New to T2 and confused about some foods

[marky0077]

Hello,
I am recently diagnosed T2 with a current HbA1C of 48. I exercise heavily and don't need to lose weight. I am confused about some foods and drinks and have a few questions.

Where do these foods fall in the glycemic index (high, medium, low)?

• granola
• sweet potato chips (I've read separate articles, one says high, the other low!)
• Alcohol-free beer - is there any difference for diabetics to normal beer?

When eating a 'low carb' diet, can the carbs that fall into the low GI category be counted? Do we follow the glycemic index at all or should we just be NO carbs?

Thanks in advance.
Mark

 

[bulkbiker]

When eating a 'low carb' diet, can the carbs that fall into the low GI category be counted? Do we follow the glycemic index at all or should we just be NO carbs?

There are as many answers to that question as fish in the sea.

Personally I try to eat as few carbs as possible.

I also remember that all carbs are carbs and count.. (I've never been a "low GI" fan) .

We need zero carbs to survive so I tried to start there. However some things just have a few carbs like cream for my coffee so they get included.
I have a few berries too with some cream but avoiding the biggies like flours, starches and sugars should mean a significant improvement in blood sugars.

 

[MrsA2]

I've never managed to understand and learn the GI stuff.
I find it easier to learn where the carbs are and cut right down on carbs.
Eat meat, fish, dairy, eggs, nuts, olives, green veg and a few berries.
Simple one word food bought in its raw state so as little processed stuff as possible

Granola, sweet potato chips and beer are all processed

 

[EBe66]

As far as I know the gi thingy is largely useless without the gl. The most used example I encounter is the example of carrots. From memory: remember that the gi is the effect 100 grams of carbs from a certain food has on blood sugar. the gi of carrots is high. However to get 100 grams of carbs from them you would need to eat a wheelbarrow of them! (not my estimate but found on the internet). So gi is nice as a helper but really not a good indicator.
As said, a carb is a carb. For us there is no such thing as a good carb or a better carb, at most a less bad carb.
More direct answers to your questions:
- Granola? Despite being marketed as "healthy", for us bad bad bad. Again, a carb is a carb, being from candy or wholegrain whatever and whatever else they put in there.
- Sweet potato? Mostly again a marketing thing. It's better then potatoes. Does that make it really good? No. Just in the way a teaspoon of arsenic is better for you then a tablespoon
- Alcohol free beer? It's not about the alcohol, alcohol is said to be bad for us but that's because it generally LOWERS blood sugar upping the risk of hypo's (depending on medication). As a rule, most hard liquor is blood sugar wise rather ok as there is no direct sugar in them. Alcohol free beer however is mostly just another name for some kind of lemonade/sugar water which is really bad for us. But each brand has it's own recipe so there can be better and worse ones for us. Again check the carb contents.

Recap: A carb is a carb no matter how it's being listed/marketed. GI is basically useless without the corresponding GL which if I remember correctly is something in the lines of how much does a portion of a food influence blood sugar. But there you get the problem of how much is a portion? A serving spoon (correct word?) of fries has a gl of x. But what is a serving spoon? How big is it? If I am really "lucky" a serving spoon can give me a pound of fries. If I'm not there are none on them you know.
In the end the less carbs the better.

 

[EllieM]

I've never managed to understand and learn the GI stuff.
I find it easier to learn where the carbs are and cut right down on carbs.
Eat meat, fish, dairy, eggs, nuts, olives, green veg and a few berries.
Simple one word food bought in its raw state so as little processed stuff as possible

Granola, sweet potato chips and beer are all processed

I suspect that an issue here is that the NHS tends to give the same dietary advice for T1 and T2 diabetics. They seem to think that a "healthy diet" is the same for everyone, irrespective of their metabolism and intolerances. If you are a T1 who isn't low carb then choosing wholemeal instead of white bread makes sense, because exogenous insulin doesn't have the same time profile as the stuff you make yourself. But giving that same advice to a T2 who is carb intolerant doesn't make much sense to me....

(I managed two T1 NHS pregnancies on what I suspect was the eatwell plate, certainly low gi was recommended )

Happy to be corrected by those who are more up to date with NHS recommendations than I am.

 

[Goonergal]

Hello,
I am recently diagnosed T2 with a current HbA1C of 48. I exercise heavily and don't need to lose weight. I am confused about some foods and drinks and have a few questions.

Where do these foods fall in the glycemic index (high, medium, low)?

• granola
• sweet potato chips (I've read separate articles, one says high, the other low!)
• Alcohol-free beer - is there any difference for diabetics to normal beer?

When eating a 'low carb' diet, can the carbs that fall into the low GI category be counted? Do we follow the glycemic index at all or should we just be NO carbs?

Thanks in advance.
Mark

I’d agree with some of the others, it’s far easier just to look at total carbs. For me the fewer the better as my body seems to be highly sensitive to any carbs.

There are a couple of sources of very simple visuals which can be helpful when first diagnosed:

These from Diet Doctor: https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/visual-guides

And these from the Public Health Collaboration produced by Dr David Unwin: https://phcuk.org/sugar/

 

[Robbity]

I'm another currently diet controlled T2 who's never concerned myself with high or low GI stuff. I'm a firm believer that carbs is carbs is carbs.

I've managed to keep my glucose at (for the most part) low pre-diabetic levels for almost 9 years now by basically avoiding high carbohydrate content and highly processed food. I can still eat a fairly wide range of suitable low carb food, and manage my weight by adjusting my normal full fat food consumption to suit my particular energy requirements. (I'm old and no longer very active....)

@MrsA2 has provided a concise list of acceptable low carb foods and @Goonergal's Diet Doctor links are excellent visual reference guides.

 

[HSSS]

Yet another who’s glucose meter readings have no correspondence to low GI claims. Look at carbs on labels, either % wise to see if it’s genuinely a low carb item (under 5g/100 of weight ideally under 10 for sure unless you’re having a tiny amount). Or count the carbs you actually eat making sure you count for the right weight of food doing the maths. It’s unlikely you’ll always have 100g or the tiny serving size they quote for

also note that where in the world you are matters or the origin of the recipe. The USA and a few other places include fibre in their total carb count. Deduct fibre to get net carbs. Fibre isn’t metabolise into glucose and passes through. It might even lower levels a bit. The U.K. Europe, Australia and New Zealand just list their carbs as carbs and have fibre separated out already for you. Usually the spelling of fiber (USA) and fibre(U.K.) is a big clue although Canada manage to spell it the USA way but count it the U.K. way.