Sunday, April 21, 2013

Why We Use Icing


    If you follow me on Instagram (dayinthelifeofboaz), you probably know that we usually use icing to correct lows (anything lower than 70). It's true that there are serval different ways to bring your sugar up fast. There's Glucose gel, gummies, candy, juice, really anything with a lot of carbs. But you need to find what works for you, and for us, that's icing. We buy the little 2oz tubes, and they are perfect for us. They are 15g of carbs which is what is recommended to bring your sugar up. Plus, icing is a simple carb.

    Simple carbs are crucial when bringing up a low.  Complex carbs slow down the absorption of the sugar.  Anything that has fiber or fat in it is a complex carb.  Eventually, when bringing up a low, we will need to give him something fatty (milk, cheese ect) to give the simple carbs something to stick to so he won't spike and then crash.

    Here is a few of the reasons why icing works for us:
  • Unlike juice, icing does not require him to cooperate.  Icing absorbs into his cheek and can start bringing up his sugar without him even swallowing. 
  • When bringing up a low at night, he does not need to get up as we can just feed him the icing while he is (mostly) asleep.    
  • We use white icing which, though it may make a mess sometimes, does not stain.  
  •  Icing tubes are compact and we always carry several in his diabetes bag.   
  • It is packed with carbs.  It does not take much icing to bring his sugar up.    
I hope of all of that makes sense.  If you have any questions, feel free to comment!




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