Best and worst foods for people with diabetes

IF WE go to food shops, supermarkets or pharmacies nowadays, we always find some processed foods and alternative sweeteners are labelled with texts as “good for diabetes”, “friendly for diabetes”, “low glycaemic index”, “low- kilojoule sweetener” or “low-calorie sweetener”, “anti-diabetic sweetener”, “promote weight loss”.

Although many of us are familiar with most of these terms related to sweetener or diabetes, “glycaemic index” may not be familiar.

Glycaemic index is simply the effect of a particular type of food on your blood glucose level or what will be the level of your blood glucose after consuming a particular type of food.

If your blood glucose level increases significantly after consuming a certain type of foods, that is called high glycaemic index food, and if it does not increase that much, that is called low glycaemic index food.

Our blood glucose normally increases significantly after the consumption of high carbohydrate or starch-containing foods such as rice, potatoes, maize, corn, sugar, bread and cake, when it does not increase that much after the consumption of high protein or high fat-containing foods such as fish, meat, pulses, beans and eggs due to their low or no carbohydrate content.

For example, the white of an egg is considered as protein, while the yellow is lipid or fat. It has virtually no carbohydrate, so the consumption of an egg may not increase the blood glucose level unless some internal glucose synthesis happens.

It is always recommended to diabetic patients to consume low or medium glycaemic index foods for the optimum control of their blood glucose level. Glycaemic index of glucose is usually considered as 100, and foods with glycaemic index 69, 56-69 and 56 are considered as high, medium and low glycaemic index foods, respectively.

The glycaemic index of different types of foods can be varied, based on their origin or source and variety. So white bread, most white rice, corn flakes, glucose, etc are considered as high glycaemic index foods; whole-wheat products, basmati rice, sweet potato, sucrose or baked potatoes are considered as medium glycaemic index foods; and most fruits and vegetables, legumes, pulses, some whole grains, nuts, fructose (not good for diabetics), kidney beans, beets, chickpeas are considered as low glycaemic index foods.

More precisely, the glycaemic index of different foods are: dried dates 103, honey 87, corn flakes 83, bran flakes 74, bran flakes with raisins 73, white rice 72, watermelon 72, plain popcorn 72, pineapple 66, papaya and pear 58, apricot 57, banana 56, mango 55, spaghetti 55, brown rice 55, kiwi fruit 52, all bran 51, oatmeal 48, peach 42, plums 39, apple 38, grapefruit 25, cherries 22, prunes 15.

However, as mentioned, the glycaemic index of foods may be varied based on the source or origin, variety, ripening condition, storage condition, cooking recipes, cooking method, sugar, fibre, acid, fat and protein content. You can easily search the glycaemic index of foods on Google.

Although it is always recommended to consume medium to low glycaemic index foods for diabetics, to optimally control their blood glucose level, consumption of a high amount of low or medium glycaemic index foods may significantly increase the blood glucose level as well. And so it is important to keep an eye on the amount of food consumed by a diabetic individual.

It is well known that high carbohydrate-containing foods contribute significantly to the induction of blood glucose levels. However, the rate of digestion and absorption of all types of carbohydrates are not the same. Some carbohydrates are digested and absorbed slowly and increase the blood glucose level slowly, which are also called complex carbohydrates, eg most vegetables and fruits except some high glycaemic index fruits (see above).

Additionally, raw vegetables, eg green salads, are more slowly digested and absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract compared to cooked vegetables, so it is recommended to consume raw salads rather than cooked vegetables if you are a diabetic individual.

On the other hand, the carbohydrates that are digested and absorbed at a faster rate increase the blood glucose level at a faster rate as well, such as almost all white carbohydrate-containing foods, eg white bread, white rice, white sugar, honey or food containing these types of food ingredients.

Hence, diabetic patients are suggested to consume brown bread, brown rice, brown sugar, although it is always better to avoid sugar and sugar-containing foods – white or brown.

There are many alternative sweeteners in the market, but not all are diabetic friendly, and some have some short- and long-term side effects, including some life-threatening effects.