You might think a mango smoothie for lunch is a healthy choice.
But did you know that calorie counting is just part of eating a balanced diet that promotes a healthy weight?
It’s also important to consider a glycemic index of food when you plan your meals and snacks.
A glycemic index is a measure of how foods, carbs in particular, affect your blood sugar level.
For example, most fruits have a higher glycemic index than most vegetables.
Glycemic index is especially important for people with diabetes, but everyone can benefit from understanding the way their body processes carbohydrates and how to keep their glycemic index at an optimum level.
Tune in to SMG radio to hear Dr. Cynthia Paige explain why a low glycemic index diet should be on your health radar.
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What is the Low Glycemic Index Diet?
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Learn more about Dr. Cynthia Paige
Cynthia Paige, MD
Dr. Cynthia Paige is a family-medicine specialist at Summit Medical Group whose expertise includes chronic disease management, treatment for obesity and wellness.Learn more about Dr. Cynthia Paige
Transcription:
What is the Low Glycemic Index Diet?
Melanie Cole (Host): There’s no one diet or meal plan that works for everyone with diabetes. The important thing is to follow a meal plan that’s tailored to your personal preferences and lifestyle to help you achieve your goals for blood glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride management. My guest today is Dr. Cynthia Paige. She’s a family medicine specialist at Summit Medical Group whose expertise includes chronic disease management, treatment for obesity and wellness. Welcome to the show, Dr. Paige. Tell us what you think is the most important thing that a diabetic person needs to think about when they’re thinking about what they are going to eat.
Dr. Cynthia Paige (Guest): First, thank you, Melanie, for having me. The most important thing is to understand the different ingredients in your foods as well as looking at what the compounds are that make up your food – from proteins to carbohydrates to fat. Just understanding foods a little bit better.
Melanie: People hear this term “glycemic index” and how you should look at the index but it is confusing for some people. Explain, what is the glycemic index?
Dr. Paige: The glycemic index relates primarily to carbohydrates. Carbohydrates have a very high what we call “glycemic index” meaning that they have an ability to increase your blood sugar. Your carbohydrates are found in your vegetables. They are found in fruit. They are found in a lot of the processed foods as well. Alternatively, when you look at proteins, most proteins have a very low glycemic index and fats also have a very low glycemic index. Fats and proteins do not have the ability to raise your blood sugar in the same way that your carbohydrates have the ability to raise your blood sugar.
Melanie: Carbohydrates have gotten a bad rap over the years and yet a tomato and a carrot are considered carbohydrates. How do vegetables rate on the glycemic index and should they be something that a diabetic should watch out for?
Dr. Paige: You have carbohydrates that will raise your blood sugar faster meaning that they have a higher glycemic index. When we look at what we call the “glycemic load”, that’s the total amount that they will raise your blood sugar. Then you have carbohydrates that don’t raise your blood sugar so quickly. We have what we call “simple carbohydrates” and “complex carbohydrates”. Your simple carbohydrates will raise your blood sugar quite quickly and those are sugar and sweets and things like that as well as some of your fruits which are high in sugars as well. Then, you have complex carbohydrates like your vegetables. Vegetables do not raise your blood sugar quite as much and they don’t have as many carbs as your fruits or processed foods will have. Carbohydrates are essential for us to live and our body actually lives on carbohydrate and that sugar. Your muscles and your brain function on sugar so you have to have sugar in your body. However, when you have too much sugar in your body the body is not able to control that amount of sugar and then it goes up too high and your body can’t bring it back down. That’s when we develop diabetes.
Melanie: What a great answer. What affects the glycemic index of a food? Does fat play a role? You already mentioned proteins. What about fiber? What role do these play in how a food is rated?
Dr. Paige: Let’s look at something like rice. Many of my patients will say, “Dr. Paige, I will eat brown rice instead of white rice.” The difference between brown rice and white rice is that brown rice has that capsule around there – that coating – so it doesn’t raise your sugar quite as quickly. However, once you look at the inside kernel inside of the shell of the rice, that actually is the same. So, it will still have the same amount of glucose in there – or glucose raising ability or glycemic index. However, it just won’t raise it quite as quickly. You have to look at how foods are prepared. Foods that are overprocessed are basically almost predigested. When you look at oatmeal, for example, that quick oatmeal--that instant oatmeal where you just add hot water – that oatmeal actually raises your blood sugar quickly because it is actually almost partially digested, versus your steel cut oats which will raise your blood sugar still but not quite as quickly. We know that fats and proteins actually will slow your digestion a little bit so that the carbohydrates that you eat with that meal may not get into your system quite as quickly and they’re not digested as quickly. Proteins and fats will actually digest slower and so you won’t get as hungry as quickly and they actually won’t raise your blood sugar.
Melanie: Does a diabetic need to eat only low glycemic index foods at every meal to see that benefit from it or can they switch it up a little bit?
