Carbohydrates & Diabetes: Key Facts To Understand
To a person with diabetes, the carbohydrates are so much more than just something on a nutrition panel. Carbohydrates are the nutrient in food that is most easily converted into sugar (i.e. glucose) in our bloodstream, and most easily raises our blood sugar levels. All forms carbohydrates, except for fiber, are broken down and converted into sugar in our bloodstream. It doesn’t matter if those carbohydrates came from Sour Patch Kids candy or whole grain pasta: they are broken down into glucose and will raise blood sugar levels. Carbohydrates can be found in foods like: all grains (rice, quinoa, corn, flour), cereal, all fruits, vegetables (vegetables like potato are high in carbohydrate, beans are medium, and green veggies like bell peppers and cucumber are low), pasta, crackers, cookies, cereal, breads, muffins, cake, yogurt, pizza, beer, cider, wine, ice cream juice, soda, popcorn, candy, and more. Peanut butter is an example of a food that contains carbohydrates, but it contains far more dietary fat than carbs, so it’s often thought of as a fat, not a carbohydrate. When counting the carbs in your diet, though, you would still want to account for the carbohydrates in foods like peanut butter. Dietary fiber is a form of carbohydrate that is not digested or broken down into glucose, therefore it doesn’t raise your blood sugar. When counting carbohydrates, many people subtract the total amount of dietary fiber listed in the nutritional profile of any given food from the total amount of carbohydrates when the number is over five grams. Your results may vary, so it’s worth keeping an eye on your blood sugars to see if this is true for you. Dietary fiber also slows down the digestion of our carbohydrates. This is a great thing for people with diabetes because it mea Continue reading >>
Type 1 Diabetes Diet
Type 1 diabetes diet definition and facts In Type 1 diabetes the pancreas can do longer release insulin. The high blood sugar that results can lead to complications such as kidney, nerve, and eye damage, and cardiovascular disease. Glycemic index and glycemic load are scientific terms used to measure he impact of a food on blood sugar. Foods with low glycemic load (index) raise blood sugar modestly, and thus are better choices for people with diabetes. Meal timing is very important for people with type 1 diabetes. Meals must match insulin doses. Eating meals with a low glycemic load (index) makes meal timing easier. Low glycemic load meals raise blood sugar slowly and steadily, leaving plenty of time for the body (or the injected insulin dose) to respond. Skipping a meal or eating late puts a person at risk for low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). Foods to eat for a type 1 diabetic diet include complex carbohydrates such as brown rice, whole wheat, quinoa, oatmeal, fruits, vegetables, beans, and lentils. Foods to avoid for a type 1 diabetes diet include sodas (both diet and regular), simple carbohydrates - processed/refined sugars (white bread, pastries, chips, cookies, pastas), trans fats (anything with the word hydrogenated on the label), and high-fat animal products. Fats don't have much of a direct effect on blood sugar but they can be useful in slowing the absorption of carbohydrates. Protein provides steady energy with little effect on blood sugar. It keeps blood sugar stable, and can help with sugar cravings and feeling full after eating. Protein-packed foods to include on your menu are beans, legumes, eggs, seafood, dairy, peas, tofu, and lean meats and poultry. The Mediterranean diet plan is often recommended for people with type 1 diabetes because it is full of nut Continue reading >>
7 Good Carbs For Diabetes Nutritionists Want You To Eat
Healthy carb: Oatmeal iStock/Magone Eating oats (the kind without added sugar) can slightly lower both fasting blood sugar levels and HbA1c, a three-month measure of blood-sugar levels, shows a review study by Beijing scientists. Have ½ cup cooked. Make a savory oatmeal: Top with a soft-cooked egg and mushrooms and onions sautéed in low-sodium vegetable broth. Healthy carb: Sweet potato iStock/margouillaphotos These orange spuds are digested more slowly than the white variety, thanks to their high fiber content. Season with a dash of cinnamon, shown to help control blood sugar. Have ½ cup cooked. Make a snack: Top a baked sweet potato with cinnamon and almond butter. Healthy carb: Brown rice iStock/WEKWEK Whole grains like brown rice contain all three parts of the fiber-rich grain kernel, while white rice and other refined grains have only the endosperm intact. The fiber helps to slow the speed at which carbohydrates hit your bloodstream. Have ⅓ cup cooked. Make rice pudding: Mix rice with equal parts light coconut milk, and combine with dried cranberries and cinnamon; cover and soak overnight. Healthy carb: Lentils iStock/rimglow The new 2015-2020 Guidelines for Americans recommend eating more protein-rich pulses, such as lentils and beans. And for good reason: Along with 9 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber, ½ cup cooked lentils contains potassium, which helps to control blood pressure. This is especially important because two in three people with diabetes have high blood pressure or take medication to lower blood pressure, according to the American Diabetes Association. Have ½ cup cooked. Make a salad: Combine with diced pears and apples, dried cranberries, fruit-infused balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. Healthy carb: Freekeh iStock/PicturePartners Like rice Continue reading >>
Can A Diabetic Eat Honey?
