Low Carb Diabetic Diet

It will be good if diabetics can know the different types of carbohydrates, but it is more crucial for them to be able to control the amount with a low carb diabetic diet.

Regardless if it is pasta, bread, rice or beans, managing the amount of carbohydrates in a diabetic diet is important. Overly intake carbohydrates will affect the blood glucose levels, which should be strictly under control for diabetics. It could lead to heart, eye and nerve damage in the long term if it is not under controlled.

To control the blood glucose levels, diabetics must learn to understand how carbohydrates work in the body and what type of carbohydrates they should take in more.

Carbohydrates are mainly classified into three main types:
Starches, Fibre and Sugars. Starches and fibre are understand as complex carbohydrates. Rice, barley and corn and are common sources of starch, whereas fibre exist in whole grains and nuts. Normally, complex carbohydrates are being digested more slowly. This enables blood glucose levels to be control. Complex carbohydrates also contain minerals, vitamins and phyto-chemicals, which a nutritional benefits that that rare in simple sugar foods.

Sugars are simple carbohydrates that convert into glucose rapidly in our body. Some of these examples are fructose, which is fruit sugar and those sugar used for making cookie.

However, classifying carbohydrates into two main types - simple and complex is not enough to display how this type of food is processed by the body.

This can be shown using the white bread which is classify as the complex carbohydrate due to it having the starch content, but our body converts this starch to blood sugar seemingly as rapid as it processes pure glucose.

Comparing with the kidney beans, which are also complex carbohydrates, are digested more slowly by our body, allowing a more subtle blood glucose levels change. Hence, to know how carbohydrates really affect the blood glucose levels the Glycaemic index (GI) is introduce.

The glycaemic index (GI) divides food into low, medium and high levels, which is a reliable indicator of how carbohydrates work.

Low GI foods are being digested in our body more slowly and glucose is gradually being release into the bloodstream. These are slow-release carbohydrates mainly beans and legumes and also the oatmeal. But not all low GI foods are beneficial to us. Chocolate has low GI but it nutritional level value is also low.

High GI food can cause blood glucose to spikes. These types of food are fries and white bread. Similarly, many nutritious foods with greater GI value can have better nutritional value than the low GI foods.

Ultimately, one should use balanced GI with basic nutrition principles. Taking note of a food GI is only one area to diabetes management. Diabetics should also note the total amount carbohydrates they have consume as it is the main source for affecting the blood glucose levels, generally they should practice having a low carb diabetic diet.