Here's a nutritional question for the day. (I'm not sure the word "nutritional" even applies to the foods mentioned in this question LOL) Try to figure it out or take a guess. Don't cheat.
Q. A MacDonald's "Big Mac" has 570 total calories and a "Large Fries" has 540 calories. Which has more carbs? How many carbs do you think a meal consisting of both the Big Mac, the Large Fries and a Diet Coke would have? Which food do you believe would be healthier for YOU to eat ... the Big Mac or the Large Fries... and why? Just for fun.
Oh boy, I think the fries have more carbs than the burger. For carbs on the total... I'll guess 170. Is there an option C for eating? I found out fast food fries regularly get flavored with animal parts/products so I can't eat either (not to menion the risk of cross contamination if they make several products in the same fryer).
It would be fun to take these posts and turn them into a flash game after a while (with a big enough sample of products), or to keep a scoreboard of some type. Good idea Paul.
I think the fries have more carbs; I would also guess about 150 total carbs for the meal. Big Mac, I believe, is healthier. Why stop at the drink? LOL with that meal who needs Diet Coke :D
You're right Alyssa. Why not add a McFlurry® with M&M'S® Candies (12 fl oz cup) for desert? It's got 620 calories and 96 grams of delicious, fast-acting, diabetic-destroying carbs all by itself.
I guess fries have more carbs, the whole meal has 220 g (sans Mcflurry), and the burger is slightly less laden with transfats and has a little protein, so it's barely better.
But i'll go to the grocery store across the street and buy a salad, thanks.
The Large Fries have more carbs. The total carbs for the meal is 115. And the Big Mac is healthier, beacuse of the protein in the burger and the lettuce and tomatoes(not that there's much of it on there).
EWWW! Mcdonalds! GROSS! i hated mcdonalds even before i was diagnosed. the taste or the fact that i knew it was so unhealthy, i forget. again: EWWWW! Mcdonalds! GROSS!
CJ pretty much hit the nail on the head with this one. The Big Mac has 45g carbs (less 3g from fiber if you'd like makes 42g) and the Large Fries has 63g carbs (again less 6g from fiber makes 57g). So the whole meal, with the Diet Coke which has no carbs, would be 108g carbs or, if you choose to deduct the fiber, 99g.Everyone should now know how much to bolus for this very popular meal combo. As far as healthier, most people would probably agree with CJ for the reasons she gave. The Big Mac because of the beef as 25g of protein compared to 6g of protein in the large fries. Of course, the Big Mac has 75g orfcholesterol and the large fries has none. Both the Big Mac and the French Fries are considered to be foods which are high in "empty calories", and therefore neither has much nutritional value.
OK. Let's stick with fast food for today's question.
Q: Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) now has four different chicken recipes: 1. Original, 2. Extra Crispy, 3. Hot & Spicy and 4 Grilled Chicken. First of all, given the same part of the chicken (eg. Thigh, Breast, Wing, Drumstick), put the four recipes in order from highest carbs to lowest carbs. Secondly, if you're having the Grilled recipe, which part has more carbs... the thigh or the breast? Finally, and this might prompt some discussion, a four-piece meal consisting of GRILLED chicken only (1 each of thigh, breast, wing and drumstick) contains 70g protein (converts to approx. 2.5 ounces) in addition to its carbs. Do you have to figure this into your bolus, and if so, how? Good luck!
Lets give this a try of all 4 reciepes at KFC the highest carbs to the lowest carb food is and I will use a breast piece from all reciepes for carbs in the 1st part of your question 1)Extra Crispy 2)Original(with skin) 3)Hot & Spicy 4)Grilled & Original without skin would be just ahead of the grilled. And for the second part of the question all parts that are grilled have no carbs at all so no piece(thigh, wing, breast or drumstick have anymore carbs than the other. As for the 4 piece meal with grilled chicken(and this may be different compared to anyone from the U.S just cause in Canada KFC doesn't offer the same products here as there) I would figure that you would have to work in the carbs from the fries and from the side you choose(maybe macroni salad or coleslaw, and I think the coleslaw is higher in carbs) the whole meal would be about 50-55 carbs.
Sorry, my mom is on a super low cholertral diet and she loves KFC but hasn't tried the new grilled chicken.
Once again CJ has this one just about right! She only has numbers 2 and 3 reversed. For example using the thigh of the chicken here are the carb counts for each of the four recipes: 1) Extra Crispy 12g 2) Hot & Spicy 11g 3) Original 6g and 4) Grilled 0g. So, definitely go for the Grilled, and if you must the Original recipe is the next best choice.
And, CJ is correct, all of the grilled chicken HAS NO CARBS. An interesting note, however, is that the Bre_st (sp) has 35 grams of protein but only 1 gram of saturated fat while the thigh has only 15 grams of protein with 2.5 grams of saturated fat. That is, the Bre_st has more than twice the protein of the thigh with less than half the saturated fat. So, go with the Grilled Chicken Bre_st and you'll have the best of ALL worlds.
Finally, my point in bringing up the issue of the protein content with respect to bolusing was because there are so many views on this. Dr. Richard Bernstein suggests that you take as part of your bolus approximately 1u of regular insulin for every 1 1/2 ounces (approx. 28 grams) of protein content. (He also claims that Humalog is 1 1/2 times more potent than Regular Humalin-R.) Having done all the calculations, you would have to take approximately 1 unit of Humalog insulin for the grilled chicken bre_st which has NO carbs. But like I said, there are many views on how to bolus for Protein content and I would be interested in hearing how others have been taught. What do you find works for you? Some people don't bolus for protein at all.
We'll have another nutritional question sometime today. This stuff is really the "nuts and bolts" of all diabetes management.