TAG (Total Available Glucose) is a counting system that also counts protein and fat (in addition to carbs) in order to calculate bolus insulin.
Do you TAG? Do you TAG every meal, or some meals? What is your formula? How well does it work for you?
We do not TAG in general, but do TAG high-fat meals such as Costco Pizza :-).Without it, we go high for long periods after some very high-fat meals. I will post soon an example of a TAGging error.
No so much. I’m familiar with the theory but totally lazy about math. Diabetes is more of an art than a science for me. “Sugar Surfing” is probably the closest theory about what I do, although my brain is more tuned to temp basals, maybe layered with corrections. I might conceive of 5-10 extra G of carbs for hunks of protein, bhut that’s about it.
Always! If your diet is at a keto level and you’re T1, this is a must. For my gut, I calculate 60% of the protein as carbs.
I handle protein depending upon the circumstances:
Small amounts of protein don’t need a bolus if I’ll be active after my meal.
A protein bolus 1-1.5 hrs after the first bite of protein. Calculated as above.
Alcohol prevents gluconeogenesis (GNG). This is handy for larger amounts of protein.
I have rolled fat into my basal as I’m MDI and it digests so slowly…
10 posts were merged into an existing topic: Using alcohol to slow down gluconeogenesis
It’s something that I’ve definitely thought about but it seems impractical for my MDI situation.
For instance, if I have a low carb, high protein dinner at 7pm and bolus for the carbs, Bg is fine until about 4am. Setting the alarm for 3:30am for a second bolus ain’t gonna happen. A larger first bolus would likely cause a hypo before the protein kicks in.
Maybe I need a pump with a temp basal rate for these situations.
we’re not low carb so we haven’t done it. Would love to know how alcohol does affect gluconeogenesis over a 24-48 hour period after drinking.
I don’t count fat but I bolus 30% protein as carb (currently eat about 50-60 g carb a day). When I ate 30g I bolused for 50% protein.
I don’t do a separate protein bolus. I take it all at once right before eating, or after eating if I am on the lower side (bolus with Humalog)
Maria, what formula do you use?
And do you do it at every meal?
I bolus for 30% protein always (now that I eat about 50-60g of carbs a day). My I:C is different for different meals though (1:6 in am, 1:7/8 for lunch/ dinner depending on what I am doing that day). When I ate 30g of carbs a day I would bolus for 50% of the protein. So if my I:C is 1:6 and I eat 12g carbs and 18g protein, I would bolus 3 units (2 units for carbs and 1 unit for 30% protein, 30% of the 18g.) I don’t count fat (maybe I should, but I think likely the high fat content of my typical breakfast - heavy cream, cheese, etc. is simply reflected in the I:c
That is great info, thanks so much!
[quote=“walkingthedragon88, post:16, topic:474”]
I think likely the high fat content of my typical breakfast - heavy cream, cheese, etc. is simply reflected in the I:c
[/quote]How interesting – I had never considered that my son’s insulin resistance in the morning might be due in part to the nature of his breakfast.
I don’t currently, but I think I technically should now that I eat basically a keto diet. I tried it several times using an extended bolus for the protein and went low. I like the idea of doing a second bolus an hour or two after eating. I do find I tend to rise a couple of hours after eating. At the moment I frequently don’t bolus at all for meals, so I think my basal may be a bit too high. It’s so hard to pin that down with it shifting two or three times a month, though. Given that my current control is better than it’s ever been in 25 years and still improving, I think TAG is something that I’m not going to worry too much about now but will keep in my back pocket to use should I ever be aiming for even tighter control.
Here are additional links to TAG discussions on TuD.