When I first found out I had high blood sugar, I met with a nutritionist who focused on carb counting which is basically a serving of starchy food like white potatoes, pasta, bread is 15g of carbohydrates. I was free to eat whatever I wanted as long as the total carbs didn’t exceed the nutritionist’s numbers of about 45g per meal.
A few years later I bought a book called the The G.I. (Glycemic Index) Diet. The glycemic index is a number assigned to a food that will give an idea of how high it will raise the blood sugar when eaten. The minimum – maximum range is 0 – 100. For example, sugar is 65, corn is 55, maple syrup is 54 and broccoli is 15. The lower the number, the less of a blood sugar spike you will get.
The glycemic load is an estimate of how much a serving of a food will raise your blood sugar after eating it. A food might have a high glycemic index, but low glycemic load where it would take a large amount to raise the blood sugar.
Looking at the glycemic index/load in combination with carb counting is a helpful way to get started preventing blood sugar spikes. Avoiding white food like rice, bread and potatoes and sugar/artificial sweeteners and keeping an eye on how many carbohydrates are eaten at a given time will go a long ways to improve blood sugar.
Every food affects people differently though. There are now continuous glucose monitors (CGM) with apps that analyze what happens to the blood sugar after eating. It helps narrow down what foods are the worst for a given person. Levels Health is doing a lot of work in this area to make individualize blood sugar control. One food may be ok for person a, but spike the blood sugar for person b. They also give insight into how effective exercise or walking is after eating. Unfortunately, these CGM’s aren’t covered by insurance yet.
Challenge:
Take a look at this chart that has the glycemic index and load values of certain foods. Try swapping out higher load foods with foods that are lower glycemic index/load. After a week or two, determine if you have a little more energy or feel better.
#ads
More Blood Sugar Resources
References