Healthy Breakfast for a Type 1 Diabetic?

[renabeth]

My dd4 has Type 1. This morning I fixed oatmeal with sugar and she had a huge blood sugar spike. We finally got within range about 2:00. (because lunch just brought her right back up again) I hate to feed her eggs every morning. Even though she does like eggs. :) I'm at my wits end. I think I have a brain lock when it comes to healthy eating. Does anybody have any suggestions? What does a healthy breakfast look like to you? Thanks!

[Jenny in Atl]

Not sure where to begin with this question...

 

When are you testing her? It's not uncommon to have high blood sugars right after eating, even with a fast acting insulin, someone with type-1 will not have a normal reading under the 2hr time frame. For a young child, my Endo likes kids to be between 120 - 140 two hours post, because the insulins (both the fast acting and background) will still be working, and you can end up with a scary low. Is she on a pump or shots? Have you discussed her insulin meal ratios with her doctor or diabetes nurse? It sounds like y'all might need to adjust the amount of insulin to met her carbs & the type of carbs better.

 

There is no need to be on a super low carb diet (only eating eggs for example). Did you all go through a course on food choices? There are a ton of books and web pages for families with type-1. One of my favorites is the Children With Diabetes web site.

 

My youngest was dx at 13 months. She's now almost 11. She eats a wide variety of foods, everything in moderation. Some of her morning favs are..

yogurt, fruit & green smoothies, cereal (she also has Celiac so ours are gluten free), eggs, gf bagels, fresh fruit (usually berries), black bean tamales, gf pancakes, etc. We use real sugar/honey/maple syrup, but in small amounts.

 

I hope this helps.

[wapiti]

Disclaimer: I'm thinking of type 2 diabetes, and I don't know whether the same eating principles would apply to type 1.

 

IMO, a healthy breakfast would include significant amounts of protein and fat to balance out any carbs that are included in the breakfast, to help keep blood sugar at an even level in the hours following the meal.

 

I'd be looking for other protein foods to alternate with the egg so she doesn't get tired of it. Some of my kids will eat breakfast sausage - links I buy in large quantities from the grocery store (fresh meat section), bake and then freeze (to be warmed in the microwave for like 30 sec for two) - supposedly they have 5 grams of protein each.

 

I would try to avoid sugar and fruit in the morning. Juice only for blood sugar "emergencies". Breakfast may be one of the more difficult meals of the day to do "correctly."

 

I'd only use oatmeal that does not come in packets - the kind in the packets has too much sugar (there is low-sugar too but it isn't particularly tasty, IMO). But it needs more protein with it.

 

Have you met with a nutritionist yet? What people generally might think of as "healthy" eating may have nothing to do with the right diet for your dd.

[JessieC]

My dd has always had an issue with spikes two hours after breakfast since she was diagnosed at age 1. Cereal is particularly bad--especially the healthier, oaty ones.

 

We give twice the I:C ratio for breakfast than any other time of the day to avoid this. However, if we are too aggressive, she tends to dip low before lunch, so I basically expect a somewhat higher number two hours after breakfast and then give very little insulin for the mid-morning snack.

 

Do you already have a different I:C ratio at breakfast?

 

Jessica

[renabeth]

Thanks for the replies! :) I met with the nutritionist, but the her school of thought was basically anything goes except Coke. She said just bolus her for it. I'm not convinced. Her blood sugar was 398 two hours post meal and she is on the insulin pump. I'm just frustrated. Every meal my other kids want are waffles, pancakes, french toast, muffins, cereal, toast and jam. All are normal breakfast food but are just too high carb for her. My endo is of the mind that she can eat basically anything and we should just bolus for it. I am not sure that is the best method. I am not wanting to put her on Atkins or anything. :)

[renabeth]

My dd has always had an issue with spikes two hours after breakfast since she was diagnosed at age 1. Cereal is particularly bad--especially the healthier, oaty ones.

