User guide

Carbohydrate counting
With insulin pump therapy, you must take a bolus for the carbohydrates you eat. You need to count the
carbohydrates you plan to eat to see how much insulin to take.
There are two basic methods to count carbohydrates, and in truth, they are very much alike. Many people
use parts of both of the two methods.
Carbohydrate gram counting
With this method, you add up the exact number of grams of carbohydrate in each meal. Food labels, food
list and meal planning books are great tools for carbohydrate gram counting.
Carbohydrate exchange system
This method uses food groups called exchange groups. One exchange with carbohydrate has about 15
grams of carbohydrate.
1 bread exchange 1 fruit exchange 1 milk exchange
15 grams carbohydrate 15 grams carbohydrate 12 to 15 grams carbohydrate
Foods with carbohydrates include:
• starches and starchy vegetables
• fruits and fruit juices
• milk and milk products
• sugars and foods with sugar
Facts on the nutrition labels on packaged food will help you to figure how much carbohydrate is in a
certain food. There are a number of paperback books that list the grams of carbohydrates in many foods.
These books are very helpful when you are eating foods without labels or are eating out. Also, if you know
the exchange system, you can count carbohydrate exchanges.
Your healthcare professional will give you an insulin to carbohydrate ratio at the start. This will be a place
to begin. It may need to be changed based on the results of your blood glucose readings after you eat.
Determining your meal bolus based on carbohydrate counting is not an exact science. Sometimes it takes
trial and error to come up with the correct meal bolus for certain foods. If you are not sure how some
foods affect your blood glucose, test your blood glucose 2 hours after eating. If your reading is too high or
too low, adjust your meal bolus the next time you make that food choice.
Introduction to pump therapy20