Yes! Honey can be taken in moderation by an individual with Diabetes. I will briefly explain the scientific mechanism behind this. Keeping blood glucose levels under control is important for people with diabetes. Honey is a carb food as well, just like rice, potatoes, thus just keep in mind that 1 tablespoon of honey has approximately 17 grams of carbohydrate , and taking that into account when counting your total daily intake of carbohydrates, diabetics can work it out just like any other sweetener or carbohydrates. Both honey and sugar will affect your blood sugar level but Clinical studies have shown that pure honey is a healthier choice in diabetic diet than table sugar and any other non-nutritive sweeteners such as Splenda, saccharin, aspartame. Honey requires lower levels of insulin compared to regular white sugar and does not raise blood sugar levels as rapidly as table sugar, that is, it has a lower Glycemic Index than sugar. Honey facilitates glucose intake to the liver, hence preventing an overload of glucose entering the blood circulation. And nature's honey is the only sugar that possesses this special ability. Anyway you must consider that honey has more calorie than granulated sugar or sugar substitutes. One tablespoon of honey comes in at 68 calories, whereas 1 tablespoon of sugar contains 49 calories. So you can use raw honey instead other sugar substitutes but only in moderation. Be sure to count the carbohydrates in honey as part of your diabetes eating plan. List of Best and Worst Foods for individuals with Diabetes Download a free android app called 'Beat Diabetes' to get the latest list of Top 40 good and bad foods for Diabetes based on Glycemic Index. Continue reading >>
What Are Examples Of Outdated Medical Advice?
I’ll list 2 things: The self-breast exam: it used to be that we would ask women to perform this regularly in order to detect lumps. This created a lot of false alarms and would result in a lot of unnecessary testing without actually providing much benefit. So we don’t recommend it anymore. Drinking the breast milk of a young woman. I trace this back to Ficini’s De vita libri tres (Three Books on Life) published in 1489 but I’m sure there were earlier iterations of the advice. If you were an old man and wanted to regain your youth, the advice was as follows: Immediately after the age of seventy and sometimes after sixty-three, since the moisture has gradually dried up, the tree of the human body often decays. Then for the first time this human tree must be moistened by a human, youthful liquid in order that it may revive. Therefore choose a young girl who is healthy, beautiful, cheerful, and temperate, and when you are hungry and the Moon is waxing, suck her milk; immediately eat a little powder of sweet fennel properly mixed with sugar. Aaah, good times! They just don’t make medical advice the way they used to. Sources: Continue reading >>
What Should I Eat?
