 1 tablespoon (30g) | 10g |
| Rice, uncooked | 100 | 80g |
| Cooked rice | 100 | 30g |
| Pasta, uncooked | 100 | 75g |
| Cooked pasta | 100 | 30g |
| Couscous, uncooked | 100 | 75g |
| Cooked couscous | 100 | 25g |
| Flour | 100 | 75g |
Dairy
| Portion size | Carbohydrate content | |
|---|---|---|
| Milk (all types) | 200mls (1/3 pint) | 10g |
| Natural yogurt, small pot | 125mls | 10g |
| Fruit yogurt, small pot | 125mls | 50g |
Fruit
| Weight (grams) | Carbohydrate content | |
|---|---|---|
| Small (‘fun size’) apple | 85 | 10g |
| Small banana (including skin) | 100 | 15g |
| Small pear | 100 | 10g |
| Clementine or satsuma | 80 | 5g |
| 10 grapes | 65 | 10g |
| 1 kiwi fruit (including skin) | 55 | 5g |
| Slice of mango | 70 | 10g |
| Slice of melon (including skin) | 200 | 20g |
| Large orange | 170 | 10g |
| 7 strawberries | 85 | 5g |
| 1 tablespoon raisins | 15 | 10g |
| Peach or nectarine | 170 | 15g |
| Pure fruit juice | 100mls | 10g |
Sugars
| Portion size | Carbohydrate content | |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 1 level teaspoon | 5g |
| Honey | 1 rounded teaspoon | 15g |
| Jam or marmalade | 1 rounded teaspoon | 10g |
The information provided is for guidance purposes only. You may be given more specific advice tailored to your needs which your Dietitian will talk you through if needed.
If you have any further questions in relation to your diet and ‘Dumping Syndrome’ after Surgery, please speak to your Dietitian who will be able to advise further
Further information
Several restaurant and fast food chains publish nutritional information about their foods online. Carbohydrate counters are on sale in bookshops and online, and useful apps are available, for example:
