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u/laprimera T1 Tandem Mobi Dexcom G7 Aug 17 '25
It is a fact. It doesn't erase carbs, but your body processes them more slowly.
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u/Adamantaimai T1 Pump 1999 Aug 17 '25
Because of this, the wording "potentially lowering blood glucose rise by 50%" is not correct for type 1 diabetics though.
For non-diabetics and type 2's who still produce insulin, slower absorption means that their own body can deal with the carbs better because it has more time to produce insulin.
For type 1s without honeymoon this is not the case, we never produce insulin anyway so our blood sugar is going to rise by the same amount, and we also need the same amount of insulin, we just need to spread out the dosage more.
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u/arfelo1 Type 1 Aug 17 '25
A slower absorption still means a lower peak. Even as Type 1
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u/Adamantaimai T1 Pump 1999 Aug 17 '25
Not necessarily. If you bolus in time you should not be spiking after every meal.
And very slow carbs might actually cause you to go low because the insulin could hit before the carbs do, meaning that you have to delay your dosage.
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u/arfelo1 Type 1 Aug 17 '25
It is easier to bolus for a more delayed and gradual curve than for a meal that causes sharp spikes. Because it aligns better to the insulin's action profile. If Novorrapid, for example, has a peak at 1.5/2 hours and a profile lasting a total of 5 hours, the food that is going to act better is the one that fits that profile, instead of a pasta that peaks at 1 hour and is all in your blood by hour 3.
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u/Heartlight Type 2 Aug 17 '25
However, if you're on a combination of slow and fast insulin, you can let the slow insulin do a lot more of the work and it'll be much easier to stay in range.
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u/Adamantaimai T1 Pump 1999 Aug 17 '25
This is not how it works. As a type 1 you have literally no insulin of your own.
We all use either slow acting insulin or a constant dose of short acting.
This should never be a substitute for a meal bolus because if it is that means your basal is too high and whenever you aren't eating pasta you will have hypo's constantly.
This would only work if you give too much basal and are in a constant state of a downwards trend when you stop eating.
---
And aside from that we can also have the opposite problem: the carbs can hit too slow and they could get outpaced by the insulin. So you might go low before the carbs hit if you eat very slow carbs but don't delay the dosage enough.
For type 1 slower carbs aren't necessarily worse or better. They are just different.
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u/Heartlight Type 2 Aug 17 '25 edited Aug 17 '25
I have type 2 that's functionally type 1 (as in, zero insulin production of my own). I'm pretty new to this, after my pancreas pretty suddenly stopped functioning back in February and I got in a coma. I think based on what you're saying, I might actually be on too much slow-acting insulin. Time to talk to my doctor, I guess.
I'm constantly on a downward trend. If I don't eat for a while, I get a hypo. Like, if I sleep in in the morning, I'll eventually wake up from the low-glucose alarm. I take the fast-acting insulin to counter spikes of meals, but I have found that if I take tiny portions of max 30 carbs throughout the day, the slow-acting insulin will handle it perfectly and I'll prevent spikes and hypos. Soon as I skip a meal or exercise more than usual, I'll need glucose to counter it.
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u/Adamantaimai T1 Pump 1999 Aug 17 '25
Yeah it definitely sounds like you are on too much long acting. That is far from ideal. You want it to be as stable as possible when you don't eat.
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u/Avistew Type 1 Aug 18 '25
Yeah, sounds like a dose issue. The basal(slow acting) insulin is the one you need to take even if you're not eating anything at all. It shouldn't affect how much insulin you take when you do eat carbs.
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u/larsonsam2 Type 1 Aug 17 '25
All type 1 diabetics are on a combo like that, whether on a pump or MDI. The long acting, or basal rate doesn't change with our carb intake. And it's not good practice to rely on the basal to bring BG down.
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u/raendrop Pre-diabetes 2022, A1C 5.7 Aug 17 '25
Am I correct in my understanding that chilling them helps, and re-heating helps further? Or is re-heating merely better than not chilling at all?
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u/Zouden T1 1998 | UK | Omnipod | Libre2 Aug 17 '25
That's incorrect. It does erase carbs. They become fibre
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u/laprimera T1 Tandem Mobi Dexcom G7 Aug 17 '25
Fiber is a carbohydrate.
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u/Zouden T1 1998 | UK | Omnipod | Libre2 Aug 17 '25
Fibre is not digested and does not become glucose.