 

We give twice the I:C ratio for breakfast than any other time of the day to avoid this. However, if we are too aggressive, she tends to dip low before lunch, so I basically expect a somewhat higher number two hours after breakfast and then give very little insulin for the mid-morning snack.

 

Do you already have a different I:C ratio at breakfast?

 

Jessica

 

 

I put her on a 1:20 for breakfast. She is on a 1:25 at lunch. Back to 1:20 at dinner. I may increase her basal at night because she has been waking up a little high. That may be part of the problem.

 

We are also working our way through a 100EZ and I can really tell a difference when she is high.

[Lawana]

My dd has always had an issue with spikes two hours after breakfast since she was diagnosed at age 1. Cereal is particularly bad--especially the healthier, oaty ones.

 

We give twice the I:C ratio for breakfast than any other time of the day to avoid this. However, if we are too aggressive, she tends to dip low before lunch, so I basically expect a somewhat higher number two hours after breakfast and then give very little insulin for the mid-morning snack.

 

Do you already have a different I:C ratio at breakfast?

 

Jessica

There are several strategies to consider.

Have you tried pre-bolusing? Does she eat reliably enough for that? Try 15 min, or even longer─up to 25 min. It does require keeping a very close eye on the time. We set a timer.

 

Super-bolus : if she is on a pump, give her breakfast bolus and 1 hour of basal all together, then turn off basal for an hour. You are giving the same amount of insulin, just altering the timing. It can help with the spike.

 

Decrease IC ratio for breakfast, then plan a snack before lunch to prevent a low. Dd's breakfast IC ratio is the lowest of any meal of the day.

 

Split breakfast carbs: Give half her carbs with the bolus, then the other half 45 minutes or so later.

 

Finally, different persons react differently to different foods. It may be that oats are not going to work well for your dd. She may like foods that are not typical breakfast foods.

[WTMCassandra]

Our DD was diagnosed almost two years ago. She is still on shots but will get a pump soon. We were told to try to balance out a carb meal with at least some protein. This has been somewhat challenging since we don't "cook" breakfast. We eat homemade granola with milk. And she doesn't like eggs! Aaauugh! At first when she was diagnosed I tried to keep hard-boiled eggs in the fridge for her to have alongside her cereal, but she balked after a few weeks. Then we tried cheese sticks but she was *ahem* too fond of them and ate too many, snuck them at night, etc. So what we have been doing for a while is for her to have a handful of nuts alongside her cereal. This seems to work. If she remembers, sigh.

[Jenny in Atl]

Thanks for the replies! :) I met with the nutritionist, but the her school of thought was basically anything goes except Coke. She said just bolus her for it. I'm not convinced. Her blood sugar was 398 two hours post meal and she is on the insulin pump. I'm just frustrated. Every meal my other kids want are waffles, pancakes, french toast, muffins, cereal, toast and jam. All are normal breakfast food but are just too high carb for her. My endo is of the mind that she can eat basically anything and we should just bolus for it. I am not sure that is the best method. I am not wanting to put her on Atkins or anything. :)

 

He's not wrong, unless she's not getting any exercise... then it's no different than any other child, eating too much and not moving enough. If you are uncomfortable letting her have a high carb meal, try a mix, like a waffle with fresh berries instead of syrup, or Greek yogurt with a banana.

 

When we first started this journey, we had a meal plan of 30 carbs for meals and 15 carbs for two snacks (am & pm). When we went to the pump (at age 3) we moved away from that model. Fi does get to eat just about anything any other kids does, but we've just learned what foods she needs more insulin for, or which food take longer for her to digest, causing a higher sugar many hours later.

 

Your daughter does need carbs at her age. Just make sure they are complex (no white stuff, flour, sugar, rice) instead pick brown rice, whole grain breads, lots of dark green veggies, fiber rich fruits, legumes, along with the lean dairy, meats & fish.

 

It's a marathon, so take it slow and you both will do just fine!

[Jenny in Atl]

There are several strategies to consider.