Dr. Paige: The key there is nothing you cannot eat. Even though I speak to my patients a lot about carbohydrates, glycemic index, glycemic load, there’s no food you can’t eat but you have to balance this out. If you know you are going to a wedding on Saturday, then you know that leading up to Saturday, you should probably be very, very good as far as keeping your carbohydrates low, monitoring your blood sugar. Then, that day afterwards you’re really going to have to really, really monitor your blood sugar. If you’re on insulin, you may have to make some adjustments. You may have to walk a little bit more. You’re going to walk off that meal that you had at the wedding. There’s nothing that you can’t have. There’s the ability to still have balance within your life and enjoy your food but you’re going to restrict the amount of food that will raise your blood sugar. That’s really the key. It’s all about balance. It’s all about looking at your meals differently. Breakfast may begin to look more like your dinner. Instead of having things like pancakes and waffles and bagels, you may look at actually incorporating more complex carbohydrates like vegetables and some protein into your breakfast rather than a lot of carbohydrates in your breakfast.
Melanie: That is absolutely great advice. Give us just one more example in the time we have left about maybe a breakfast, lunch and dinner that would be suitable for the low glycemic index for somebody with diabetes. What do you give people as some recipes or some ideas to use for foods?
Dr. Paige: It goes against the grain of what we’ve taught for decades and what we’ve seen on television that we really need to restrict some of the grains and if we have too many grains, that’s too many carbs in the diet. We’ve always thought of breakfast as what we’ve seen on television over the past 30 years. But, breakfast, really, going back before 30 years, for all of the time that we’ve been on earth, really is the same as what lunch and dinner look like. Your breakfast may be – if you have eggs, you can have a little bit of eggs in your diet you could make an omelet, which would be ideal. You’re getting vegetables and protein. What I say all day long is vegetables and protein, vegetables and protein. If you’re getting adequate amounts of vegetables in your diet and protein in your diet, you won’t miss the carbohydrates quite so much. Your breakfast may be an omelet. It may be whatever you had for leftovers, which is typically my breakfast. It takes some getting used to sometimes to have vegetables for breakfast but that’s really ideal. Your lunch and dinner are pretty much the same. You’re limiting the amount of bread, rice, pasta and potatoes in your diet. You’re going to substitute that with more vegetables in your meals for lunch and dinner.
Melanie: That’s great advice. Please tell us why people with diabetes who are looking to understand the glycemic index should come to Summit Medical Group for their care?
Dr. Paige: Summit offers so many options with regards to education and classes. We’re very comprehensive in our approach to diabetes where we have diabetes educators. We have nutritionists. We have wonderful family physicians who are able to counsel patients on diet and exercise as well as manage their medications well. When the need arises for specialty care, we have specialists as well to comprehensively care for all of our patients with diabetes.
Melanie: Thank you so much, Dr. Paige, for being with us today. You’re listening to SMG Radio and for more information you can go to SummitMedicalGroup.com. That’s SummitMedicalGroup.com. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.
What is the Low Glycemic Index Diet?
Melanie Cole (Host): There’s no one diet or meal plan that works for everyone with diabetes. The important thing is to follow a meal plan that’s tailored to your personal preferences and lifestyle to help you achieve your goals for blood glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride management. My guest today is Dr. Cynthia Paige. She’s a family medicine specialist at Summit Medical Group whose expertise includes chronic disease management, treatment for obesity and wellness. Welcome to the show, Dr. Paige. Tell us what you think is the most important thing that a diabetic person needs to think about when they’re thinking about what they are going to eat.
Dr. Cynthia Paige (Guest): First, thank you, Melanie, for having me. The most important thing is to understand the different ingredients in your foods as well as looking at what the compounds are that make up your food – from proteins to carbohydrates to fat. Just understanding foods a little bit better.
Melanie: People hear this term “glycemic index” and how you should look at the index but it is confusing for some people. Explain, what is the glycemic index?
Dr. Paige: The glycemic index relates primarily to carbohydrates. Carbohydrates have a very high what we call “glycemic index” meaning that they have an ability to increase your blood sugar. Your carbohydrates are found in your vegetables. They are found in fruit. They are found in a lot of the processed foods as well. Alternatively, when you look at proteins, most proteins have a very low glycemic index and fats also have a very low glycemic index. Fats and proteins do not have the ability to raise your blood sugar in the same way that your carbohydrates have the ability to raise your blood sugar.
Melanie: Carbohydrates have gotten a bad rap over the years and yet a tomato and a carrot are considered carbohydrates. How do vegetables rate on the glycemic index and should they be something that a diabetic should watch out for?
