Learning to Carb Count Before You Need To
Reviewed by CDE Mehandi Sharma · Updated
Carbohydrate counting is estimating how many grams of carbohydrate are on your plate. In LADA it is worth learning before it becomes necessary, because once you are on mealtime insulin your dose depends on it.
Learning it under no pressure is far easier than learning it in the same month you start injections.
Household measures are enough to start with:
| Food | Portion | Approximate carbohydrate |
|---|---|---|
| Cooked rice | 1 katori (about 150 g) | Roughly 35 to 40 g |
| Roti or chapati | 1 medium, about 6 inches | Roughly 15 to 20 g |
| Cooked dal | 1 katori | Roughly 15 to 20 g |
| Idli | 2 medium | Roughly 25 to 30 g |
| Banana | 1 medium | Roughly 20 to 25 g |
These are approximations, and portions in Indian homes vary a great deal — one household's katori is not another's. Weighing your usual servings a few times, once, calibrates your eye for good.
A useful exercise while you are still on tablets: estimate the carbohydrate in a meal, then check your glucose before eating and two hours after. Over a few weeks you learn what your own portions actually do to your blood sugar. That knowledge transfers directly to dosing later.
Perfection is not the goal. Being consistently roughly right is what makes insulin doses work.