The Role Of Fiber In Diabetes Management
Home Health and Wellness The Role of Fiber In Diabetes Management Posted by Editorial Team On November 5, 2015 In Health and Wellness Today we welcome back Medtronic Diabetes Educator, Jessica Miller, RD, DE to talk about the importance of Fiber in healthy eating. Fiber is a type of carbohydrate found in plant-based foods like fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grain breads and cereals. Unlike other types of carbs, the body cant digest fiber, so instead of being broken down and absorbed by the blood stream, it passes through the digestive track. Since fiber doesnt require insulin to digest, sometimes people will subtract the amount from the total carbs theyre about to eat before bolusing . Be sure to check with your healthcare provider or diabetes educator before using this method. According to the American Diabetes Association , its recommended women eat about 25 grams and men eat about 38 grams of fiber per day. To put that into perspective, one slice of whole grain bread is about 2-3 grams of fiber. Fiber has many health benefits which could help people with diabetes. So lets break it down. There are 2 kinds of fiber: soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber dissolves in the water from your food, making a sticky liquid or gel. This gel helps trap certain food elements, slowing down digestion. Insoluble fiber adds bulk to the stool and can help food pass more quickly through the stomach and intestines. 1. Blood glucose (BG) control: Since soluble fiber isnt digested in the blood stream, its less likely to cause BG spikes and can help slow down the absorption of sugar, working best when its eaten before consuming starchy foods, such as pasta and potatoes. For example, if your meal includes a salad, chicken, potatoes, and green beans, eat the salad and some of the gree Continue reading >>
The Facts About Carbs, Fiber, And Diabetes
When you watch your diet because you have diabetes, you'll want to pay special attention to carbohydrates, because they can affect your blood sugar level faster than protein or fat. You get carbs from sweets, fruit, milk, yogurt, bread, cereal, rice, pasta, potatoes, and other vegetables. It can help to count your carbs from things you eat or drink, and split them evenly between meals so that it’s in line with how much insulin is available from your body or from medicine. If you get more than your insulin supply can handle, your blood sugar level goes up. If you eat too few carbohydrates, your blood sugar level may fall too low. With carbohydrate counting, you can pick almost any food product off the shelf, read the label, and use the information about grams of carbohydrates to fit the food into your meal plan. Counting carbs is most useful for people who use insulin several times a day or wear an insulin pump, or want more flexibility and variety in their food choices. The amount and type of insulin you are prescribed may affect the flexibility of your meal plan. You don’t have to count carbs. You could use diabetes food exchange lists instead. Ask your doctor or a registered dietitian for their advice on that. Fiber helps control blood sugar. It also helps you lower your “bad” (LDL) cholesterol. Most Americans need more fiber in their diets. The average American only gets about half the fiber needed on a daily basis. You get fiber from plant foods, so plan to eat more of these foods: Cooked dried beans and peas Whole-grain breads, cereals, and crackers Brown rice Bran products Nuts and seeds Although it’s best to get fiber from food sources, fiber supplements can also help you get the daily fiber you need. Examples include psyllium and methylcellulose. Incre Continue reading >>
Eating Fiber Helps Your Gut Bacteria Fight Diabetes
Eating fiber helps your gut bacteria fight diabetes New research finds that a shift in diet to incorporate more fiber could encourage specific types of gut bacteria, reducing the symptoms of diabetes and aiding weight loss. Increasing fiber intake might help to reduce the symptoms of type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is often referred to as a lifestyle disease ; in many cases, it can be prevented by changing habits such as diet and activity levels. However, modern society seems powerless to halt its onward march. Diabetes now affects almost 1 in 10 people in the United States. Currently, more than 100 million adults in the U.S. have diabetes or prediabetes. The condition impacts levels of glucose in the body, meaning they can no longer be regulated correctly, leading to damage of tissues and organs. The hormone at the root of this dysfunction is insulin . People with type 2 diabetes either produce too little or their bodies do not respond adequately to it. Because the type 2 juggernaut does not appear to be slowing, uncovering new ways to intervene is of paramount importance. Of course, prevention is the end goal where possible, but for those living with the condition, controlling it is also vital. In recent years, gut bacteria have been brought in for questioning. Could they hold some answers? The human gut contains billions of bacteria some good for health, some not so good. Overall, they are essential to the proper functioning of the digestive system, and, as it is slowly being revealed, they are influential across many of the body's systems. Previous studies have shown that people who consume more fiber have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. A diet rich in fiber can also help to reduce fasting glucose levels in those already living with diabetes. However, Continue reading >>
Effects Of Dietary Fiber And Carbohydrate On Glucose And Lipoprotein Metabolism In Diabetic Patients.
