Low-Carb Diabetes Diet
Low carb diabetes diet
Low-carbohydrate diets are one of the most controversial topics relating to diabetes diet. For one of the best resources relating to low-carb diets for people with diabetes, please visit:
Low-carbohydrate diets for people with diabetes are widely regarded as a healthy, effective way of maintaining low and stable blood glucose levels.
Carbohydrates are recognised as one of the fundamental influences on blood sugar levels, and many people with diabetes find that eating a low-carbohydrate diabetes diet helps them to control blood sugar better than other diet types, including those currently (2010) recommended by the National Health Service.
But how low is low when it comes to carbohydrates? How do carbohydrates affect the body? What is the counter-argument against low-carb diets for people with diabetes? How will low-carbing affect my weight? Find out the answers to all of the above questions by reading the following guide to low-carb diabetes diets.
What are good and bad carbohydrates, and how does this affect people with diabetes?
Every time a carbohydrate is consumed an increase in blood sugar levels occurs to a greater or lesser extent according to the carbohydrate. Amongst people without diabetes, the pancreas then releases insulin which causes blood glucose levels to fall by making cells within the body absorb the glucose, which can then be used to fuel respiration and all the metabolic activity of that cell.
Previously, carbohydrate has been classified into two groups, ‘quick sugars’ and ‘slow sugars.’ This was due to the complexity of the carbohydrate molecule and the belief that the more complex the molecule, the more time it took to digest and for the glucose to be released and affect the glyceamic levels of the blood.
More recent research has found this belief is not the case, instead that the ‘glyceamic peak’ (point of maximum absorption) of ingested carbohydrate is reached within half an hour of eating a carbohydrate and the only difference between different carbohydrates is the affect that it has on blood sugar level.
This is now known as the hypoglycaemic potential of a carbohydrate, a figure that is defined by the glyceamic index.
Therefore, the greater hyperglycaemia induced by the carbohydrate the higher its glyceamic index.
Carbohydrates and diabetes diet
Amongst people with diabetes, the body is unable to remove glucose from the blood stream as it does not produce insulin efficiently. However, by consuming less carbohydrates (or carbohydrates with a lower glyceamic index) the condition can be better controlled will a lesser requirement for medication or insulin injections.
By not eating carbohydrate, or by eating a low-carbohydrate diet, blood sugar levels do not change as significantly and less insulin is required to counteract the changes. Advocates of a low-carb diet claim that lowering carbohydrate intake will allow lower insulin dosage and lower use of diabetes medication.