Have you tried pre-bolusing? Does she eat reliably enough for that? Try 15 min, or even longer─up to 25 min. It does require keeping a very close eye on the time. We set a timer.

 

Super-bolus : if she is on a pump, give her breakfast bolus and 1 hour of basal all together, then turn off basal for an hour. You are giving the same amount of insulin, just altering the timing. It can help with the spike.

 

Decrease IC ratio for breakfast, then plan a snack before lunch to prevent a low. Dd's breakfast IC ratio is the lowest of any meal of the day.

 

Split breakfast carbs: Give half her carbs with the bolus, then the other half 45 minutes or so later.

 

Finally, different persons react differently to different foods. It may be that oats are not going to work well for your dd. She may like foods that are not typical breakfast foods.

 

:iagree:

 

You will learn your daughter's needs better than the doctor. If she is on Novolog, pre bolusing is a must!

[JessieC]

Thanks for the replies! :) I met with the nutritionist, but the her school of thought was basically anything goes except Coke. She said just bolus her for it. I'm not convinced. Her blood sugar was 398 two hours post meal and she is on the insulin pump. I'm just frustrated. Every meal my other kids want are waffles, pancakes, french toast, muffins, cereal, toast and jam. All are normal breakfast food but are just too high carb for her. My endo is of the mind that she can eat basically anything and we should just bolus for it. I am not sure that is the best method. I am not wanting to put her on Atkins or anything. :)

 

I think you can make these meals work. I do buy low-sugar syrup and jelly, and dilute OJ, but other than that we do just bolus (and have an increased basal from 7am-10am). But like I said, the I:C ratio is much different. It's more than twice what we give at other times of day.

[Jenny in Atl]

I think you can make these meals work. I do buy low-sugar syrup and jelly, and dilute OJ, but other than that we do just bolus (and have an increased basal from 7am-10am). But like I said, the I:C ratio is much different. It's more than twice what we give at other times of day.

 

Fi has this too.. Her morning ratio is 1:4 while all other meals are 1:12. These also change, due to exercise/time of year/illness/growth spurt... and soon hormones! :tongue_smilie:

[Snickerdoodle]

I would buy The Diabetes Solution.

[Snickerdoodle]

More info about diabetes:

 

http://bloodsugar101.com/

[Mothersweets]

My 6yo dd has type 1. I agree, breakfast can be a challenge. Everyone here has given you really good advice already but I just wanted to chime in another breakfast idea.

 

My dd likes eggs a lot (thank goodness!) so if my other kids are having cold cereal, she will have a bowl, too, but I'll make some scrambled eggs for her to eat before she eats the cereal. Doing this seems to help her not spike as much.

 

Something she has really been liking lately is this: a cup of plain Greek yogurt -we like the Fage brand, 2 tbsp. of real maple syrup, and a sprinkling of granola over the top. Very yummy! and the yogurt has a fairly high amount of protein with only 9 carbs. The real syrup doesn't seem to spike my dd, either. Bonus!!

 

Oh, and pre-bolusing works really well for us, too.

 

hth!

[Mothersweets]

Our DD was diagnosed almost two years ago. She is still on shots but will get a pump soon. We were told to try to balance out a carb meal with at least some protein. This has been somewhat challenging since we don't "cook" breakfast. We eat homemade granola with milk. And she doesn't like eggs! Aaauugh! At first when she was diagnosed I tried to keep hard-boiled eggs in the fridge for her to have alongside her cereal, but she balked after a few weeks. Then we tried cheese sticks but she was *ahem* too fond of them and ate too many, snuck them at night, etc. So what we have been doing for a while is for her to have a handful of nuts alongside her cereal. This seems to work. If she remembers, sigh.

 

 

Not trying to hijack, but wanted to say "Hi" and yay! for getting a pump! It has made a world of difference for us - hope you love it, too!

[Lawana]

I would buy The Diabetes Solution.

Is this something that has worked for you personally, as a Type 1, or one of your dc?