People with diabetes should follow the Australian Dietary Guidelines. Eating the recommended amount of food from the five food groups will provide you with the nutrients you need to be healthy and prevent chronic diseases such as obesity and heart disease. Australian Dietary Guidelines: To help manage your diabetes: Eat regular meals and spread them evenly throughout the day Eat a diet lower in fat, particularly saturated fat If you take insulin or diabetes tablets, you may need to have between meal snacks It is important to recognise that everyone’s needs are different. All people with diabetes should see an Accredited Practising Dietitian in conjunction with their diabetes team for individualised advice. Read our position statement 'One Diet Does Not Fit All'. Matching the amount of food you eat with the amount of energy you burn through activity and exercise is important. Putting too much fuel in your body can lead to weight gain. Being overweight or obese can make it difficult to manage your diabetes and can increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer. Limit foods high in energy such as take away foods, sweet biscuits, cakes, sugar sweetened drinks and fruit juice, lollies, chocolate and savoury snacks. Some people have a healthy diet but eat too much. Reducing your portion size is one way to decrease the amount of energy you eat. Being active has many benefits. Along with healthy eating, regular physical activity can help you to manage your blood glucose levels, reduce your blood fats (cholesterol and triglycerides) and maintain a healthy weight. Learn more about exercise and maintaining a healthy weight. Fats have the highest energy (kilojoule or calorie) content of all foods. Eating too much fat can make you put on weight, which may make it more diffi Continue reading >>
Why Carbohydrates Are So Important In Diabetes
Carbohydrates are sugar-based molecules found in fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and dairy products. The make up about 45% to 65% of calories in a healthy diet (the exact percentage is hotly debated); the rest come from fat and protein. You'll find carbohydrates in the healthiest foods you eat, and in the least healthy. Check the food label to find out exactly how much is in your favorite foods. How you eat can affect blood sugar Choosing the right kind of carbohydrates and spacing them out evenly throughout the day can keep blood sugar from rising too high, too fast (90% of the carbohydrate calories you digest end up as glucose, so they have a much bigger impact on blood sugar than fat or protein). "The goal ... is to take in enough carbohydrates to nourish ourselves, but never so much that it causes high blood sugars," says Linda Sartor, a diabetes nutrition specialist at the Penn Rodebaugh Diabetes Center at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Up until about the mid-1990s experts believed that people with diabetes should never eat foods that contain so-called "simple" sugarsthose found in cakes and candyand instead eat "complex" carbohydrates, or those with longer chains of sugar molecules such as potatoes, fruit, vegetables, and grains. We now know that all carbohydrates can cause a rise in blood sugar. Pasta and potatoes, for example, may cause a rapid rise in blood sugar, as can pastries (although other beneficial ingredients in food, such as fiber, cause blood sugar to rise more slowly). Some carbs are better than others The goal is now to maximize intake of the good stuffvitamins, minerals, and fiberand minimize carbohydrates that boost blood sugar too much, offer few nutritional benefits, or are packed with fat and calories. A dieti Continue reading >>
Is Oatmeal Good For People With Diabetes?
Oatmeal, also known as porridge, is a popular breakfast food made from oats. There are several different types of oatmeal including rolled oats (old-fashioned), instant, and steel-cut. All oatmeal starts with whole raw oats, which are harvested and cleaned. The outer shell, or hull, is removed, leaving the edible grain or "groat" behind. People can buy and consume oat groats, but they need to be cooked for 50-60 minutes to soften. Steel-cut oats are made when the groats are chopped with a metal blade. Steel-cut oats cook more quickly - about 20-30 minutes - because they are further broken down. Rolled oats or old-fashioned oatmeal is made by steaming and rolling the groats into flakes. This cuts cooking time down to 3-5 minutes. Instant oats or "quick oats" are made by further steaming and rolling the oats, bringing the cook time down to as little as 30-60 seconds. The texture of steel-cut, old-fashioned, and instant oats differs widely, and which one is best is a personal preference. People who have tried quick oats and not enjoyed their softer texture should try the hardier steel-cut oats. The nutritional profile of each cut of oats is the same when they are plain. However, many instant oats have added sugar and flavorings and are often high in sodium. Also, the higher the level of processing, the quicker the speed of digestion, and the higher the glycemic index, a measure of how quickly blood sugar rises when eating. How does oatmeal affect people with diabetes? Oatmeal is mainly a source of carbohydrate. Carbohydrates are converted to sugar when digested and increase sugar levels in the bloodstream. Carbohydrates that have fiber cause a slower release of sugar into the bloodstream, lowering the potential spike in blood sugar after a meal. A diet that is high in proc Continue reading >>
Reversing Diabetes | Carbs That Are Good For You