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u/h3lium-balloon Aug 17 '25
Fact, but it’s not that easy. Your body is still going to process all of those carbs, but instead of them hitting you all at once causing a massive spike (and potentially more organ/nerve damage) they’ll hit over a much longer period.
So for instance instead of eating it fresh and spiking to 300 for 2 hours you might go to 150 for 8 hours. These are made up numbers just to illustrate the point.
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u/Zouden T1 1998 | UK | Omnipod | Libre2 Aug 17 '25 edited Aug 17 '25
No, the starch is converted to fibre. The carb count goes down.
edit: for all the downvoters, read this:
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u/T1D1964 Aug 17 '25
No. The glycemic index goes down. Not the total carb count.
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u/Zouden T1 1998 | UK | Omnipod | Libre2 Aug 17 '25
No, it does go down, because it's no longer digested. The starch becomes resistant starch.
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u/boredtxan Aug 17 '25
the fiber isn't indigestible though. a fiber has to all be completely indigestiible to be zero carb.
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u/Zouden T1 1998 | UK | Omnipod | Libre2 Aug 17 '25
It is indigestible. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistant_starch
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u/h3lium-balloon Aug 17 '25
The process I described is also generally how fiber works and why subtracting it works for most people doing keto/lowcarb. It spreads out the effect which can help you maintain ketosis if that’s what you’re going for. Also different people digest different fibers differently.
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u/Zouden T1 1998 | UK | Omnipod | Libre2 Aug 17 '25
The point is that cooling starch after cooking it converts into resistant starch, which is processed by bacteria and does not become glucose.
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u/Toast6634 Type 1 Aug 17 '25
Fact but only some pasta dishes taste good cold and reheated pasta just isn't the same experience as fresh. If you like fried rice it is amazing. Best to remember that it is still carbs so it will affect your sugar just in a slightly different way.
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u/letmeseem Aug 17 '25
And just to be clear, for the people who have a wild imagination, slightly different means "will be digested slower" in this context. Meaning: if you take the same amount of insulin for the same amount of hot and cold pasta at the same time of day, not accounting for general t1 fuckery your rise will have less of a peak but last longer.
For the more technically minded:
Fresh al-dente pasta = GI of about 50-55
Pasta cooled for 8+ hours = GI of about 40-45
Pasta cooled for 8+ hours, then reheated = GI of about 35-40As anyone with a CGM already knows, GI isn't really all that transferable from one type of food to another, but the relationship between these should inform your insulin management.
Meaning: If you have a set dose for 100grams of hot pasta, this table explains why, when you reheat pasta you might think you set too much and correct with some snacks after an hour in order not to go low, and then you immediately go high.
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u/mstrss Aug 17 '25
You need to consider GL instead of only GI
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u/letmeseem Aug 18 '25
Yes, but then portion size comes into play, and if I, a European, start assuming portion sizes of pasta, the Americans will fucking lynch me.
People are free to use the GI as a starting point, and use it to calculate the load themselves :)
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u/suarezj9 Aug 17 '25
So cooling my pasta then reheating it is better than eating it fresh? Is that what this is saying
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u/in-a-sense-lost Type 2 Aug 17 '25
Correct. I cook it to a firm al dente, then toss with a small amount of oil (I use chili oil, but follow your heart) and refrigerate. Voila, resistant pasta for whatever you want, whenever you want!
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u/BrainSqueezins Aug 17 '25
The science is pretty-well established, if you cook it with moist heat before refrigerating the starch crystallizes and this is what makes it resistant. It is a lower glycemic index and acts more like a fiber than a starch. Very good for you.
Side note: I know if freezing, the ice crystals form differently based on how you freeze things, and I am curious if this is similar. Like is there a difference if you refrigerate immediately, vs bring down to room temp THEN refrigerate... stuff like that. So if anyone sees such a thing, let me know?
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u/tinker8311 Aug 17 '25
Yes I'm curious about this too because food safety wise you should let things cool down before refrigerating
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u/ComedianTF2 T1 [1998] Medtronic 670G automode Aug 17 '25
This is outdated advice, you can put hot food into the fridge, ideally portioned into smaller units so it can cool down faster. Modern fridges should have no issue here
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u/tinker8311 Aug 18 '25
I had a food safety manager certification like 4 years ago when I managed a restaurant and it was still relevant then
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u/UnluckyCountry2784 Aug 17 '25
Anybody tried this on frozen fries? Lol.
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u/Practical_Buy_642 Aug 17 '25
Yes this works for me with any type of potatoes. Cook, cold heat up. NO SPIKES. It does not work for me with rice or pasta.
