Foundations
Type 1 Diabetes Foundations
The first month after diagnosis, the questions all sound the same in your head: what is glucose, what is insulin, why is the trace doing that. The Foundations are twelve short topics that answer them, in the order they come up. Read in sequence the first time; jump back later when you need to.
Ask Grace
Not sure where to start, or want a topic explained in your own situation? Ask Grace.
The recommended sequence
Each part builds on the one before. Jump to what you need; come back to the start when you can.
How to use this guide
Each part is a short page with one job. Work through them in order if you are new to type 1 diabetes; if you are already comfortable with the basics, jump to whichever topic is bothering you today and come back to fill the gaps.
Twelve topics. None of them takes more than ten minutes to read. The order matters less than the habit of returning to them when something on a CGM trace stops making sense.
Part 1: What is type 1 diabetes?
The mechanism of autoimmune beta cell loss, why insulin is essential, and what glucose regulation looks like before and after diagnosis.
Part 2: Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM)
How CGM works, what it measures, and why it is the central feedback tool for understanding glucose patterns in type 1 diabetes.
Part 3: Basal insulin
The role of background insulin, how it works across the day, and why getting basal right underpins everything else.
Part 4: Bolus insulin
How mealtime insulin works and what factors influence how much glucose it moves and how quickly.
Part 5: Correction insulin
What correction doses are for, how insulin sensitivity factors work, and the role of insulin on board in safe correcting.
Part 6: Carbohydrate counting
Why carbohydrate has the greatest immediate impact on glucose, and how matching insulin to carbohydrate intake works in practice.
Part 7: Three balanced meals
How meal structure, composition, and timing interact with insulin and glucose patterns across the day.
Part 8: Hypoglycaemia
Why pure glucose is the fastest treatment, how body weight scales the dose, and why sugar-based alternatives tend to overshoot.
Part 9: Hyperglycaemia
Why glucose goes high in type 1 diabetes, how to recognise persistent highs, and when to switch from a correction bolus to an injection plus site change.
Part 10: Ketones
What ketones are, why they matter uniquely in type 1 diabetes, how to test them, what different levels mean, and when to check, including euglycaemic DKA.
Part 11: Fast and slow movers
Between meals, some tools move glucose in minutes while others take hours. Learning to prioritise the fast movers is the core concept behind Dynamic Glucose Management.
Part 12: Measuring success
What Time-in-Range, GMI, and other glucose metrics describe, and how to read them as a picture of patterns rather than a scorecard.