Do you have type 2 diabetes? Have you been told you have to give up juicy watermelon or sweet grapes? What if we told you those foods really aren’t taboo? Learn how participants at the Pritikin Longevity Center have success with their blood sugars… even while enjoying fruit! For people who need to watch their blood sugar, a high-carbohydrate diet is actually good for you. What’s critical is the type of carbohydrate. Certainly, if you’re eating refined carbs like white bread and sugary desserts, blood sugar levels can shoot up. But if the bulk of your diet is fiber-rich, unprocessed carbohydrates like vegetables, whole fruit, whole grains, and beans, you may be able to normalize blood sugar levels and even reverse the diagnosis of pre-diabetes and diabetes, scientists are now discovering. An investigation conducted by UCLA researchers followed diabetic men at the Pritikin Longevity Center for three weeks. It reported that the Pritikin Eating Plan, high in whole, fiber-filled carbohydrates, plus daily exercise, not only helped the men lose weight and improve cholesterol levels, it also decreased blood sugar levels by 20% and insulin levels by 30%.1 Reversing Diabetes What’s more, by the end of their three-week program, the majority of the men had controlled their fasting blood glucose, or blood sugar, so well that “they were no longer classified as diabetic,” wrote lead investigators Drs. James Barnard and Christian Roberts of UCLA. Some of the men left Pritikin completely free of their diabetic medications, and others had their medication dosages reduced. In addition to normalizing blood sugar and reducing classic heart disease risk factors like high cholesterol and high blood pressure, the Pritikin Program of diet and exercise also substantially improved r Continue reading >>
Carbohydrate Controlled Diets
Tweet One area of confusion for diabetics and their diets is carbohydrates. So, should you eat carbohydrates or avoid them? Carbohydrates have a direct influence on blood sugar levels and so diets followed by people with diabetes tend to focus either on the quantity of carbohydrate intake or the speed at which carbohydrates are absorbed by the body. In the UK, patients diagnosed with diabetes are generally recommended by health professionals to follow a low GI diet rather than a low-carb diet. What is a carbohydrate controlled diet? A carbohydrate controlled diet is a diet in which carbohydrate intake is either limited or set at a particular value. Setting carbohydrate intake at set values or limits can be used by people with diabetes help stabilise blood glucose levels. Examples of carbohydrate controlled diets include: Fixed carbohydrate intakes A diet involving fixed intakes of carbohydrate through the day can help to simply diabetes control and may be helpful to people on insulin, and particularly those on fixed dose insulin regimens. Having a fixed intake of carbohydrate each day offers less flexibility in terms of meals but can offer more consistency over blood glucose control. People with type 1 diabetes will still need to have competence in carbohydrate counting. Restricted carbohydrate diets Restricted carbohydrate diets set a limit on how much carbohydrate you take in over the course of a day or for each meal. Low carbohydrate diets are a form of restricted carbohydrate diet. Restricted carbohydrate diets may specify a maximum value of carbohydrate intake. However, sometimes this is not needed, particularly if the diet suggests avoiding many of the kind of foods with higher carbohydrate intakes. How do restricted carbohydrate diets work? Restricting carbohydra Continue reading >>
Healthy Carbs For Diabetes
1 / 9 Making the Best Carb Choices for Diabetes "When you say 'carbohydrate,' most people think of sugar," says Meredith Nguyen, RD, a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator at the Methodist Charlton Medical Center Diabetes Self-Management Program in Dallas. But that's only half the story. Carbohydrates are also starches and valuable fiber, which are found in many nutrient-rich foods that should be part of a diabetes diet. Sugar is the basic building block that, depending on how it's organized, creates either starches or fiber. You need about 135 grams of carbohydrates every day, spread fairly evenly throughout your meals. Instead of trying to avoid carbs completely, practice planning your diabetes diet with everything in moderation. "There's nothing you can't have," Nguyen says. "The catch is that you might not like the portion size or frequency." Use this list of healthy carbohydrates to help you stay balanced. Continue reading >>
> Carbohydrates And Diabetes
Keeping your blood sugar levels on track means watching what you eat, plus taking medicines like insulin if you need to. Your doctor may also have mentioned that you should keep track of how many carbohydrates (carbs) you eat. But what exactly are carbohydrates and how do they affect your blood sugar? The foods we eat contain nutrients that provide energy and other things the body needs, and one of these is carbohydrates. The two main forms of carbohydrates are: sugars such as fructose, glucose, and lactose starches, which are found in foods such as starchy vegetables (like potatoes or corn), grains, rice, breads, and cereals The body breaks down or converts most carbohydrates into the sugar glucose. Glucose is absorbed into the bloodstream, and with the help of a hormone called insulin it travels into the cells of the body where it can be used for energy. People with diabetes have problems with insulin that can cause blood sugar levels to rise. For people with type 1 diabetes, the pancreas loses the ability to make insulin. For people with type 2 diabetes, the body can't respond normally to the insulin that is made. Because the body turns carbohydrates into glucose, eating carbohydrates makes blood sugar levels rise. But that doesn't mean you should avoid carbohydrates if you have diabetes. Carbohydrates are a healthy and important part of a nutritious diet. Some carbohydrates have more health benefits than others, though. For example, whole-grain foods and fruits are healthier choices than candy and soda because they provide fiber, vitamins, and other nutrients. Fiber is important because it helps you feel full and keeps your digestive system working properly. In fact, eating lots of fiber can even help to slow the body's absorption of sugar when eaten together with s Continue reading >>