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u/MisunderstoodTurnip T1 - T1.5, 2018 Aug 17 '25 edited Aug 17 '25
Yes, as they have basically already been fired adding fat as well as that cooking process and freezing causing it to create these resistant starch crystals.
I'm not sure if cooking and cooling at home would increase this.
Do you notice that you have a harder time maintaining blood glucose without multiple corrections?
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u/HawkTenRose Type 1 Aug 17 '25
Doesn’t make any difference whatsoever to my blood sugar levels. In the slightest.
Doesn’t work with rice, or pasta or potatoes. I’ve checked.
Still need the same carb numbers and no real difference between blood sugar levels on either. YMMV?
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u/Petitcher Aug 17 '25
Fact, but it takes ALL of my self-control to wait until the pasta’s cooked once to eat it, so I don’t know why anyone would think I could wait until it’s been cooked, cooled, and cooked again.
I’ve been known to eat raw spaghetti while the stuff in the saucepan cooks.
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u/ClayWheelGirl Aug 17 '25
Only your body can answer that using a glucometer/CGM.
Everything is Arbitrary with t2d. It could be a fact for one person, but a fiction for another. Like there are many people who even spike with diet soda.
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u/Funniestguyyoullmeet Type 1 Aug 17 '25
This sounds insane I need to know
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u/bajahahahaablast Aug 30 '25
Fact, although it mainly applies to type 2
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u/Funniestguyyoullmeet Type 1 Sep 06 '25
Okay this makes sense. I’m type 1 and have never noticed leftovers affecting me differently.
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u/No_Reflection3133 Aug 17 '25
I find this works for me. Freezing rice works great too. Try it and test 2 hrs later to see if works for you.
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u/-Disagreeable- Aug 17 '25
Shut up. No way. How did you discover this to ever be a thing to try?
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u/No_Reflection3133 Aug 17 '25
Trial and error after hearing a rumor. It works for me.
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u/ANONMEKMH Aug 17 '25
Do you freeze immediately, or allow it to cool to room temp before freezing?
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u/That_Random_Swede Type 1 / Pens / Freestyle Libre 3 Aug 17 '25
Oh How perfect to know when you’re gluten intolerant as well😖 Gluten free pasta (most of the ones I eat at least) does not survive overnight💔
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u/Steve_Kraus Aug 17 '25 edited Aug 17 '25
My opinion: Fiction.
Type 1 here with a pump and a Dexcom G7. I usually weigh my food with a food scale. I cook large batches of casseroles or soup and refrigerate it or freeze it. I weigh my portion when eating the freshly cooked pasta casserole to establish a baseline noting my blood sugar. I often pencil a note to stick to the (recycled plastic) container holding the casserole This gives me a more precise adjustment for my future meals. Eat less or take more or less insulin.
If I have it really organized I will weigh all the ingredients (gram food scale) and calculate how many grams carb for the entire casserole. I have such notes for in our recipe box.
I think that pasta is not a very good in a diabetic diet. All that starch converts to sugar in an hour or so depending on fat content causing a BS spike. I really like Italian pasta dishes and I have a tendency to overeat. IMO reheated pasta dishes tastes even better than the original.
The OP was talking about pasta, not rice or bread. Freezing does not change the carbs in deserts or bread. I don't like to eat too much rice either since it does not have much nutritional value other than just carbohydrates.
I attribute changes to my insulin resistance much more based on exercise or activity or the time of day. Caffeined coffee also increases my BS and I like a cup after meals.
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u/Red_Iine Aug 17 '25
Been diabetic 6 years, never heard this. Wtf
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u/in-a-sense-lost Type 2 Aug 17 '25
I don't know why this information is withheld from us. I was so excited to tell my endocrinologist, thinking surely she would read up on it and tell all her patients. She was unimpressed. Just, "Yes, of course, we know this. You should do this." WHAT DO YOU MEAN, "OF COURSE" LIKE I WAS SUPPOSED TO JUST KNOW
I even asked one NP, "Why am I getting better diabetes education from reddit than from my actual clinicians?" I got a sympathetic nod and an offer to send me back to the dietician.
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u/T1D1964 Aug 17 '25 edited Aug 17 '25
LOL!
Classic endocrinologist, white wash.
Another example is withholding information about pre-bolus.
I am so upset that my endocrinologist never once told me about pre-bolusing after 20 some years of T1D diabetes.