Abstract Dietary recommendations for the treatment of diabetic patients issued by national and international diabetes associations consistently emphasize the need to increase carbohydrate consumption. However, these recommendations have been questioned on the basis of growing evidence that, in both insulin-dependent and non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients, a high-carbohydrate diet does not offer any advantage in terms of blood glucose and plasma lipid concentrations compared with a high-fat (mainly unsaturated) diet. It has been shown repeatedly that a high-carbohydrate diet increases plasma insulin and triglyceride levels and can deteriorate blood glucose control in the postprandial period. However, much of the controversy between advocates and detractors of dietary carbohydrate can be settled by taking into account dietary fiber. Several studies have shown that the adverse metabolic effects of high-carbohydrate diets are neutralized when fiber and carbohydrate are increased simultaneously in the diet for diabetic patients. In particular, these studies demonstrated that a high-carbohydrate/high-fiber diet significantly improves blood glucose control and reduces plasma cholesterol levels in diabetic patients compared with a low-carbohydrate/low-fiber diet. In addition, a high-carbohydrate/high-fiber diet does not increase plasma insulin and triglyceride concentrations, despite the higher consumption of carbohydrates. Unfortunately, dietary fiber represents a heterogenous category, and there is still much to understand as to which foods should be preferred to maximize the metabolic effects of fiber. There are indications that only water-soluble fiber is active on plasma glucose and lipoprotein metabolism in humans. Therefore, in practice, the consumption of legumes, Continue reading >>
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How Fiber Helps Control High Blood Sugar
Are you filling up on fiber? If you have type 2 diabetes, you should be — including high-fiber foods in your diet is a healthy way to control high blood sugar. As an added bonus, you may be able to stay full longer on the correct portion sizes than you would if you were eating more refined foods. And eating lots of soluble fiber (the kind found in oatmeal, beans, and apples, among other foods) may help reduce dangerous visceral belly fat, according to a recent study. "Fiber promotes good bowel health, lowers the risk of cancer and heart disease, and also controls your blood sugar in a certain way," explains Amy Kranick, a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator with the adult diabetes program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. When fiber is digested, your body handles it differently than the way in which refined carbohydrates, such as white flour, are digested. A portion of the fiber simply passes through your digestive system intact. This difference means that eating foods rich in fiber is less likely to cause a spike in high blood sugar. "Fiber doesn't require insulin [to digest], so it isn't counted as part of your carbohydrates," says Kranick. As a result, when you are reading labels and budgeting daily carbohydrates, you can subtract half the grams of dietary fiber from the total carbohydrate count. At the same time, you should be keeping track of how much fiber you eat. Adults need at least 25 grams of fiber daily for best health outcomes, says Kranick. Other Benefits of Fiber Fiber may also help you manage your overall eating habits, says Kranick. Here are some of the additional benefits of eating high-fiber foods: Antioxidants. Many of the foods that contain fiber also contain antioxidants, which are generally good for you Continue reading >>
The Importance And Effect Of Dietary Fiber In Diabetes Prevention With Particularconsideration Of Whole Grain Products.
1. Horm Metab Res. 2007 Sep;39(9):687-93. The importance and effect of dietary fiber in diabetes prevention with particularconsideration of whole grain products. Kaline K(1), Bornstein SR, Bergmann A, Hauner H, Schwarz PE. (1)Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus at the Technical University of Dresden, Department of Medicine III, Genetics and Prevention of Diabetes, Dresden, Germany. The state of prediabetes is characterized by an increase in insulin resistanceand a decrease in pancreatic beta cell function. The prestage of type 2 diabetes mellitus can be identified by an impaired glucose tolerance and/or by an impairedfasting blood sugar. Apart from weight loss and increase in physical activity,the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus can also be prevented by dietarychanges. A low-fat diet with a dietary fiber intake of more than 30g/d was shown to represent an effective preventive approach. A high-fiber diet has manypositive effects on the physical health status. In addition to positive effectsin the gastrointestinal tract it has an obvious potential to support weightreduction and to improve disturbances of carbohydrate and fat metabolism. At the present state of knowledge, insoluble dietary fibers as found in whole graincereal products are considered to be especially effective in the prevention oftype 2 diabetes mellitus. A high intake of fruits and vegetables as well aspulses also exerts health-promoting properties. A high-fiber diet also plays animportant role in the prevention of obesity and coronary heart diseases. Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/prevention & control* Continue reading >>
How Does Fiber Affect Blood Glucose Levels?
