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Low GI eat to keep your feet?

S

stewcose

Active Member
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HI All

I am only recently diagnosed and am thinking of following a strict low gi diet. Are their arguments against such an approach?

This sounds like good old common sense to me. If you have to eat carbs, and we do, they must be low gi, except for a real treat perhaps. This root to low bs levels must work for every one, most?

Please do comment if you think I'm barking up the wrong tree. Or if you are in the same tree even.

Many thanks

Stewart
 
It seems to have worked for me Stewart, although testing has identified a few low GI foods that I still have to watch, like cereal of any sort in the mornings when I seem to be more carb sensitive.

Good luck in your quest :)
 
Hi Stewart.

You will find many arguments on here about all sorts of diets. Must be something in the water ? :(
I don't know why everybody seems to think that theirs is best. As far as I am concerned it is an individual thing, with no right or wrong way. Just do what works for you.

As for low GI. Give it a try and see if it works for YOU. I'm a bit like Sid, I use low GI although I use glycaemic load as it is a far better indicator of the effect that certain foods will have on your Bg levels. It also takes into account portion sizes so I can also tolerate very small portions of something which is quite high GI. I have also drastically reduced my carb intake to around 60g per day, this has helped reduce Bg levels significantly. We certainly do not need all the carbs advocated by certain organisations.

The only way you will know what is happening is to test after your meals. So, a meter and test strips is a must.
 
The FAQs from the glycemic index site answers better than I can
http://www.glycemicindex.com/
One thing worth noting is that the average GI used in studies of low diets is 45( the original tables classify individual foods of 55 and under as low, the average refers to meals which can have some higher and some lower elements to make a low average. Portion size as it affects the glycemic load is important. .)
A quote from Dr Alan Barclay, Chief Scientific Officer
A GI of 45 or less is a reasonable definition of a low GI diet or meal,’ he says. ‘This is because what we now know from numerous observational cohort studies around the world is that the average GI of the diet of people in the lowest quintile (20% of the population) is about 40–50. Similarly, in a recent meta-analysis of 15 experimental studies investigating the role of low GI diets in managing diabetes, the average GI was 45. Since this average GI has been proven to have significant health benefits in people with existing diabetes and in reducing the risk of chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes, and importantly, people can and do achieve it in real life, we believe a GI of 45 or less is what we all need to be aiming for.’
Click to expand...
source http://ginews.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html
 
Hi Stewart,
If you use the GI diet make sure you test before a meal, 1 an 2 hours after, just because its low GI doesn't neccessarily mean you wont get a spike. The 1hour post meal reading will show any highs I have seen readings in double figures after porridge, I have the same problems with low GI bread. You may be able to tolerate these and other foods but the only way to find out is to test.


Regards
Graham
 
Sid Bonkers said:
It seems to have worked for me Stewart, although testing has identified a few low GI foods that I still have to watch, like cereal of any sort in the mornings when I seem to be more carb sensitive.

Good luck in your quest :)
Click to expand...
Exactly the same for me too - Stewart.
 
My GP smiled happily when I told him I was going to follow a low GI diet shortly after diagnosis, although I now consider myself to be a low carber. There are a few celebrity low GI cookbooks by Anthony Worral Thompson promoted by Diabetes UK

I think it has a lot of very sound principles and I know that when I am stuck for something to eat when I'm out (if I have not got anything I have prepared) I tend to follow low GI ideas. I also use low GI principles to cheat :D or eat off plan as I ought to call it :wink: which we all need to do from time to time.

I have made low GI meals, as my 12 year old son's very favorite meal ever is a pasta dish. I have eaten it too and used portion control (about 25-30 pasta penne :( and lots more broccoli and pine nuts) and used the principles to make what I have eaten have a lower GI rating.

However, we have different metabolisms and to find out what makes us spike we need to test. My low GI pasta meal makes me spike much higher than a low carb meal, even using the portion control. I do this every now and then to see how I'm doing. I hope to be able to reintroduce the odd carb rich meal (and Marmite and toast) when I get to where I'm going with the weight loss and the insulin resitance has gone.
 
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