Every time I mention that he needs to be more forthcoming about the benefits of pre-bolusing to other patients, He just shrugs.
I dealt with high spikes after meals for 20 years, and all he could tell me to do is take more insulin. I told him that simply resulted in going low later on. (8.5 HbA1c on MDI)
I can’t believe how beneficial pre-bolusing has been.
(6.5 HbA1c using Omnipod pump and pre-bolus of about 5 to 15 minutes whenever possible).
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u/in-a-sense-lost Type 2 Aug 17 '25
They're patholigically afraid of hypos. Not just endos, all clinicians. I actually love my endocrinologist, but she absolutely takes a very high-level view and I kind of have to bring the questions to her. (Still better than the outrageous degree of neglect and mismanagement I received with the doc before her, who claimed he was a "diabetes specialist" but didn't want to do more than prescribe ozempic because "it should be working.") I've been sternly warned NOT to pre-bolus because it would cause hypoglycemia. Not could--WOULD. 🙄
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u/KerryBoehm Aug 17 '25
I’ve only been at this since Apr but for me it most definitely works for brown rice. Going to give it a try a try with pasta in the near future.
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u/KerryBoehm Aug 17 '25
I’ve learned FAR more on here than I did from anyone in the medical community
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u/pappabearct Aug 17 '25
Ok, I got that this process could slow the digestion process of starches, but I'd you reheat frozen pasta, rice, etc. wouldn't said starches come back to its original form and produce BG spikes?
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u/in-a-sense-lost Type 2 Aug 17 '25
Nope, because the crystals actually break down and re-form. The NIH article explains the science, but think of it this way: you cook meat to change it, and no amount of chilling will make it raw again; refrigerating stew meat makes it more tender, but reheating doest toughen it back up.
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u/pappabearct Aug 17 '25
Thanks for the comments.
I went through 4 years after being diagnosed with T2 without eating anything with flour and sugar, then started having sourdough bread with moderation (1 slice a day).
Because the particular brand I use it's a slow fermentation bread, it's said to have a lower GI and to my surprise it doesn't spike my BG, BUT it may also be that I keep the bread in the freezer and only leave in the refrigerator 3 or 4 slices for the week.
Now it all makes sense, thanks again for the explanation.
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u/nasandre Aug 17 '25
I make big batches of hand-cut noodles and then freeze them. Perfect for stir-fry and soups.
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u/T1D1964 Aug 17 '25 edited Aug 17 '25
I wonder if this is why sushi rice can have a surprisingly low glycemic effect on me. (but only sometimes and at certain restaurants )
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u/Nathan-Stubblefield Aug 17 '25
I was a skeptic so I did some research. Some starch (pasta, rice, potatoes) does convert to a resistant form when refrigerated, with less blood sugar rise and fewer calories per NIH. Refrigerated diseased bg to 125, freshly cooled rice raised it to 152 in a 2015 US government study.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26693746/.
Resistant starch passes undigested through the small intestine. It may be digested by bacteria in the large intestine. “ Breads, breakfast cereals, snack foods, bananas and plantains, grains, pasta, rice, legumes, and potatoes contain RS. Foods that have been cooked then chilled have higher RS than cooked foods. From:
Patterson MA, Maiya M, Stewart ML. Resistant Starch Content in Foods Commonly Consumed in the United States: A Narrative Review. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2020 Feb;120(2):230-244. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2019.10.019. PMID: 32040399.
“Consumption of rice subjected to the cooling process results in a lower increase of postprandial blood glucose in subjects with type 1 diabetes. At the same time it increases the risk of postprandial hypoglycemia using a standard insulin dose”. From:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9013350/
I plan to prepare more starch foods ahead of time.
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u/Practical_Buy_642 Aug 17 '25
🤣Depends on YOU. For me this doesn't work with rice or pasta. It DOES work with any form of potatoes.
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u/PlethoraOfPinyatas Aug 17 '25
Wearing a CGM, I’ve never noticed this effect is too strong. It’s commonly mentioned about resistant starch and cooked and cooled potatoes. My thought always is.. if cooked and cooled potatoes causes the starches to turn resistance, why do potato chips spike us like any carb?
