Is the Glycemic Index Important For Type 2 Diabetics?

The glycemic index measures how quickly a particular kind of food is digested into glucose that increases blood sugar levels. Some foods, for instance, warm mashed potatoes, raise blood glucose levels even more quickly than sugar itself. Other foods, such as raw spinach, hardly raise blood sugars at all, even many hours after they are consumed.

Isn’t this information of vital interest to all diabetics?

Frankly, it’s not. There are several serious flaws with the glycemic index (GI) as a diabetic’s diet planning tool:

• the GI was computed on the basis of tests done by feeding volunteers a single food for breakfast. Your body is more sensitive to insulin in the morning, and less and less sensitive as the day wears on. The benefits of eating low-GI foods are greatest at breakfast, and that’s not the meal we usually eat raw leafy green salads and other low-GI foods
• the GI measures the effect of a single food on blood sugar levels. We seldom eat a single food. Almost no one, for instance, dines on just white flour, just white sugar, or just carrots for an entire meal
• the GI is not reliable for all serving styles and all serving temperatures. Hot mashed Russet potatoes, for instance, have a glycemic index of 106. Hot boiled Russet potatoes that have not been mashed (served in slices) have a glycemic index of 87. Refrigerator-chilled boiled Russet potatoes have a glycemic index of 60. You stomach has to work harder to digest cold potatoes than hot potatoes, and it has to work harder to digest sliced potatoes than mashed potatoes, so cold and sliced potatoes have lower glycemic index values
• soaking foods before cooking them lowers their GI. In the case of the potato, soaking slices of white potato in salt water as many cooks do to make their own french fries from scratch, and then frying in hot oil, lowers the index of hot french fries to 100
• mixing foods changes the GI. A piece of white bread has a glycemic index of about 100. A sandwich made with white bread, ham, mayonnaise, and a pickle has a glycemic index of about 54
• anything that changes the rate at which the stomach empties into the small intestine, changes the GI. A pickle or vinegar in a salad dressing for instance, slows stomach emptying and effectively lowers the glycemic index of the entire meal. A cup of coffee, on the other hand, encourages the release of gastric juices, accelerates stomach emptying, and effectively raises the GI of the entire meal.

Does this mean that it’s OK for type 2 diabetics to load up on cold mashed potatoes or on homemade french fries? Or that the best way to eat white bread is to add meat, mayonnaise, and a pickle? Absolutely not! Sugar is still released from low-GI foods… it’s just released more slowly. It is easier for the body to release enough insulin to control blood sugar levels when sugars are released slowly, but the released glucose still needs insulin. And if there is not enough insulin production, blood sugar levels still rise, only more slowly.

So is there a more useful measurement diabetics can apply to food? There is… it’s counting calories.

Here’s an example of why counting calories is superior to keeping the glycemic index low:

Mexican researchers put volunteers on two different diets, one featuring foods with a high glycemic index, one featuring foods with a low glycemic index. After six weeks, these were the results:

• the low-GI dieters lost an additional 2 pounds, but they also consumed about 7,000 fewer calories
• there was nothing about the low glycemic index diet that encouraged weight loss except fewer calories
• there was a difference in fasting blood sugar levels of about 5mg/dL (2mmol/L)… and the scientists didn’t take the blood sugar readings that would show whether insulin resistance was affected, that is, blood sugar readings after meals.

Glycemic index really won’t help diabetics control blood sugars or weight any better than counting calories and carb grams.

Would you like more information about alternative ways to handle your type 2 diabetes?

To download your free copy of my E-Book, click here now: Answers to Your Questions… its based on questions many diabetics have asked me over recent months.

Beverleigh Piepers is a registered nurse who would like to help you understand how to live easily and happily with your type 2 diabetes. (c) 2010 http://drugfreetype2diabetes.com/blog

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