Food Log

How often are you able to identify the effect of your feelings of hunger and satisfaction levels, and the emotional triggers that make you overeat and how your blood glucose responds to different foods?

I am sure the answer would be “hardly”. Many a times when I ask my patients why did you end up eating 6 slices of Mango when the agreed plan was not to have more than 2 slices at a time, the answer I hear is ‘ I was too happy sharing a big meal with my family...; I was nervous for my interview .... etc.

Our feelings, emotions and social environment play a big role when it comes to eating. That's where food journaling comes in. Food logs can be a helpful, cost-effective tool in improving skills in managing blood sugar on a daily basis.  

I often tell my clients that controlling blood sugar levels to prevent highs and lows is an important aspect of diabetes self-management and that keeping a food diary/ log, in the form of a physical book or journal, a computer software program, a website or app, or even a digital photo gallery, can play a key role.

What all you should Log?

• Detailed record of what you have eaten and drunk over a period of time usually in the last 24 hours;
  • Each meal and snack to be recorded in detail in terms of quantity / portion and time (including beverages). Along with the cooking method like baked/ boiled/ fried/ steamed etc.
  • Try and record  travel/ fasting/ weekday/ weekend food record also
  • Some things that can be tracked with a food diary:
    •     Fat grams, carbohydrates, protein, fiber, etc.
    •     Identify danger zones in alignment with blood glucose  
    •     response following quantity and quality of a meal
    •     Pinpoint lapses

It helps in correlation of blood glucose response on a mixed meal, with special consideration on carbohydrate content of the food. Based on observation of blood glucose values and food eaten for that particular meal, correct the carbohydrate content (%) of a meal.For e.g. If my clients want to have a sugar laden dessert, I ask them to check their pre-meal blood glucose levels and 2 hours after eating the food they crave for. It gives you an idea what that particular food does to your blood sugar levels and why needs to be avoided and the results are in front of their eyes. So my work becomes easy.

• Activity record:
  • Keep a note of major activities / exercise you do in a day. Keep all records including household chores like sweeping/ mopping/ gardening etc.
  • Record the time of activity
  • Correlate hypo/ hyperglycemia ( low or high blood sugar) or associated symptoms to food intake and activity level

Record feelings behind eating. Ask yourself why you eat the way you do? You may wish to spend more reflective time in your diary. After you have eaten, write down why you ate (hunger, boredom, etc.) and how you feel afterwards (guilty, deserving, etc.) How were you feeling before you ate?
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For example :

• Did you feel "gut hunger?"
• Who were you with?
• Did you eat hurriedly or calmly?
• Can you recall everything you ate?
• Did you eat normal portions?
• Were you doing an activity while you were eating?
• How do you feel now (e.g. satisfied, healthy, guilty)?
• Overall was this a positive or negative eating experience?

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I believe that maintaining a food log is a must for people who are on Insulin and/or have difficult to control sugar levels. This gives a freedom to understand a correlation between food and activity routine to blood sugar levels and helps make necessary adjustments when needed.

Try and maintain the log for minimum 7 days and get it reviewed by your health care provider who can help you identify the gap initially, and as you master keeping a record you can manage your health on your own.
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So, just identify a way you would like to keep a record. You can maintain a log as a journal or mobile phone app. These apps are found to be more effective than computer-based programs for diabetes self-care. The mHealth apps also gives the opportunity to take a more active role in your health management while keeping it fun.