[kathkath]

I don't have experience with diabetes but I too wanted to mention Greek yogurt. We like to mix plain gy with strawberry yogurt, about 1/2 of each. It cuts down the sugar content and is heavenly. Gy has a lot of protein so it does fill us up.

[stripe]

You could also prepare oatmeal with protein in it. I know nothing about diabetes, but I cook mine with milk or half milk, half water. Also you could put nutsor sunflower seeds or nut butter inside, and you could also stir in a raw egg at the very end of cooking, and stir until it cooks, then eat (sort of like a pudding). Or serve with meat on the side.

[vettechmomof2]

My daughter cannot eat oatmeal for breakfast but she can have it in any amounts starting @ 10:00 am. We decided it was just not worth the spike.

However for each Type 1 child you will have 50,000 different responses because each person is just a little bit different.

The important thing is how you watch your child then. SO if you have a breakfast that you think will cause a spike, check her at 2 hours. Pre bolusing can help that dreaded breakfast spike a lot if you watch her closely. Also it is a great time of the day for a morning exercise time , again if your daughter does not spill ketones easily. Mainly to keep the grumpiness from the high blood glucose reading from getting out of control.

[Guest t0rtitude]

Breakfast burritos, melons, or berries. Feeding fat and proteins before the carbs can also help slow the digestion of the carbs.

 

You could also try pre-bolus or multiwave bolus, or even both.

 

I can't believe they said she can have anything but Coke. I'm no dietician, but that seems outrageous to me.

 

Soda and anything else with fast acting carbs isn't any healthier for non diabetics. That being said, if a T1 truly wanted a little bit of fast acting carb, they can have it occasionally with some planning. That is why dieticians and endos don't forbid it.

[CalicoKat]

My dd4 has Type 1. This morning I fixed oatmeal with sugar and she had a huge blood sugar spike. We finally got within range about 2:00. (because lunch just brought her right back up again) I hate to feed her eggs every morning. Even though she does like eggs. :) I'm at my wits end. I think I have a brain lock when it comes to healthy eating. Does anybody have any suggestions? What does a healthy breakfast look like to you? Thanks!

 

Beans for breakfast!

 

Black beans with some cheese on top and a side of salsa.

Beans on Toast

Breakfast burrito!

[LNC]

Thanks for the replies! :) I met with the nutritionist, but the her school of thought was basically anything goes except Coke. She said just bolus her for it. I'm not convinced. Her blood sugar was 398 two hours post meal and she is on the insulin pump. I'm just frustrated. Every meal my other kids want are waffles, pancakes, french toast, muffins, cereal, toast and jam. All are normal breakfast food but are just too high carb for her. My endo is of the mind that she can eat basically anything and we should just bolus for it. I am not sure that is the best method. I am not wanting to put her on Atkins or anything. :)

 

She needs a different ratio at breakfast is all. You can do square boluses for high fat high carb meals also - the insulin is delivered longer to prevent a spike. Did they train you on changing ratios yourself? If not, keep records of spikes and call the ped endo nurse. HTH!

[Laura Corin]

I often feed my boys whole-grain wraps with tomato/cucumber/celery and a little protein (cheese, ham, shrimp). I add a little olive oil or mayonnaise.

 

Laura

[PiCO]

Thanks for the replies! :) I met with the nutritionist, but the her school of thought was basically anything goes except Coke. She said just bolus her for it. I'm not convinced. Her blood sugar was 398 two hours post meal and she is on the insulin pump. I'm just frustrated. Every meal my other kids want are waffles, pancakes, french toast, muffins, cereal, toast and jam. All are normal breakfast food but are just too high carb for her. My endo is of the mind that she can eat basically anything and we should just bolus for it. I am not sure that is the best method. I am not wanting to put her on Atkins or anything. :)

 

I think his advice is appalling. If I were you, I would go with her blood sugar tests, and see what affects her most and stay away from it. I would not want to bolus my kid. (I wouldn't want to Atkins her either.)

