Pizza Phenomenom

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Permalink Reply by Kristin on August 22, 2009 at 5:36am

If you are eating a full size European thin crust pizza, this has about 90-120g of carbs. I do eat them on occasion and my blood sugar is not perfect after it, but I prevent extreme highs by giving two injections:

I give 60-75% of the insulin needed to cover the pizza before eating it, then the remaining 25-40% two hours after eating.

Pizza will continue to raise my blood sugar for 6 hours after eating. So I try to not eat it within 6 hours of when I plan to go to bed. So if I need to correct I am able to correct before bed. So eating them for lunch is probably a better idea than dinner.

It is likely that he just needs a lot more insulin for this than he usually takes.

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Permalink Reply by Katie Zeller on August 22, 2009 at 10:19am

That sounds like a great solution! We don't go out to lunch very often, and even more rarely for pizza - maybe 3 or 4 times a year. But we hate to give them up completely. We'll try this next time - I say we because I would not be able to have one unless he could also ;-))

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Permalink Reply by Jenny on August 22, 2009 at 6:25am

Pizza is well known to be a problem. This is because the high fat content slows digestion. Any food that has a lot of fat and carbs can do this, but Pizza is the most notable.

Kristen's suggestion is a good one.

A single slice of Domino's type Large or Extra Large pizza can have as much as 50-60 grams in the crust. So you can end up eating surprising amounts of carbs eating normal portions of pizza.

What you might do is suggest not eating the whole crust. Get pizza with a lot of toppings (or extra cheese) and eat at most half the crust. This gives the same experience as eating all the crust.

Some people who eat low carb will simply get a pizza with lots of toppings and eat no crust at all. This works very well for many.

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Permalink Reply by Katie Zeller on August 22, 2009 at 10:21am

Our pizza's don't have a lot of toppings like the American versions.... I have suggested that he not eat the outer crust. Maybe next time he'll listen ;-))

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Permalink Reply by Dave   _ on August 22, 2009 at 10:32am

what fun is pizza without toppings? :) I like pepperoni and mushroom, or that plus sausage, but I like other pizza combos too. Just be SURE to hold the anchovies!!

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Permalink Reply by Katie Zeller on August 22, 2009 at 10:41am

His favorite is anchovy... I make him sit down wind.... or at another restaurant....

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Permalink Reply by Dave   _ on August 22, 2009 at 6:58pm

LOL!!

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Permalink Reply by Helmut on August 22, 2009 at 6:46am

Sometimes I eat 1 slice of white cheese pizza for lunch. I love the effect it has on my bg. My bg stays flat for the rest of the day. When I look at my CGM I cannot even tell that I ate. No other food has this stabilizing effect. Too bad I cannot eat pizza every day. When I ate pizza every day my cholesterol took a turn for the worse.

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Permalink Reply by Dave   _ on August 22, 2009 at 9:07am

Pizza goes much better with a pump. We pumpers use a dual wave to cover the slow release of glucose that a pizza presents. Those on MDI would do well to either take a series of smaller shots over 2-4 hours, or refrain from eating a lot of pizza. Maybe ONE slice would be ok, but not a 1/2 of a large pizza, if you don't have a pump! :)

For more info, read one of the John Walsh books on insulin or on pumps.

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Permalink Reply by MichelleStu on August 22, 2009 at 1:23pm

on the pump I also set a dual wave for about 4 to 6 hours... on shots I would split the insulin in half and and take it 2.5 hours later.. if not I always went low and then way high several hours later.

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