How to Match an Insulin Dose to Carbohydrate Consumption

Insulin is required for all non-insect forms of animal life and its absence in humans is usually fatal within a matter of days. A person with Type 1 diabetes is particularly dependent upon an external source of insulin and must carefully calculate the dosage based on sugar intake.

Instructions

• 1

  Learn what an insulin-to-carbohydrate (IC) ratio is. This ratio is the number of units of insulin you need to inject for each gram of carbohydrates you consume. For example, a diabetes patient with an IC ratio of 1:10 would need one unit of insulin for every 10g of carbohydrates in the meal.

• 2

  Determine your IC ratio. You generally start with a baseline range and fine tune it with trial and error. An adult with no insulin resistance should be in the 1:10 to 1:15 range while insulin resistance will increase this ratio. The IC ratio for children may be half of the adult value and infants will require an individualized determination.

• 3

  Calculate the total amount of carbohydrates in packaged food. This information is generally required to be on packages in the United States and many other countries.

• 4

  Estimate the amount of carbohydrates in raw food. This generally can be estimated with acceptable accuracy from standard values. Your diabetes management team will be able to provide you with the needed reference tables.

• 5

  Multiply your IC ratio by the amount of carbohydrates (as measured in grams) in your meal. This will give the number of units of insulin you will need.