Is anyone familiar with using carb factors to calculate bolus insulin? I was taught this method as one way to calculate carbs and have learned that it is not widely used.
I have learned so much from many of you on how to thrive while living with T1D, since I joined your ranks 3 1/2 years ago.
I think you’re referring to insulin-to-carbohydrate ratio (ICR): the amount of carbohydrate covered by 1 unit of rapid-acting insulin (typically expressed as grams per unit). If not, please clarify what you mean by “Carb factors.”
From what I learned, “carb factor’ is the amount of carbohydrates in 1 gram of food. For example: an orange with peel has a cf of .07 , meaning an orange weighing 137 has 9.59 grams of carbs.
I think we’re speaking the same language, or at least about the same thing, but I’ve never gone as low as to try to understand the amount of carbs in 1 gram of food. It was just never useful info for me to know. What is very important (when I can figure it out) is, how many servings of a thing is @Liam-M eating and with that info and looking at labels, we can derive how many total carbs (minus Fiber) that we need to bolus for (Insulin to Carb Ratio)
I can see trying to understand lowest level carb info if you’re trying to eat a non-standard serving, but even when we’re doing that, we just say ‘1/2 more’ or ‘1/3 more’ carbs based on how much he ate.
For the past 5+ years, we do a lot of “sugar surfing”…just making best guesses, bolusing and correcting (with insulin or fast carbs) after the fact…this happens especially when we’re going out to eat…no time or patience to request nutrition info…we just wing it based on our best guesses after having eaten the same “type” of food hundreds, or thousands, of times.
Thanks for your interest in this topic. I think many of us become very good at guesstimating! I just have me to look after. For those of you helping your child, I have the greatest admiration! I read any research related to T1D that comes my way. I hope for a bright future for you and your family! I am grateful for all the tech and communities like this one!