Has anyone tried this cereal? What was your experience eating it? Did you have to take more insulin with it than your normal I:C ratio?
I had 1 cup (supposedly 28g of total carbs, of which 18g are fiber and 0g are sugar) with almond milk this morning and it shot me up 200 points even though I took insulin. I’m a recently diagnosed T1D and still trying to figure out how my body processes refined carbs throughout the day, but I was not expecting this large of an increase.
Hi @KH2020 and welcome to TypeOneNation. Cereal is just hard. Doesn’t matter if it’s cardboard fiber or Cap’n Crunch. I just don’t. I also tend to be more insulin resistant in the morning and so I do better with 20g whole wheat toast and an egg. The fats cut the top off the mountain and so I don’t get a big rise. Cheers and good luck 
I eat a handful of dry cereal every now and then add a snack. It’s been so long since I’ve done so I don’t recall details but I’m pretty sure I used my regular ratio. I stopped eating cereal with milk a long time ago because I can’t stand soggy food. But I’m wondering about this one.
Forgive me for going off topic but how does it taste? Like food, or like cardboard?
@KH2020 Hi Kathryn, and Welcome to the JDRF TypeOneNation Forum!
If I was to eat that cereal with any type milk, I would use my Insulin:Carb ratio for the time day that I was eating, and add 28 carbs for the cereal plus the milk carbs. I would suggest this method for you, unless you know that the cereal fiber really offsets carbs in YOUR body.
Some people will subtract from total carbs to allow for a fiber affect, but not so for me. As an example, most of my lunch meals include two slices of Oatmeal Nut Bread [or some full-grain bread], exch slice, according to the label has 21 grams of carb, so I count the bread I eat at 40 grams of carb - a round number to make my addition simpler. Some of the bread choices I have include “very significant fiber” counts, but I don’t subtract.
FWIW, we don’t subtract anything for fiber content, either. She’d end up high if we did. I don’t understand why she doesn’t get any offset from fiber when others do, but she doesn’t. So there’s my hat tip to Dennis @Dennis: everyone’s body reacts differently.
Yes, I have actually tried this cereal! Like you, I found that it increased my blood sugar into the stratosphere when I bolused for it as labeled. Subtracting fiber from carbs is a method I do use sometimes with some foods, but for some reason it did not work AT ALL for me with Catalina Crunch.
Like everyone else said, you will find methods that work best for you in conjunction with your medical providers, so I don’t mean to offer advice in this at all. Just wanted to say that you’re not the only one with this cereal!
Hi again. There is a factor called the glycemic index that measures how quickly carbs affect glucose. Two foods with the same carb count can cause it to rise differently due to their index: those that are higher will cause a rapid spike followed by a drop, while lower GI foods will cause a modest rise that levels out more smoothly. I went to look up some info and found some contained in the info on your cereal (you’ll have to scroll a bit):
https://blog.catalinacrunch.com/whats-the-deal-with-net-carbs/
… but if it indicates where the cereal falls I missed it. From what you shared it sounds like the high side but that’s a non-professional assumption). I’ve read a little about the index but don’t use it so I can’t refer you to any guides or apps available; but your nutritionist might have some and be able to help you work the guide into your food choices if you choose.
And sometimes you simply have to experiment to see what ratio works best for you.
Dori @wadawabbit , it sounds as if you may be calculating your consumed total carbohydrate in a manner similar to the way I calculate my insulin dose. Bellow is an excerpt from Diabetes Strong [diabeteStrong.com]; also a few years ago I saw FDA article cautioning PWD about the pitfalls of the netcarb advertising gimmick.
The term “net carbs” was coined by the food industry as part of the low-carb marketing craze that started a few years back. It’s not a term that is endorsed by the FDA or the American Diabetes Association, and as an insulin-dependent diabetic, you should be careful about trusting the net carb numbers.
Per the American Diabetes Associations web page: “ Companies define “net carbs” as the total grams of carbohydrate minus the grams of sugar alcohols, fiber, and glycerin. But this equation isn’t entirely accurate because some of the sugar alcohols and fiber are absorbed by the body and can affect blood glucose. ”
Thanks @Dennis . Of course I had heard about net carbs but have never gone that route - like you I always use total. I think I eat high on the glycemic index and could/should balance with lower index foods, but I’ve never put it into practice - I adjust as needed.
Cereal is not a diabetics friend. Sometimes I’m better at controlling the dreaded pizza fat spike than I am cereal. For me, I’ve limited cereal to a special treat (luckily don’t like it that much so it’s really a random craving sometimes) and typically wait to do it on a weekend or a day where I know
I can get a little activity in after consuming it. I never realized how hard it spiked me until I had a cgm and now I just feel it’s not worth the hassle when there are things I like for breakfast so much more. I seriously can have a sugary mocha and still spike less then I would from a serving of cereal.
So we let our son, who is 9, eat Magic Spoon cereal. Depending on the flavor, he gets 1 cup for 10g-15g. We then just add 2% milk to it(12g for 8oz). So for breakfast he is getting about 22-27g and it has been a life saver for us. This isn’t an every morning thing, but he eats it 2-3x a week. It was just nice to find a cereal that he could eat again and not make his sugar soar. He loves it and says it taste amazing. 
Hope this helps
I also eat Magic Spoon occasionally. I do get a spike but a much smaller one than anything grain based. Their fruity flavor is my favorite, it actually tastes a lot like the national brand.