Fiber is a type of carbohydrate (just like sugars and starches) but since it is not broken down by the human body, it does not contribute any calories. Yet, on a food label, fiber is listed under total carbohydrate. So this gets kind of confusing for people who have diabetes. Carbohydrate is the one nutrient that has the biggest impact on blood glucose. So, does fiber have any effect on your blood glucose? The answer is that fiber does not raise blood glucose levels. Because it is not broken down by the body, the fiber in an apple or a slice of whole grain bread has no effect on blood glucose levels because it isn't digested. The grams of fiber can actually be subtracted from the total grams of carb you are eating if you are using carbohydrate counting for meal planning. So, fiber is a good thing for people with diabetes. Of course, most of the foods that contain fiber (fruits, vegetables, whole grain breads, cereals, and pastas) also contain other types of non-fiber carbohydrate (sugar, starch) that must be accounted for in your meal plan. The average person should eat between 20-35 grams of fiber each day. Most Americans eat about half that amount. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that people with diabetes who ate 50 grams of fiber a day — particularly soluble fiber — were able to control their blood glucose better than those who ate far less. So if fiber does not give us any calories, why exactly should you eat it? There are two types of fiber: insoluble and soluble. Insoluble fiber keeps your digestive tract working well. Whole wheat bran is an example of this type of fiber. Soluble fiber can help lower your cholesterol level and improve blood glucose control if eaten in large amounts. Oatmeal is an example of this type of fiber. Another ben Continue reading >>
Effects Of Dietary Fiber And Carbohydrate On Glucose And Lipoprotein Metabolism In Diabetic Patients
Dietary recommendations for the treatment of diabetic patients issued by national and international diabetes associations consistently emphasize the need to increase carbohydrate consumption. However, these recommendations have been questioned on the basis of growing evidence that, in both insulin-dependent and non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients, a high-carbohydrate diet does not offer any advantage in terms of blood glucose and plasma lipid concentrations compared with a high-fat (mainly unsaturated) diet. It has been shown repeatedly that a high-carbohydrate diet increases plasma insulin and triglyceride levels and can deteriorate blood glucose control in the postprandial period. However, much of the controversy between advocates and detractors of dietary carbohydrate can be settled by taking into account dietary fiber. Several studies have shown that the adverse metabolic effects of high-carbohydrate diets are neutralized when fiber and carbohydrate are increased simultaneously in the diet for diabetic patients. In particular, these studies demonstrated that a high-carbohydrate/high-fiber diet significantly improves blood glucose control and reduces plasma cholesterol levels in diabetic patients compared with a low-carbohydrate/low-fiber diet. In addition, a high-carbohydrate/high-fiber diet does not increase plasma insulin and triglyceride concentrations, despite the higher consumption of carbohydrates. Unfortunately, dietary fiber represents a heterogenous category, and there is still much to understand as to which foods should be preferred to maximize the metabolic effects of fiber. There are indications that only water-soluble fiber is active on plasma glucose and lipoprotein metabolism in humans. Therefore, in practice, the consumption of legumes, vegetable Continue reading >>
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6 Reasons A High-fiber Diet Is Insanely Healthy For Diabetes
Fiber directly improves insulin sensitivity iStock A number of studies have found that eating more dietary fiber for a period of weeks or months is linked to a reduction in biomarkers for insulin resistance. This may be due in part to dietary fiber’s anti-inflammatory effects—high-fiber diets have been associated with reduced blood levels of C-reactive protein, a marker for systemic inflammation—and also to the fact that the short-chain fatty acids that fiber produces when it ferments in the intestinal tract tend to inhibit the breakdown of the body’s fat stores into free fatty acids. This breakdown of fat stores appears to play a major role in creating insulin resistance in the skeletal muscles. iStock Soluble fiber’s general effect of slowing down the digestive process means that the carbohydrates we eat take longer to be broken down into glucose. As a result, the release of glucose into the blood after eating tends to occur more slowly over a longer period of time following a high-fiber meal. This means that glucose doesn’t rise to as high a peak after eating, putting less stress on the glucose metabolism process. iStock The same fermentation process that signals the body to become more responsive to insulin also suppresses glucose production in the liver—countering the liver’s glucose overproduction that occurs as the result of insulin resistance. Fiber makes you feel more full so it’s easier to eat less iStock A number of studies have found that people who eat diets high in fiber feel more full after eating and also feel less hungry between meals. For starters, dietary fiber is simply bulkier than other nutrients. This causes the stomach to become more distended when you eat fiber, which sends appetite-suppressing signals to the brain. Soluble fib Continue reading >>
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How Does Soluble Fiber Affect The Glycemic Index To Help With Diabetes?
