With the rise of T2 Diabetes why aren't food companies required to put the GI index on Carb rich foods like bread?

[Daibell]

I've never found the GI value of any real use in practice. I just look at the Total Carbs figure and work out what I'm actually having from the portion size.

 

[Resurgam]

I completely get your frustration managing carbs without clear GI info can feel like guesswork, especially when two “healthy” breads can affect blood sugar so differently. Having the GI index on packaging would make things so much simpler.

I checked high and low GI products in the year after diagnosis - only in meals as I only have a simple meter - but it made no difference at all. Not once did a low GI variant produce a lower blood glucose level than the 'normal' one.

 

[Resurgam]

It was my GP who told me not to totally exclude carbs from my diet because they were needed.So go figure !
I think we can all agree that low carb is the way to go though.

I wonder why your GP thinks carbs are needed.

Low carb works, but I don't believe in going out in the rain and wind to buy them if I have enough other things to eat.

 

[niblue]

The highest blood sugar reading I've ever seen was after I followed the initial advice from my medical practice and ate a lot of fruit one evening (apples, bananas and oranges), instead of an evening meal. The result was something like 24.3 when I tested my blood the next morning. That was the point that I did some of my own checking and realised the general NHS advice to eat more fruit and switch to lower GI bread and pasta etc. wasn't really useful!

Just checked and this is still the first bit of advice on lifestyle changes on the NHS website: "try to eat a healthy diet including fruit, vegetables, wholegrain foods such as wholemeal bread and oats, and pulses such as chickpeas and lentils". Good advice for anyone that isn't a diabetic perhaps, but not really for a T2 diabetic. Chickpeas are something like 61g of carbs per 100g!

 

[julieclarke]

Thank you