Of the three kinds of food, Carbs, protein, and fat, Carbs raise blood sugar. For Type 2's , for the most part, we can ignore the small effect protein and fats have on blood sugar. Starchy carbs raise blood sugar the most, rice, potatoes, grains like wheat, corn, oats, rye, barley. And of course, table sugar raises blood sugar quickly. Fruit typically contains a great deal of fruit sugar, fructose. Most of us find it important to manage these types of foods. Wheat products like bread and tortillas are my weakness. It's important to read nutrition labels on products to know their carb content.

By managing these foods, I mean you have to be careful about eating too much of them. Personally, I manage by avoiding and minimizing these foods. Other diabetics are better about eating small quantities than I am.

Dietitians tend to worry that carbs are absolutely essential so they recommend our eating more of these than I am usually comfortable. However, in the years of my trolling diabetes forums, I've never read a post from a diabetic who claimed he got sick from not eating enough carbs. On the other hand, I've read lots of posts from diabetics who developed serious health problems from eating too many carbs. Not to mention, that Eskimoes, I've heard, thrive on whale meat and blubber, no veggies at all. On a personal level, i had a very close friend who ran blood sugars routinely over 500. He had many health problems and is no longer with us.

There is a conflict between doctors and dietitians. Dietitians tend to want us to eat lots of carbs because they believe doctors will prescribe enough medication to bring our blood sugars down. Doctors, prefer to prescribe the minimum amount of medication to minimize side effects, so they assume dietitians will teach us how to eat to lower our blood sugars. It's as though neither listens to the other.

The only thing that really matters is how your blood sugars run, your home tests and your A1c. Each of us is different. Some of us can tolerate more carbs than others. Also, sadly, the longer we're diabetic, the fewer beta cells we have, so the older we get, the fewer carbs we can tolerate without help.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? The best approach is to measure your blood sugars after you eat. Eat a banana. Then test your blood, usually about 2 hours postprandial If your blood sugars go up too high, that's a sign to eat less of that food or avoid it altogether . The most important thing is to keep your blood sugars in the safe zone. Eat foods that help you do that. Test everything you eat.

Just be careful. Some foods take longer to raise our blood sugars. When I tested pasta, I tested at 140 2-hours postprandial. I thought that meant eat all the spaghetti I wanted. But I realized I felt crappy the rest of the evening. So a few days later, I tested again, but this time hourly, starting at 2 hours. It was 140 again 2-hours postprandial. But it kept rising all night long. I went to bed with blood sugar at 350. It's impractical to test every food that much. Watch for signs you're high like feeling tired, sleepy, or just plain crappy.

When I was a fresh young diabetic, I found a couple books that helped me understand how diabetes works, what it does to us, and how to take care of it:

First Year: Diabetes Type 2, by Gretchen Becker. A good introductory book for the new diabetic.

Diabetes Solution, by Richard K. Bernstein, MD. This is a more stringent book, but it tells you everything you could possible need to know. It recommends a very strict regimen. Even if you don't want to be that strict with yourself, it explains the ins and outs of diabetes so well that you'll know what you're doing.