How does soluble fiber affect the glycemic index to help with diabetes? Janis Jibrin, MS, RD on behalf of The Best Life Soluble fiber, the type of fiber found in oats, barley, psyllium, beans, and certain fruits and vegetables, lowers the glycemic index (GI) of a food in a few different ways. When it mixes with liquid and with your own digestive juices, it forms a gel which slows the rate at which your stomach empties. Once in the small intestine, that gel forms a protective layer around starch particles, making it difficult for enzymes to penetrate. In studies in which people with diabetes took in 10 to 20 milligrams of soluble fiber daily for weeks, their average blood sugar was lowered slightly. After the soluble fiber makes its way to the large intestine, it becomes a meal for friendly bacteria, which convert dietary fiber into short-chain fatty acids that appear to help your blood sugar in two ways. Their presence sends a signal to the liver to stop making glucose and they also appear to increase insulin sensitivity. Diabetes mellitus (MEL-ih-tus), often referred to as diabetes, is characterized by high blood glucose (sugar) levels that result from the bodys inability to produce enough insulin and/or effectively utilize the insulin. Diabetes ... is a serious, life-long condition and the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Diabetes is a disorder of metabolism (the body's way of digesting food and converting it into energy). There are three forms of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that accounts for five- to 10-percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes may account for 90- to 95-percent of all diagnosed cases. The third type of diabetes occurs in pregnancy and is referred to as gestational diabetes. Left untreated, g Continue reading >>
How Fiber Helps With Diabetes
Fiber is good for your heart , your diabetes, and your blood pressure. But fiber is indigestible. It never even goes into the body beyond the gut. So how could it have all those benefits? Well, it does all that and more. Heres the story. To understand the benefits of fiber is to learn about the incredible human digestive system. Nothing Ive read from doctors or nutritionists even hints at how remarkable our bodies are at handling food. According to drmyhill.com, run by British doctor Sarah Myhill, humans are almost unique amongst mammals, because we have two totally different digestive systems linked together. The upper gut [stomach and small intestine] is a carnivorous gut (like a dogs or a cats) to deal with meat and fat. But the lower gut (large bowel or colon) is full of bacteria and is a fermenting, vegetarian gut (like a horses or cows) to digest vegetables and fiber. Think about it. Havent you been told the colon was just a place to accumulate waste and prepare to push it out of your body? Its not true! A lot of nutrients are digested and absorbed from the colon. Its just that our body doesnt do the digesting. Bacteria do. In the upper gut, our body makes acid, bile, and enzymes that break down carbohydrates, protein, and fat, and push them through the intestinal wall into the blood. Fiber is plant material that is too tough for our enzymes (think broccoli stems), so it stays in the gut. There it helps other food continue along down the intestine and blocks bad stuff from getting out of the gut and into the bloodstream. But wait! Once it gets to the colon, fiber is colonized by trillions of bacteria that ferment it into usable stuff. Dr. Myhill says this supposedly indigestible food can produce up to 500 calories of energy per day, helping keep our bodies warm. Continue reading >>
The Super Fiber That Controls Your Appetite And Blood Sugar
IMAGINE EATING 12 POUNDS of food a day — and still staying thin and healthy. That may sound crazy, but it’s exactly what our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate for millennia! And they didn’t have any obesity or chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, or dementia. Of course, I wouldn’t advise anyone today to eat 12 pounds of food, because the food in our society lacks one major secret ingredient that our ancestors ate in nearly all their food — fiber! Fiber has so many health benefits that I want to focus on it in this blog. I’ll explain some of its benefits and give you 9 tips you can begin using today to get more fiber in your diet. I’ll also tell you about my favorite “super-fiber” that can help you increase your total fiber intake overnight. But before I tell you about what fiber can do for you, let’s a look a little more at the history of fiber. Why Bushmen are Healthier than the Average Westerner Dr. Dennis Burkitt, a famous English physician, studied the differences between indigenous African bushmen and their “civilized” western counterparts. The bushmen seemed to be free of the scourges of modern life — including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity. Dr. Burkitt found that the average bushman had a stool weight of 2 pounds and the “civilized” men had a stool weight of only 4 ounces – that’s 87.5% smaller! The difference was in the amount of fiber they ate. Today, the average American eats about 8 grams of fiber a day. But the average hunter and gatherer ate 100 grams from all manner of roots, berries, leaves and plant foods. And the fiber is what helped those ancestors of ours stay healthy. Just take a look at all the good things that fiber can do for your body. You need fiber to keep healthy from top to bottom Continue reading >>
