Type-2-Diabetes Diet Tips – Refined Carbohydrates
Maintaining a healthy diet is important for everyone, but it is especially important for people with type-2 diabetes.
A type 2 diabetes diet and following the right meal plan can make all the difference to a person struggling to keep their blood sugar under control. But, what is the right meal plan? How much of which food group should you eat?
The most important component of a type 2 diabetes diet is the reduction of refined carbohydrates. Refined carbohydrates account for most of the glucose that gets into the bloodstream.
Recent information suggests that eating a lot of refined carbohydrates (like white bread, white pasta, white rice, pretzels, some cereals, and baked goods such as cakes and cookies) may increase the risk of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Insulin resistance means the body must produce more insulin than normal.
The way to classify carbohydrates is the use of the glycemic index. This index is a measure of how a given food affects the blood-glucose levels. Each food is assigned a numbered rating. The index measures the entry rate of a carbohydrate into the bloodstream. The lower the rating, the slower the digestion and absorption process and the better it is for the body.. This means a healthier and more gradual release of sugars into the bloodstream. Conversely, a high rating implies that blood-glucose levels are increased quickly, which stimulates the pancreas to secrete insulin to normalize blood-sugar levels. This rapid fluctuation of blood-sugar levels is unhealthy because of the amount of stress placed on the body.
Tip # 1: Avoid white flour breads and baked goods
It is imperative that you avoid white flour products if you have type-2 diabetes because:
1. Eating white bread is associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes, according to a new Australian study.
After following the diets and health records of more than 36,000 men and women in Australia for four years, researchers say they found white bread and starchy foods were linked to type-2 diabetes.
“White bread was the food most strongly related to diabetes incidence,” they write in the November 2008 issue of the journal Diabetes Care.
Results were based on food frequency questionnaires and diabetes diagnoses made during the study. Special attention was paid to the glycemic index (GI) of the foods eaten by participants.
The glycemic index measures a food’s impact on blood sugar. High-GI foods like white bread, cakes, and biscuits spike blood sugar dramatically, while lower-GI carbs including most vegetables and legumes have a smaller effect.
Participants who ate the most white bread — more than 17 slices per week — had the highest risk of diabetes, say the researchers, who included Allison Hodge, of the Cancer Council in Victoria, Australia.
Carbohydrates especially white bread, potato, white rice, pasta are starches that when they are metabolized becomes pure sugar (glucose).
2. white flour contains the chemical alloxan.
Studies show that alloxan, the chemical that makes white flour look “clean” and “beautiful,” destroys the beta cells of the pancreas. That’s right; you may be devastating your pancreas and feeding your type-2 diabetes symptoms and putting yourself at risk all for the sake of eating “beautiful” flour. Is it worth it?.
Scientists have known of the alloxan-diabetes connection for years; in fact, researchers who are studying diabetes commonly use the chemical to induce the disorder in lab animals. In the research sense, giving alloxan to an animal is similar to injecting that animal with a deadly virus, as both alloxan and the virus are being used specifically to cause illness.
How does alloxan cause type-2 diabetes?
According to Dr. Hari Sharma’s Freedom from Disease, the uric acid derivative initiates free radical damage to DNA in the beta cells of the pancreas, causing the cells to malfunction and die. When these beta cells fail to operate normally, they no longer produce enough insulin, or in other words, they cause one variety of adult-onset type 2 diabetes. Alloxan’s harmful effects on the pancreas are so severe that the Textbook of Natural Medicine calls the chemical “a potent beta-cell toxin.” However, even though the toxic effect of alloxan is common scientific knowledge in the research community, the FDA still allows companies to use it when processing foods we ingest.
Tip: If you must use white flour, be sure to use unbleached & organic white flour. Arrowhead Mill has a good brand of this flour, or you can find it at your local health food store.
Tip # 2: Eat whole-grains
Whole grains contain three layers: bran (outer layer), endosperm (middle layer), and germ (grain core). Each layer provides us with specific nutrients and health benefits. The bran provides fiber, phytonutrients, B vitamins, and minerals. The endosperm contributes carbohydrate, protein, and B vitamins and the germ supplies vitamin E, B vitamins, unsaturated fat, phytonutrients, and antioxidants.
Click here to read more on the supreme benefits of whole grains and type-2 diabetes.
Tip # 4: Avoid white potatoes
White potatoes are like white sugar and white bread, says Harvard’s head nutritionist, Walter Willett, M.D.: They spike blood sugar and are a “high-glycemic-index” food. Such foods, he says, raise bad triglycerides and depress good-type HDL cholesterol, boosting the risk of heart attack, especially in people with insulin resistance (up to a quarter of the population, some studies contend).
Two recent Harvard studies found high potato consumption raised the odds of developing type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes. Unlike other vegetables, potatoes don’t seem to reduce cancer risk. Willett’s advice: Eat potatoes as you do candy, cookies and desserts – “sparingly.”
White potatoes rapidly push up blood sugar, leaving you hungry and inclined to binge later. The authors of the best-selling diet books Sugar Busters and The Zone put potatoes high on their lists of forbidden “high-sugar” foods.
Tip # 5: Eat sweet potatoes
Since sweet potatoes are such a good source of fiber, they’re a good food for people with type-2 diabetes. The fiber helps lower blood sugar by slowing the rate at which food is converted into glucose and absorbed into the bloodstream. Also, because they are such complex carbohydrates, sweet potatoes can help control weight.
Related Articles:
Type-2 Diabetes Diet – The Benefits of Whole Grains
