Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Andrea Karim on December 27, 2011 at 3:17pm

American-style Chinese food is terrible for you. Fried, lots of hidden starches.

I lived in China for a couple of years (in total, not at once) and I was able to find plenty of fresh, wonderful food that didn't raise my blood sugar at all - but then again, I was living without a car, it was really cold all the time, and I haven't really found that kind of food here in the US, with the exception of a couple of excellent restaurants in Seattle and the SF Bay Area.

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Permalink Reply by Lila on December 27, 2011 at 3:26pm

I do think this is more a question of knowing exactly what is in your food, than an issue with 'Chinese' food specifically. Like FHS said, certain types of food are tricky for us. It isn't culture-specific.

I think the real problem is hidden carbs in food. It's the difference between a plain grilled steak with garlic butter sauce, and a chicken-fried steak with gravy. It doesn't make 'American' food tricky, it just means we have to be aware that the chicken-fried steak with gravy is much higher in carbs.

Westernized/Americanized Chinese food has LOTS of hidden carbs in it. Virtually all meat will have been coated in cornstarch and deep fried for that appealing crispiness. Often, there's more coating than meat.

I often cook Chinese-style dishes at home and don't have a problem bolusing because I know how much carb is in the food, so I don't get a nasty shock from hidden carbs. If you're dining out, quiz the server about hidden carbs. And go for the menu options which are less processed and so less likely to have hidden carbs, e.g. you'd be better off with 'steamed shrimp with garlic and ginger' than 'crispy shrimp with fried rice'.

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Permalink Reply by mary ann jacob on December 27, 2011 at 5:03pm

i ALWAYS HAVE PROBS WITH CHINEESE FOOD ESPECIALLY THE GENTtSOS CHICKEN,,,WHICH I LOVE,,,,SO I STAY AWAY FROM IT AND MAYBE EAT IT ONCE A YEAR.......I THINK ITS TOO MUCH STARTCHES AND SUGARS IN THE FOOD..

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Permalink Reply by Brian (bsc) on December 28, 2011 at 7:39am

Often, I eat "large" quantities of chinese food, even if I make a low carb choice. A large meal can cause a surge in blood sugar, the so called "Chinese Restaurant Effect." Our bodies often do strange things, and a large meal passing through our gut generates hormones which can cause this effect.

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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on December 28, 2011 at 7:44am

We had Chinese food last night, daughter's choice to celebrate her first day of work babysitting. I was all paranoid after reading this thread so I bolused for like 80G of carbs but the salted pork wasn't battered and the black pepper sauce fish must not have had as much cornstarch and, from cleaning up the "mess" later, I think it was probably only 55-60G of carbs. Thank goodness for cake balls...

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Permalink Reply by T1Forever on December 28, 2011 at 9:36am

Chinese/Oriental/Thai is hard. I usually take a 3 to 4 u bolus at dinner, but when I eat chinese, it is 7 to 8 in a square wave. Why?

Chinese uses a lot of cornstarch that can go unnoticed when figuring carb couts. 1 Tablespoon is 7 to 8 carbs, so it can be a hidden factor. And most dishes have cornstarch in them in one form or another. Also, sugar finds its way into Chinese regularly where you might not expect.

Rice is also a big factor. A cup of cooked white rice is 43 carbs, but I think the Chinese version has a higher count. Plus, if you add rice noodles, wrappers, etc. rice can play a large part. I once checked on Pad Thai (Thai, yes, but comparable) and a regular restaurant serving with 110 carbs--just for the noodles.

And the fat..... I could go on forever, but it is all difficult for Ds. I love oriental food of any type and use my 7u square bolus which seems to work fine.

The later impact of the highs come from the fat, whichis why the square wave, or two shots will handle it better.

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Permalink Reply by Donna H on December 28, 2011 at 7:35pm

Chinese food is loaded with hidden sugar and starch. I gave up on it long ago and miss it -- but it's just a BG nightmare.

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Permalink Reply by VaMike on December 31, 2011 at 12:51pm

I get the same thing from the same place whenever I get chinese food and I know exactly how much inulin to take. If I deviate even the slightest my levels take the better part of a day to get under control.