Soluble Fibre And Diabetes
Soluble fibre can help to slow rises in blood sugar Soluble fibre is a form of water soluble carbohydrate that cant be digested by the body. Soluble fibre dissolves in water which can have beneficial effects on digestion, metabolism and longer term health. Soluble fibres in our diet include pectin, psyllium, beta-glucans and gums such as guar gum. Fruits and berries, particularly apples, strawberries and blueberries When soluble fibre interacts with water it forms a gel. In this gel form, the emptying of the stomach, the passage of digestion and the absorption of glucose are slowed. Research studies have found that even modest increases in soluble fibre intake helps to lower blood glucose levels. The fact that soluble fibre could help improve blood glucose in two ways. The slowing down of passage through the digestive gives digestive hormones more time to act and by forming a gel with water, soluble fibre prevents carbohydrate from being so quickly absorbed by the small intestine . Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2000 compared a moderate fibre diet (24g of total fibre including 8g of soluble fibre) with a high fibre diet (50g of total fibre including 25g of soluble fibre) over 6 weeks. The high fibre diet saw a reduction in pre-meal blood glucose levels by 0.7 mmol/l compared to the moderate fibre diet as well as reducing triglyceride levels and post meal blood glucose levels. Soluble fibre also helps to reduce levels of LDL cholesterol, the so-called bad cholesterol . Research has found that soluble fibre in the diet results in bile being excreted from the body. Bile is produced from cholesterol and bile acids. When more bile is excreted and therefore less bile is reabsorbed by the body, it can therefore help to regulate cholesterol as the Continue reading >>
Understanding Fiber
Fiber does not affect your blood sugar levels. Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that your body can’t digest, so you should subtract the grams of fiber from the total carbohydrate. On Nutrition Facts food labels, the grams of dietary fiber are already included in the total carbohydrate count. But because fiber is a type of carbohydrate that your body can’t digest, it does not affect your blood sugar levels. You should subtract the grams of fiber from the total carbohydrate. Here’s the best advice about fiber: For people with diabetes that are treated with insulin, getting the most accurate carbohydrate count may help control blood sugars better. To summarize – you need to take the total amount of carbohydrate in a serving MINUS the carbohydrate in the fiber. Now, let’s practice using the sample food label: The dietary fiber is 5 grams per serving. Count this product as 5 grams of carbohydrate (10 grams total carbohydrate minus 5 grams dietary fiber equals 5 grams of carbohydrate). Self-assessment Quiz Self assessment quizzes are available for topics covered in this website. To find out how much you have learned about Understanding Carbohydrates, take our self assessment quiz when you have completed this section. The quiz is multiple choice. Please choose the single best answer to each question. At the end of the quiz, your score will display. If your score is over 70% correct, you are doing very well. If your score is less than 70%, you can return to this section and review the information. Continue reading >>
Fibre And Diabetes
Porridgeis a good source of fibre Increasing the amount of fibre in your diet can help you manage your diabetes. It also helps keep your gut healthy and can reduce your bloodcholesterol, which lowers your risk of cardiovascular disease. If you are trying to maintain a healthy weight, it can also be beneficial. The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN), who looked at the role of fibre in maintaining good health, published these new recommendations in July 2015: adults 16 years and over: 30g per day 11-16 years: 25g per day 5-11 years: 20g per day 2-5 years: 15g per day Currently, the average adult in the UK consumes only around 19g per day. Here, we’ll help you identify foods that are high in fibre and simple ways you can increase your intake. Remember that you’ll also need to increase the amount youdrink. If you have diabetes, or are just managing your weight, the best options for drinks are water, no-calorie/low-calorie sugar-free drinks, unsweetened tea or coffee with milk. What is fibre? Dietary fibre is a type of carbohydrate that’s found in plant-based foods. It’s not absorbed or digested by the body, but plays an important role in maintaining good health. There are two types of dietary fibre – soluble and insoluble. Most foods contain both types, but are usually richer in one type than the other. Soluble fibre Found in oat, oat bran, linseeds, barley, fruit and vegetable, nuts, beans, pulses, soya and lentils. Insoluble fibre Good sources include: wholemeal bread, bran, wholegrain cereals, nuts, seeds and the skin of some fruit and vegetables. Why is fibre important? Having diabetes can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. Evidence shows that increasing your intake of fibre, especially cereal and wholegrains, can help reduce the risk Continue reading >>
