Dreamfield pasta and blood sugar

The other day I reported on my blood sugar effects of a large Asian-syle noodle salad made with Ramen noodles. It wasn't good.

Last night I tried a similar salad made with Dreamfields Linguine instead of the Ramen noodles.

One other difference was that instead of pork I topped it off with a coconut breaded fried shrimp (pre-breaded from the frozen food section). That would add some carbs.

My blood sugar before eating was 91. Five hours later (after a long nap) it was 190. Since blood sugar usually peaks 2-3 hours after eating that suggests that the peak was a little too high.

As a partial check as to whether the spike was caused by the pasta, the next day I had the same dish without the breaded shrimp. My blood sugar was 166 when I ate, and two hours later (after doing some vigorous work in the yard) it was 143.

My overall conclusion: 1. Stay away from the Ramen noodles.
2. A noodle salad made with the Dreamfields Linguine is okay if it's the mid-day meal eaten before doing some walking or yard work. It probably not a good choice for an evening meal.

Noodles and blood sugar

One of my favorite dishes is an Asian style noodle salad. I'll make one with whatever's in the kitchen or garden -- here's a typical recipe.

I'll start with a base of Ramen noodles (or any Japanese style noodle). I just boil a package of them without the seasoning. The little packs of sodium they come with is just loaded with sodium and not very good for you.

Put the cooked noodles in the bottom of a large bowl. According to the package, that's two servings, but I use the whole thing. That's a lot of carbohydrates, which I'll get to later.

One of the keys to this dish is to create pockets of flavor, not one mish-mash blend. So don't spread the noodles out. Just put them in a pile in the middle of the bowl. That's what you'll do with all the ingredients, just put them in individual piles rather than spread them out. They'll get blended together as you eat.

Next a handful of finely chopped cabbage. Just put them in a pile next to the noodles.

Then a large handful of mixed lettuces -- torn into small pieces.

Then some fresh, finely chopped, parsley, mint, and basil. About a handful in total. Just whatever fresh herbs are available.

Then a small handful of nuts or seeds -- chopped walnuts, sliced almonds, sunflower seeds, anything. I used some roasted sesame seeds mixed with a few chopped pecans.

I keep a jar of thinly sliced carrot marinating in some vinegar. Add a healthy spoonful of those carrots.

One boiled egg, sliced.

A small handful of cooked pork cut into small chunks.

Top it off with some flavored vinegar and maybe some Thai style peanut sauce.

That's what I had for dinner today. Before I ate my blood sugar was 112. Three hours later my blood sugar was 313.

No more noodle salads for this diabetic. That's just too many carbs for me, even if I ate a more rational sized serving like a half package. The peanut sauce has some sugar in it also, but the carbs in the Ramen noodles is just over the top. The package says that a package has 52g of carbs, none of which is sugar but only 6g of which is fiber.