Abstract
This chapter offers a tool to help diabetics program their intake of food, by means of which the amount of carbohydrate prescribed is what will define the amount of regular or ultra-rapid insulin necessary for the meal recommended by the dietitian specializing in diabetes. If we started by asking who should do carbohydrate counting, we would come to the conclusion that it is important that all diabetics should do so. Carbohydrates raise the blood sugar level by 100%, proteins by 60%, and fats by 10% on average. Carbohydrate counting has become a necessity since the advent of ultra-rapid insulin analogues or regular insulin. When the treatment of diabetes uses oral hypoglycemic agents or the conventional scheme for using insulin, the ingestion of the same amounts of carbohydrates is necessary, since the quantity of the medication is fixed. Using tables of domestic measures and consulting a manual that counts carbohydrates, in which such measures are used and the amounts of carbohydrates and calories are given in alphabetical order, are recommended. Furthermore, when diabetics are encouraged to engage on carbohydrate counting, this gives them greater freedom and a better quality of life.
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da Conceição Chaves de Lemos, M. (2022). Carbohydrate Counting. In: Bandeira, F., Gharib, H., Griz, L., Faria, M. (eds) Endocrinology and Diabetes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90684-9_40
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