 

I do think I would have my other kids eat in a similar healthy manner though (no eating 100% carb meals), if only to make my life easier and not make diabetic child feel left out at home.

[MarieWith3]

My sister has a now 5 yo that was diagnosed at about 18 months. She has got a lot of help from the Children With Diabetes Forum, particularly the Parents of Children With Type 1 Subforum. It looks just like this one (the format), so don't get confused! :001_smile: I used to follow along for awhile as well, to try to have just a tiny grasp on what you all have to deal with, and I was able to learn an awful lot.

 

I do know that one book recommended often there, among others, was Think Like a Pancreas.

 

Good luck!

[ocelotmom]

There are lots of recipes for low carb waffles/pancakes. I make some tasty ones using coconut flour. I also make something called a one minute muffin that uses an egg and some flax.

 

Why don't you want to consider a low carb diet? I think it could help.

If you don't like Atkins, there are others.

 

I can't believe they said she can have anything but Coke. I'm no dietician, but that seems outrageous to me.

 

You don't even have to do a totally low-carb pancake/waffle/muffin/whatever. Substitute part of the wheat flour with ground nuts (you can get pre-prepared almond flour, but I've always done fine with just grinding my own) or flax seed, and you get reduced carbs and an invisible increase in protein without a significant change in texture/flavor. It's been a while since I've done any wheat-based baking, but I think replacing up to 1/4 of the flour with flax seed worked well - beyond that, it gets a bit gummy. And you can replace another 1/4 or more with ground almonds or whatever. (You can't do 1:1 replacement with coconut flour, which is why I haven't mentioned that).

 

I think that low carb diets (truly low carb - ketosis-inducing types) need to be approached with caution in both insulin-dependent diabetics and growing kids. But I also think that lower carb (cutting out most processed carbs, for example) is a good idea. Also, because Type 1 diabetes is autoimmune (and, anecdotally, there seems to be frequent overlap between T1 DM and celiac), I'd strongly suggest looking into autoimmune diets, which tend to be on the lower carb side by nature.

 

I'll say I'm not Type 1 nor Type 2, but I cannot have oatmeal. After about half an hour I feel shaky and starved.

Same here. Except it puts me to sleep. Can't have oatmeal if I want to stay conscious :)

Edited April 24, 2012 by ocelotmom

[vettechmomof2]

I would not want to bolus my kid. (I wouldn't want to Atkins her either.)

 

I do think I would have my other kids eat in a similar healthy manner though (no eating 100% carb meals), if only to make my life easier and not make diabetic child feel left out at home.

 

Just double checking here but when you mentioned that you would not want to bolus your child, what did you mean by that? We as Type 1 parents bolus our children with Insulin which saves their lives. Your body needs insulin. A bolus of insulin is giving insulin for either a specific high blood glucose reading or for carbs to be eaten. A basal is the insulin given to cover for the hour(if on the pump) or 12/24 hours to cover if not on the pump.

 

There is nothing wrong with bolusing and just to remind people that Insulin is an important and life saving hormone for people with Type 1 diabetes. Their body has stopped producing it so we need to give it either through syringe method or pump method. It is not a bad thing.

[vettechmomof2]

My dd4 has Type 1. This morning I fixed oatmeal with sugar and she had a huge blood sugar spike. We finally got within range about 2:00. (because lunch just brought her right back up again) I hate to feed her eggs every morning. Even though she does like eggs. :) I'm at my wits end. I think I have a brain lock when it comes to healthy eating. Does anybody have any suggestions? What does a healthy breakfast look like to you? Thanks!

 

It sound slike all her carb ratios might be off as well if lunch spiked her.

 

Have you basal tested her at all yet?

[kewb]

My dh is type 2 but so I don't know if this will apply but when he eats a bowl of oatmeal I make it with a tablespoon of coconut oil. Then he either puts in a tablespoon of either a nut butter or sunflower seed butter. If he doesn't do the butter then he adds a sprinkle of blueberries and/or blackberries. This seems to keep him from spiking.