Carbohydrates & Blood Sugar Control For People With Diabetes
Contrary to popular thinking, people with diabetes can enjoy moderate amounts of carbohydrates in their diets. The emphasis is on carbohydrate control NOT carbohydrate avoidance. Actually, carbohydrates are the body's preferred energy source, and roughly half of your daily calorie intake should come from carbohydrate foods. Carbohydrates are the starches and sugars in food. They are found in grains, starchy vegetables, fruit, milk, and sweets. What is carbohydrate counting? Carbohydrate counting is a meal planning approach that evenly distributes your carbohydrate calories throughout your day by counting out the right amount of carbohydrate foods for each meal and snack. The emphasis with carbohydrate counting is on how much carbohydrate you eat at any one time, NOT on which type of carbohydrate you choose. Stay away from fad diets that restrict the amount of carbohydrates you can eat. What about sugar? Research has shown that sugar does not raise blood sugar levels any more than starches do. This means you can eat sugary foods (cookies, cakes, pies, and candy) as long as you count them as part of your total carbohydrate intake. Keep in mind that foods high in sugar are often high in fat and calories, and if eaten in excess might elevate sugar and triglyceride levels, and can lead to weight gain. A sugar substitute is a sweetener that is used in place of sugar. The sugar substitutes approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, and neotame. All can be safely consumed in moderation. Sugar substitutes do not need to be counted in your meal plan. If they are used as a sweetener in food that contains few calories and no other carbohydrate (such as sugar-free soft drinks or sugar-free gelatin), that food is cons Continue reading >>
Diabetes Diet: Should I Avoid Sweet Fruits?
I've heard that you shouldn't eat sweet fruits such as strawberries or blueberries if you have diabetes. Is this true? Answers from M. Regina Castro, M.D. It's a common myth that if you have diabetes you shouldn't eat certain foods because they're "too sweet." Some fruits do contain more sugar than others, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't eat them if you have diabetes. The total amount of carbohydrates in a food affects blood sugar levels more than does the source of carbohydrates or whether the source is a starch or sugar. One serving of fruit should contain 15 grams of carbohydrates. The size of the serving depends on the carbohydrate content of the fruit. The advantage of eating a low-carbohydrate fruit is that you can consume a larger portion. But whether you eat a low-carb or high-carb fruit, as long as the serving size contains 15 grams of carbohydrates, the effect on your blood sugar is the same. The following fruit servings contain about 15 grams of carbohydrates: 1/2 medium apple or banana 1 cup blackberries 3/4 cup blueberries 1 cup raspberries 1 1/4 cup whole strawberries 1 cup cubed cantaloupe or honeydew melon Continue reading >>
Should All People With Diabetes Try Eating Low Carb?
Eating low-carb is not currently viewed as an initial recommendation for all people with diabetes. Yet, if people with diabetes have a hard time with carbohydrates, should they be encouraged to attempt to limit them and see what happens? The average patient’s blood sugar management hasn’t improved in 10 years despite better technology–should more focus be made on diet? What do you think? Give Lower Carb a Try? So far, my observations have shown that those with the most tightly managed blood sugar levels (who rely on insulin) eat a ketogenic diet or one that is a high protein, moderate fat, low-carb diet (often referred to as the Bernstein diet). Those eating this way are enjoying extremely tight blood sugar management and they are nearly banishing their diabetes complication risks. This seems like the ideal goal for people with diabetes–blood sugars as well managed as possible. However, it’s true that it ultimately comes down to a personal decision involving risk mitigation and our circumstances since our lives and personalities are all different. If you’re looking to improve your blood sugars, I think low-carb is certainly worth a try. If you’re not ready for low-carb (and you needn’t feel bad about that), then learning to replace sugary and carb-laden foods with more nutrient-rich alternatives could be something to try first–coupled with blood sugar checks for validation and guidance. A good suggestion is to “eat to your meter” to find out what foods cause elevated blood sugars. It seems reasonable to suggest that anyone with diabetes be encouraged to reduce their intake of carbs to some extent. Generally speaking, for people with diabetes, carbohydrates inevitably raise blood sugar levels to a degree consistent with how many carbohydrates are co Continue reading >>
