Eating Smart: Best Foods for the Diabetic

Eating Smart: Best Foods for the Diabetic

By Donna Gibson

In the 1980s, researchers created a special tool that can help diabetics control their blood sugar. It’s called the glycemic index, also known as the GI for short. The GI ranks carbohydrate foods according to their effect on blood sugar levels. Carbs that rank high on the GI scale cause blood sugar levels to rise quickly. “Good carbs” that rank lower on the GI scale don’t increase blood sugars as quickly and tend to be better choices.

Focusing on carbohydrates can help diabetics eat more healthfully. I am learning that eating certain types of carbs really can make a strong difference in your health.

Everyone, diabetics and non-diabetics alike, can improve their health by focusing on eating better carbohydrates at meals and snacks.  Eating good carbs may help protect against type 2 diabetes, heart attacks, and even cancer.  Choosing healthy carbs may also help you lose weight, which can help fight the epidemic of obesity in our country.  I say, ignore those diets that say you should not eat any carbs at all. We need the right carbs for good health!

Some carbs make your blood sugar soar really high, while other carbs with a low GI won’t raise blood sugar as much. High readings can come from carbs such as white bread, jelly beans and other candies, mashed potatoes, pretzels, stuffing, vanilla wafers, cookies, cakes, pastries, sweets, and desserts. The glycemic index is all about how quickly carbs in foods are broken down and enter the bloodstream.  Some carbs, like juice and mashed potatoes, soar into the bloodstream very quickly and can have unhealthy effects on blood sugar.

The longer your digestive system has to wrestle with the carb to break it down, the slower the rise in blood sugar. These foods tend to have a low GI. Fiber-rich foods typically have lower GIs because they tend to be digested more slowly. This keeps you fuller longer; thus you eat less food and consume fewer calories in your day, which can lead to weight loss. Beans and oats are examples of high-fiber, lower-GI foods.

Foods with a GI score of 55 or less are considered low-GI foods, while those with a GI score between 56 and 69 are considered moderate-GI foods. Foods with a GI score above 70 are categorized as high-GI foods, and these foods can send your blood levels through the roof. Foods with high GIs to limit include regular waffles, white flour tortillas, white breads, bagels, doughnuts, French fries, white rice, and other quickly absorbed starchy carbohydrates.

How you prepare your foods make a difference in the GI score, too. For example, mashed potatoes have a GI of 73, while baked potatoes have an even higher GI of 85. However, a roasted sweet potato is a low-GI choice with a score of 54.

If you choose to eat a higher-GI carb, my advice is to eat it in moderation. However, it may be best to avoid high-GI carbs altogether if you are a diabetic and know you can’t stop at eating just a little. These are called no-brake foods! You can’t stop at just one (like a potato chip). I simply love the phrase “no-brake foods.” It is a way to teach my husband to choose the right snacks and foods every day.

So, how do you know which foods are best to choose?  Research comes into play!  Read your product labels, and don’t look just at the calorie numbers — also look at the fiber grams and sugar content.

Here are some foods with a low or moderate GI score (below 70): angel food cake (67), bran muffins (60), whole wheat pita (57), oatmeal cookie (55), pumpernickel bread (41), quick cooking oats (66), oat bran (55), All-Bran cereal (42), brown rice (55), bulgur (48), pearled barley (26), whole grain spaghetti (37), vermicelli (35), fettuccine (32), kidney beans (27), baked beans (48), pinto beans (45), black-eyed peas (42), chickpeas (33), lima beans (32), butter beans (31), green lentils (30), and soybeans (18).

Surprisingly, ice cream comes in at (61), fruit-flavored yogurt at (33), fat-free milk at (32) and whole milk at (27). Fruits are particularly good choices, but I advise enjoying watermelon (72) in moderation. Some good GI fruits include pineapple (66), cantaloupe (65), raisins (64), orange juice (57), mango (55), banana (53), kiwi (52), orange (43), grapes (43), apple (36), pear (32), strawberries (32), dried apricots (31), peach (28), grapefruit (25), plum (24), and cherries (22).

Non-starchy vegetables, including broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, and spinach, have very low GI scores. Starchy vegetables can also be good choices in moderation, but they tend to have higher GI scores. For example, peas come in at (48), and new potatoes come in at (62). A baked potato’s GI is much higher with a score of (85).

Good snacks with low GIs include nuts (less than 25) and even dark chocolate (49). The GI system isn’t the complete answer to weight problems or the only thing you should could consider when choosing a healthy diet for managing diabetes, but it is a good start.

Here are some simple tips for incorporating more low-GI foods into your diet:

Eat smart by choosing high-fiber foods, such as vegetables, fruits, and legumes, such as beans and lentils.

Enjoy a bowl of old-fashioned oatmeal for breakfast, and add a half cup of beans or some lentil soup to your diet once a day. Add beans to your rice dishes, and blend cooked beans into your casseroles.

Go whole grain with barley and bulgur — they are high in fiber, which slows digestion.

Rough it up with “rough grains,” grains that aren’t ground up finely. For example, choose old-fashioned oats instead of quick oats, whole wheat kernels versus ground wheat flour, and whole corn instead of mashed corn. It takes our digestive system more time to digest unprocessed foods. The chunkier the real foods are, the fuller you will stay because those foods take longer to digest.

Be smart about snacks, and include nuts and whole fruit.

Avoid the starchy foods that have a high GI. But don’t binge on low-GI foods that are high in calories. Gaining weight can raise your blood sugar, too.

Learning what you can cook and eat in a diabetic family has its challenges, and it is always a learning process. Making simple changes to your diet can make all the difference in your health. So, join my husband and I for breakfast with a cup of oatmeal made with skim milk. Snack on strawberries, apples, or a little dark chocolate.

Now that my husband has been called back to work full-time, he is learning more about no-brake foods and how to avoid these temptations! On his first day back, after putting in a 10-hour day, he still put in 30 minutes on the treadmill! I’m proud of his accomplishments!  Let’s all eat smart together!