Dr. Paige: You have carbohydrates that will raise your blood sugar faster meaning that they have a higher glycemic index. When we look at what we call the “glycemic load”, that’s the total amount that they will raise your blood sugar. Then you have carbohydrates that don’t raise your blood sugar so quickly. We have what we call “simple carbohydrates” and “complex carbohydrates”. Your simple carbohydrates will raise your blood sugar quite quickly and those are sugar and sweets and things like that as well as some of your fruits which are high in sugars as well. Then, you have complex carbohydrates like your vegetables. Vegetables do not raise your blood sugar quite as much and they don’t have as many carbs as your fruits or processed foods will have. Carbohydrates are essential for us to live and our body actually lives on carbohydrate and that sugar. Your muscles and your brain function on sugar so you have to have sugar in your body. However, when you have too much sugar in your body the body is not able to control that amount of sugar and then it goes up too high and your body can’t bring it back down. That’s when we develop diabetes.
Melanie: What a great answer. What affects the glycemic index of a food? Does fat play a role? You already mentioned proteins. What about fiber? What role do these play in how a food is rated?
Dr. Paige: Let’s look at something like rice. Many of my patients will say, “Dr. Paige, I will eat brown rice instead of white rice.” The difference between brown rice and white rice is that brown rice has that capsule around there – that coating – so it doesn’t raise your sugar quite as quickly. However, once you look at the inside kernel inside of the shell of the rice, that actually is the same. So, it will still have the same amount of glucose in there – or glucose raising ability or glycemic index. However, it just won’t raise it quite as quickly. You have to look at how foods are prepared. Foods that are overprocessed are basically almost predigested. When you look at oatmeal, for example, that quick oatmeal--that instant oatmeal where you just add hot water – that oatmeal actually raises your blood sugar quickly because it is actually almost partially digested, versus your steel cut oats which will raise your blood sugar still but not quite as quickly. We know that fats and proteins actually will slow your digestion a little bit so that the carbohydrates that you eat with that meal may not get into your system quite as quickly and they’re not digested as quickly. Proteins and fats will actually digest slower and so you won’t get as hungry as quickly and they actually won’t raise your blood sugar.
Melanie: Does a diabetic need to eat only low glycemic index foods at every meal to see that benefit from it or can they switch it up a little bit?
Dr. Paige: The key there is nothing you cannot eat. Even though I speak to my patients a lot about carbohydrates, glycemic index, glycemic load, there’s no food you can’t eat but you have to balance this out. If you know you are going to a wedding on Saturday, then you know that leading up to Saturday, you should probably be very, very good as far as keeping your carbohydrates low, monitoring your blood sugar. Then, that day afterwards you’re really going to have to really, really monitor your blood sugar. If you’re on insulin, you may have to make some adjustments. You may have to walk a little bit more. You’re going to walk off that meal that you had at the wedding. There’s nothing that you can’t have. There’s the ability to still have balance within your life and enjoy your food but you’re going to restrict the amount of food that will raise your blood sugar. That’s really the key. It’s all about balance. It’s all about looking at your meals differently. Breakfast may begin to look more like your dinner. Instead of having things like pancakes and waffles and bagels, you may look at actually incorporating more complex carbohydrates like vegetables and some protein into your breakfast rather than a lot of carbohydrates in your breakfast.
Melanie: That is absolutely great advice. Give us just one more example in the time we have left about maybe a breakfast, lunch and dinner that would be suitable for the low glycemic index for somebody with diabetes. What do you give people as some recipes or some ideas to use for foods?
Dr. Paige: It goes against the grain of what we’ve taught for decades and what we’ve seen on television that we really need to restrict some of the grains and if we have too many grains, that’s too many carbs in the diet. We’ve always thought of breakfast as what we’ve seen on television over the past 30 years. But, breakfast, really, going back before 30 years, for all of the time that we’ve been on earth, really is the same as what lunch and dinner look like. Your breakfast may be – if you have eggs, you can have a little bit of eggs in your diet you could make an omelet, which would be ideal. You’re getting vegetables and protein. What I say all day long is vegetables and protein, vegetables and protein. If you’re getting adequate amounts of vegetables in your diet and protein in your diet, you won’t miss the carbohydrates quite so much. Your breakfast may be an omelet. It may be whatever you had for leftovers, which is typically my breakfast. It takes some getting used to sometimes to have vegetables for breakfast but that’s really ideal. Your lunch and dinner are pretty much the same. You’re limiting the amount of bread, rice, pasta and potatoes in your diet. You’re going to substitute that with more vegetables in your meals for lunch and dinner.
Melanie: That’s great advice. Please tell us why people with diabetes who are looking to understand the glycemic index should come to Summit Medical Group for their care?
Dr. Paige: Summit offers so many options with regards to education and classes. We’re very comprehensive in our approach to diabetes where we have diabetes educators. We have nutritionists. We have wonderful family physicians who are able to counsel patients on diet and exercise as well as manage their medications well. When the need arises for specialty care, we have specialists as well to comprehensively care for all of our patients with diabetes.
Melanie: Thank you so much, Dr. Paige, for being with us today. You’re listening to SMG Radio and for more information you can go to SummitMedicalGroup.com. That’s SummitMedicalGroup.com. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.