Ok, next question…
(And I’m asking educators at hospital too!)
After being diagnosed last week, my 10 yer old has made a huge adjustment in eating habits. Now, she’s CRAVING pizza. I’ve heard it sits heavy, makes sugar go up for a longer period, and should be thin crust, not thick. Is it too soon to have it? She usually eats 1 whole sicilian slice or 1-1/2 or 2 regular slices.
Any recommendations?
THANKS!!!
Joyce
hi @kteach207 Joyce
Your daughter will likely be making a little insulin now and so eating pizza may NOT be that big if a trick. The deal is it is know as a “mixed carb”. Fat and the carbs from the dough will slowly be absorbed for 4-6 hours. it is difficult to treat with fast acting insulin because the fast acting insulin comes on too strong. whatever you do - don’t bolus for the whole pizza up front. thick or thin, the deal is that the carbs are mixed and they will absorb slowly.
I find eating pizza at lunch time is easier because I tend to be more active. a little walking or other playground exercise may be all you need. keep testing as things will change for many hours.
so a pizzeria style “sicilian” slice has the equivalent of about 50 grams of carbs. (for me) your observations may vary.
It took me a long time to figure out pizza but I can do a pretty good job of it. It’s a bit harder for me because I don’t make any insulin of my own, but I pump so I can deliver my bolus over 5 hours if I program it to do so.
the great news - pizza and ice cream absorb pretty much the same so if you figure out 1 you almost have the other.
good luck.
Hello
My nine year old was diagnosed 3 years ago. As someone else mentioned, your daughter is most likely still producing some insulin. Keeping that in mind, my son is a normal kid who loves pizza. We buy thin crust or flat bread, if that is an option. My philosophy is let the child have he pizza, diabetes alters their life enough. Good luck.
My son was diagnosed 1 year ago, he will be 12 this month. He loves pizza and is still able to eat it regularly. He is on Lantus and Humalog and we have not had any problems with pizza. I weigh his pizza and calculate about 9 carbs per ounce (thin, hand-tossed or Chicago style). I have small scale we take to pizzerias. He is very active, always moving or playing a sport so that may be why he is okay with pizza. He will eat pizza for dinner and his bedtime numbers are still fine, but he is usually active after dinner. The only thing he gave up is fast-acting sugars (except for when he is low). Our Dr. (one of the top endos in our state) has encouraged us to let him eat what he wants, he is growing and needs the food!
Ice cream is a little trickier, so we save it for after sporting events or swimming.
Make Fathead Pizza. You won’t even have to bolus for it. It’s great. https://www.pinterest.com/hazelpiper/fathead-recipes/ There are many recipes. Go easy on the tomato sauce and choose one with the lowest amount of carbs.
I am in the camp of let her have it and just dose for it. My 11 year old was just diagnosed in September. We were advised not to restrict his diet - just dose for what he eats. You will be tweaking doses in the coming weeks, months and years as things change and you learn how your child’s body reacts to certain foods, activities etc… I wouldn’t worry about that the first week home. I know the first week for me it was enough for me to just look up the carbs on the pizza place’s website and dose based on whatever our carb ratio was at the time. Good luck!
Thank you for posting about Fathead Pizza, Terskac! Unfortunately, regular pizza really messes with me (we’re talking looooong lasting repercussions), but most “low-carb” pizza recipes are kinda gross (cauliflower crust…no. Just no no no). These recipes look intriguing, I’ll definitely be trying it!
Is your daughter on a pump? Pizza was always an issue for me because most varieties are very fatty and take hours to absorb all the carbs. But with my pump, I can give myself a portion of insulin up front, then use the dual wave feature to deliver the remainder over the next few hours and it works great.
I like cauliflower okay but I don’t care for it as pizza crust. Even my non D kids like Fathead pizza. It’s not from Naples but it’s pretty good. I like to put browned Italian sausage on it to really make it good.