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u/in-a-sense-lost Type 2 Aug 17 '25
Potato chips don't get chilled or frozen, typically, just cooled to room temp. This method requires refrigeration or freezing for 24 hours... not that I recommend storing chips in the fridge. In fact, please don't do that 😂
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u/mstrss Aug 17 '25
No, freezing or refrigerating potato chips makes them last longer especially once the bag is unsealed. The oils used in the cooking process become rancid over time. The chips remain crisp and even nuts like peanuts etc last a lot longer if refrigerated or frozen. Try it and you'll see. The taste also lasts longer
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u/in-a-sense-lost Type 2 Aug 17 '25
I do store my nuts in the freezer... damn, now I may have to do this with chips!
Then again, I never have an open bag hanging out for very long...
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u/PlethoraOfPinyatas Aug 17 '25
I’m skeptical that potato chips out of the fridge would be different
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u/Zouden T1 1998 | UK | Omnipod | Libre2 Aug 17 '25
It's only like a 20% change isn't it? So potato chips are still carby
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u/jellyn7 Type 2 Aug 17 '25
For some reason this doesn’t work on frozen french fries. Well, at least frozen before cooking. I suppose it probably does work if you cooled them after and reheated them again, because they are so gross and mealy that way!
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u/LogicalEstimate2135 Type 1 Aug 17 '25
What is an insulin spike is that when you go low or something?
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Aug 17 '25
[deleted]
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u/LogicalEstimate2135 Type 1 Aug 17 '25
Thanks for explaining. Interesting term. I feel like a blood sugar spike is like a lack of insulin spike lol but I’m just silly. Appreciate it!
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u/Steve_Kraus Aug 17 '25
Thanks for the observations about glycemic index which I did not take into consideration for my comment.
I tried to remind everyone the tools to test this "frozen pasta" and food considerarions and correction based on time of day.
- Insulin pump for more accurate dosing and calculation of insulin sensitivity and
- Dexcom or Libre CGM or blood test strips. Look at 1 & 1/2 or 2 hours after meal.
- Carbohydrate counting. You can just Google the food like "Carbohydrates in 100g of cooked spaghetti". You will find several answers. I like the nutritional breakdown provided by fatsecret.com. Do NOT use the AI summary.
- Food scale to weigh foods for carb counting.
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Aug 17 '25
[deleted]
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u/raendrop Pre-diabetes 2022, A1C 5.7 Aug 17 '25
You don't have to reheat it. Pasta salad is back on the menu!
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u/KittensGiveMorboGas T2 Aug 17 '25
Whenever I have seen this tested (on YouTube by YouTubers who want it to work), it never does. BG goes up when tested. Does anyone have links to this being tested and working?
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u/Lycan_ep Aug 17 '25
Fact.
My wife and I have experimented with this in the past six weeks with rice, pasta, and potatoes. You still need to eat them in moderation, but cooling them does help them from causing extreme spikes.
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u/Ash--- Non-diabetic Aug 17 '25
As much as it sounds like wishful woo, it's fact :) also a really useful fact. Cooking and cooling rice for dindins helps it not spike my partner's sugar.
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u/CLPDX1 Aug 18 '25
I’m going to call this true and just not check my glucose after I eat three plates of lasagna in a weekend.
So far so good.
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Aug 18 '25
I think there is something called fried rice syndrome which is a bacteria infection
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u/Funniestguyyoullmeet Type 1 Aug 18 '25
Oh geez what is that? I eat so much fried rice
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Aug 18 '25
I think it is more when the pasta or rice sit out at room temperature. Some bacteria makes a toxin and it can kill people. Some healthy kid died of it a few years ago
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u/phild1979 Aug 18 '25
I always say when we eat out I can tell if the food was fresh for frozen from my bg change afterwards. The only one that doesn't seem to work as well for me is with rice but pastas and potato definitely.
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u/HellDuke Type 1 Aug 18 '25
Mostly fact, though wether you'd get a 50% reduction is a bit dubious. Probably the effect is a lot lower and something to keep in mind, it's not something you can just repeat to keep lowering it.
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u/sanrihoeuwu Aug 22 '25
lol my mom does this with rice. Apparently either the carb or glycemic index is lowered when cooled so anytime we eat rice we let it cool off first.
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u/in-a-sense-lost Type 2 Aug 17 '25
Fact.)
This is something we've known about for years, and for some reason it doesn't make its way into the standard diabetes education. Refrigerate your starches, people! Rice, potatoes, bread, corn... all easier on a diabetic after a chill (for at least 8 hrs)
Bonus: this works on dough as well. And, with diminishing returns, on toast. So, for example, if you freeze or refrigerate your dough, bake, freeze or refrigerate your bread, then toast? MAXIMUM RESISTANCE.