The Glycemic Index is a rating system for foods where any type of carbohydrate has a numerical value assigned to it based on its components and how each food affects the body’s sugar levels.
Benefits of the Glycemic Index are thought to include the following:
- Weight loss
- Reduced risk of Type 2 Diabetes
- Improved heart health
- Lower cholesterol
Dr. David Jenkins, a Canadian professor and scientist from the University of Toronto developed the concept of a rating index in March of 1981. Dr Jenkins felt that a better system needed to be developed due to the popularity of certain diets like Atkins and South Beach that vilified all carbohydrates and many fats. He wanted to show that it was too oversimplified to categorize carbohydrates as “simple” and “complex” or even worse, as “good carbs” and “bad carbs.” Most carbohydrates are too complex to label them in this manner.
He wanted to show the scientific community, and thereby the world, that all foods affect our bodies’ blood sugar levels differently and that they have many different degrees of being simple and complex, good or bad.
Basically, as food breaks down in our digestive system, many of the food’s components, like sugar or vitamins and minerals, are absorbed into our blood stream and immediately affect our system. Foods that break down quickly and have high glucose or sugar levels will give a “spiked” feeling of energy and euphoria. This feeling is commonly referred to as a “sugar high.” Other foods break down more slowly and release their sugars, starches and nutrients over a longer period of time, which avoids any sudden increases to sugar levels and keeps insulin levels low.
Dr. Jenkins proved that many carbohydrates were, in fact, very healthy and should not be avoided simply because of the fact that they were carbohydrates. As a matter of fact, he discovered that there are dozens of foods that in the past were categorized as unhealthy, but that turned out to be very beneficial. He also encountered some surprising results on foods that had always been considered “diet” foods, but when tested, he discovered that they tested very high on the Glycemic Index.
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Here are some great tips for eating healthy from Michael Pollan, author of one of my favorite books, “In Defense of Food.”
- Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food – yogurt tubes, for example.
- Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can’t pronounce.
- Stay out of the middle of the supermarket; shop on the perimeter, where real food tends to be located.
- Don’t eat anything that won’t eventually rot (e.g. Twinkies). Honey might be the only exception.
- Always leave the table a little hungry.
- Enjoy meals with the people you love.
- Don’t buy food where you buy your gasoline.
These are words to live by. I especially like number 7! If you follow these seven simple rules, you are on your way to being healthy and beating diabetes.
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Personally I think that net carbs is a concept of little value. However, if you are subtracting the grams of fiber from total carbohydrates in a food in order to estimate the effect of that food on your blood sugar, be advised that recent research has changed how to do this.
The old method of determining net carbs was to subtract the amount of fiber from the total carbs if the amount of fiber in the food was greater than five grams (This is another thing that makes no sense to me. Why would you only subtract the fiber if it is greater than five grams?).
At any rate, if you had a food with 20 carbs and there were five grams of fiber in this food, then you would subtract 5 from 20 and the net effect, so to speak, would be 15 grams of carbs. The reason that you subtract the fiber is because the body does not fully absorb it. Now researchers are saying that the body is able to use about half the fiber through a process called anaerobic fermentation.
So now when you make your calculation, only subtract ½ the fiber that is listed. In our previous example that would leave a net effect of about 17.5 grams of carbohydrates.
Will this make any difference in calculating the number of carbs you consume per day? Not much, but every little bit helps. Whatever the food is and its fiber content, personal testing of how it affects YOU, is the most important thing and something that you should do on a regular basis for any foods that you eat.
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For diabetics, consistent monitoring of blood glucose levels is a critical step in your diabetes management program. Without knowing what your blood glucose is doing throughout the day, how can you make good, informed decisions about what to eat? I test my blood sugar at least four times a day. Most of the time I can guess what it is within 5-10 points. That comes from years of testing and understanding how and why I feel the way I do at any one time.
I have used a number of different blood glucose monitors over the years. The one I use now is the Accu-Check Compact. I also have the newer Accu-Check Compact Plus but I still like the older Compact the best. Here’s why:
- The Compact has a cylinder of 17 test strips so you don’t have to mess around loading a test strip every time you want to test your blood sugar. THAT is really convenient.
- It is so easy to use. Just open the lid, hit the button and out pops a strip, ready for your blood.
- The results are fast as it takes only 5 seconds or so to process the sample.
- The machine beeps when it’s ready for your blood and beeps when the test is completed.
- The strips are relatively cheap, costing about .50 each (at Costco they are a dollar each so I buy online at the HealthWareHouse).
The Compact also has memory and some programmable functions. I don’t use those features as I have other methods for tracking. All in all I have really been satisfied with this Blood Glucose Monitor. I recommend it to anyone. If you can’t find the older Compact, then go for the Compact plus. It’s pretty good too.
By the way, you should be able to get a free meter. After all, the real money for the drug companies is in the strips you buy every month. Talk about a racket!
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Everyone is a little bit different and success in controlling and managing your diabetes can be a little bit different for each person. Here’s a good tip to try from David Marrero, Associate Editor of Diabetes Forecast magazine.
David follows a 3-to-1 rule: every time he has a meal or snack that is rich and high-calorie, he then must follow that with three meals that are low or moderate in calories. For example, if he has a non-standard meal, meaning a meal that consists of one or more foods that could result in elevated blood glucose, then for his next three meals he must eat only foods that are more sensible for diabetics and not likely to raise that blood sugar.
This strategy has resulted in David being able to occasionally indulge in ‘forbidden foods’ while still maintaining a good HbA1c and weight. Let’s face it; it’s pretty tough to avoid those ‘bad’ foods all the time, so why not adopt a strategy that can allow you to indulge yourself occasionally without feeling guilty about it?
I do the same thing as far as indulging myself, although not as often as one in four meals. When I do want to have a dessert or some other high carb food, I prefer to have that prior to my daily walk. That way, I can work off those extra carbs right away. That approach has worked great for me.
Experiment with this a little bit and see what works best for you. And thanks to David Marrero for this excellent tip.
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