Science Project

Riley is required to do a science project every three years starting in 6th grade. Three years ago he worked with the flight of paper airplanes: did the construction of the aircraft make it fly further? This year it is to be the effect of carbohydrates on blood sugar of a person with Type 1 Diabetes.

His plan is to eat 15 CHO of Starbursts, 15 CHO of Cheezits, 15 CHO of pizza. Three of his favorite things.

Speaking of favorite things...It is difficult for Riley to save the Skittles and Starbursts and snacks I pack in his bags for lows. He eats them because they are there and they are delicious. This week it occurred to me to get candy and snacks that aren't particularly tasty. (Smarties, yogurt covered raisins and peanut butter crackers) Made me wonder how we got to this fork in the road. Back when he was first diagnosed, there was nothing we wouldn't do (sorry double neg) for him and we would spoil him in every other way.  I am sure that this is a common phase for parents of recently diagnosed T1D children. Right??? We'll see if these candies and snacks stick around longer like until they are needed. That's my science project.

Back to the science project...

This is not what we were expecting. Thought there would be a spike after eating these items without insulin coverage. Was that just wrong expectations? Maybe I was thinking of eating an entire meal then wonder why bg is 350 and realize he forgot to inject. Or maybe because the long acting insulin is at the perfect dosage rate. Or maybe because the insulin on board is still working even though these were all done at least 3 hours after a meal. After further research - looking at what I just typed into the chart- I see that each product actually did cause a blood sugar increase of at least 40 points. The chocolate covered peanutbutter egg is the fastest acting, hitting the highest max at the shortest 30 minute mark. Interesting also that Cheez its took the longest to max.

I'm not sure what Riley's hypothesis is and what he hopes to learn from this research. I offered to test at each interval to show the difference between diabetic results and non-diabetic results. He wasn't interested. I'll let you know what he does with this data.