Introduction
Using a low glycemic index diet is one tool to help keep your under control. The glycemic index is a rating system for foods that contain . It helps you know how quickly a food with carbohydrate raises blood sugar, so you can focus on eating foods that raise blood sugar slowly.
Key points
- Over time, high blood sugar can harm your eyes, kidneys, nerves, and heart.
- Foods that raise blood sugar slowly have a low glycemic index. Most of the carbohydrate-rich foods that you eat with this plan should be low or medium on the glycemic index.
- Eating low glycemic foods is most helpful when used along with another eating plan for diabetes, such as carbohydrate counting. Counting carbs helps you know how much carbohydrate you're eating. The amount of carbohydrate you eat is more important than the glycemic index of foods in helping you control your blood sugar.
- People respond differently to the glycemic content of foods. The only way to know for sure how a food affects your blood sugar is to check your blood sugar before and after eating that food.
- High-glycemic foods are rarely eaten by themselves, so the glycemic index might not be helpful unless you're eating a food by itself. Eating foods together changes their glycemic index.
- Look at the overall nutrition in foods—and not just their glycemic index—when planning meals. Some low-glycemic foods, such as ice cream, are high in saturated fat and should be eaten only now and then. And some high-glycemic foods, such as potatoes, have nutrients like vitamin C, potassium, and fiber.
- You can still have high glycemic foods on this diet. Just try to eat small amounts of them to limit their effect on your blood sugar. Eating low glycemic foods along with high glycemic foods also can help keep your blood sugar from rising quickly.
Return to topic: