My CDE noticed my new appreciation for making things from scratch. (Or more often than not, having my husband make things from scratch for me because I hate cooking.) She also noticed that my blood sugars are being poorly affected from miscalculating carb counts in fresh foods.
The quinoa bake was a really good example of the mistakes one can make during insulin dosing. (Seriously… why do pasta and grain packages only give you nutrition information for dry portions?) Since I was getting frustrated not knowing exactly what I was eating when making things from scratch, she suggested I get a scale. But not just any scale – one that measures carbs and other nutrition facts for a multitude of other foods.
I bought one this weekend. Here is my Perfect Portions Nutrition Scale.
Don’t get me wrong. This is a small investment. My little $5 scale pales in comparison. (This was $50 at Target.) It comes with AAA batteries, instruction manual and a code book. The code book features basic food items to program into the scale. The weight of the item determines the nutritional values.
Skeptical? I was.
Here is the nutrition information for a standard piece of wheat bread sitting in my fridge. I coded the scale and compared.
Hmm… not bad. The carb count is accurate so I’d feel comfortable bolusing for this amount.
I tried a piece of fruit, which seems to be the bane of my existence when it comes to carb counting. My favorite smoothie addition is a banana. Here are the results:
26 grams of carbs! Intense. This is a pretty small banana in comparison to the others. (Those measured 46 grams!) I also tried a couple of fugi apples. A small one is about 15 grams of carbs. The larger ones are nearly 30 grams.
Is it perfect? No – the codes are fairly generic and don’t really account for gluten free, Splenda inclusive, or other “special diet foods” I try to make from scratch. Will it help for vegetables, fruits, pastas, and other hard to count carbs? Most definitely. It also includes things like cakes, popular pies, bagels and meats as well.
I can’t wait to see if I’ll have more accuracy with my insulin doses.
See Jen Dance 
I’ve thought of getting one of those but never really have. Maybe one day I will.
That number sounds about right for a banana (it’s hard to see the size of it from your photo), but are they supposed to be peeled? You might be adding a lot of weight for a part you’re not eating.
I thought about that after I posted. I didn’t eat the banana that said it was 46 carbs. However, I did have the 26 gram one in a smoothie this morning. Hard to say, but my sugars just stayed in the 140s for most of the morning. (Which is rare, so I’ll take it.)
Reblogged this on our healthy (diabetic) life and commented:
This looks like it could be a great tool! I wonder if I can take a peek at the code book before buying?