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Permalink Reply by Sig71 on January 1, 2012 at 10:07am

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Permalink Reply by Sig71 on January 1, 2012 at 10:40am

Boy oh boy, I am at my family's for the holidays and Mom suggested Chinese last week when just she and I were out (she's also a Type I and a frequently posts on the forums which I admit I do not). I FORGOT to tell her (it had been a while since either of us had had Chinese) to watch out for highs later, and we both had a hard time with highs up to 13 hours after lunch! She had said that she should post something and I said okay if you want but there's probably a thread already, and today we found this popular thread! :)

I live in NYC and tend to visit friends in another boro on weekends, and they love to order Chinese because 1)it's inexpensive and 2)it fills you for a long time. Tim's post above and the subsequent posts point out several things I was going to type. One of the fastest growing demographics in NYC are the Chinese peoples. But 'typical' Chinese (takeout) is a Westernized food that is not eaten in China proper (try a google search on General Tso's Chicken for example, I am sure you'll find a lot of interesting things about it, including that at least as of 2 years ago it was unheard of in mainland China, though General Tso himself is famous-Anrea Karim's post above made me think of this). See the post above about being the only American in a Chinese restaurant.

I love Chinese as so many have already posted, but I tend to be on the brittle side and it's a chore trying to keep my bs below 3- or even 4-hundred especially hours after eating; I could not even eat this food if I wasn't on an insulin pump. The guys I mentioned in the paragraph above typically order either Chinese or pizza, which I find the 2 toughest 'food groups' for extended basal increases and multiple or square wave boluses (usually both).

I've forgotten sooo many things I had begun typing to say. Look at the ton of emails from the ADA or TuDiabetes about healthy cooking, wok cooking which can be EXTREMELY healthy but if you use peanut oil to cook that then things get so much more complicated. The variable is in takeout or eating out Chinese food. The big unknown is how that place preps its food, how it sweetens the food for our tastes. If you follow the warnings in this thread I think you could be prepared to order now and then, but in general be wary of everything from carbs (complex and simple often in the same dish), the heavy calories (though not Chinese, my best friend from high school married a Korean woman when he was stationed in Seoul; when we talk he exthols rice and I say how hard it is on carbs and he said "You have to get real rice a Chinese or Korean store, not the Americanized stores you find everywhere else). ANYWAYS I'll try to end this long diatribe but suggesting if you are wary, prepare mentally in advance and keep an eye on your blood sugars but DO NOT OVERCORRECT then it should be okay every once in a while.

Sorry for the long post, hope this helps. :)

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Permalink Reply by T1Forever on January 5, 2012 at 1:31pm

I thoroughly try to watch consumption of the 3 P's: Pizza, Pasta, Peanut Butter. When I ffirst started pumping about 10 years ago, I avoided them like the plague (oh, another P). Over the years I have learned how each reacts with my D and have found ways to overcome it. A square wave bolus is my favorite pump tool.

Those of you talking about the highs hours after eating should try a square. Depending on the entrees (we tend to eat appetizers and soup only, and I avoid the rice, but I can square wave over a 2-3 hour period and wake up with a BG of 80.

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Permalink Reply by DanK on January 1, 2012 at 10:59am

I'm a low carber here and i eat chinese food quite frequently. my wife is chinese and she cooks chinese food almost every day. our meals are usually heavy on vegetables and have small amounts of protein mixed in. i don't eat the rice. i know there's a lot more control and a lot less mystery to what she makes at our home compared to a chinese restaurant, but we eat at chinese restaurants quite frequently too. it's all a matter of what you order. i don't have an issue with a lot of the vegetable/meat dishes as long as there isn't a sugary sauce. simple things like garlic beef with brocoli or snap peas are good choices. Also, other dishes like mongolian beef use a lot more dry spices, just make sure to get it without the noodles! One of our favorite things to order is shui zhu rou or shui zhu yu. This is thin slices of beef (in the first one) or fish (in the second one) in a spicy broth of chilis with a few vegetables thrown in - low carb and delicious, if you like spicy food. Some restaurants put a little bit of starch on meat or fish to tenderize it, which ups the carb count a little bit, so it's best to try a piece before deciding on your dose. Another great thing to order is eggplant. Chinese cuisine has tons of way to prepare delicious eggplant (something I didn't think was possible growing up). Also, can't go wrong with qing zhen yu - steamed fish with oil and soy sauce.

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