Sugar in a Diabetes Diet - You Mean I Can Have Candy?

What's the latest in diabetic diets?

The latest news on diabetes diets isn't very late. In 1994 researchers released information on dramatic changes for the diabetic diet. It seems a little number called the glycemic index (more on this later) is the most important thing to know for a good diabetes diet. But, strangely enough, many doctors and nutritionists don't seem to have caught up with this information. Patients continue to be advised not to eat sweets and are often told to follow the pyramid type of diet with six servings of carbs at the base of the diet.

The potato and the diabtes diet

Here's a little quiz. Is it better to eat a nice potato or a yummy but nasty candy bar? If you said potato, you'd be wrong. When you have a diabetic for dinner simmer him slowly. Oops. If you serve dinner to a diabetic, don't serve potatoes but do give him a nice little dessert. And don't trust those "no sugar added" labels. He can't scarf down a bunch of "no sugar" muffins and not send his blood sugar soaring. So what's going on here with the diabetes diet? A candy bar can't be healthier than a potato. Ah, but if you're trying to keep your glycemic index low, the candy bar is better. But if your blood sugar drops too low and you are in danger of insulin shock, chomp a potato for the fastest results. It's all due to the glycemic index.

The glycemic indes and the diabtetes diet

The glycemic index, or the g.i. as we who like to be hip in the wonderful world of carbs call it, is really quite simple to understand, in spite of its scary scientific sound. The glycemic index indicates the effect of a food on blood sugar, or glucose levels, in the body. All foods, even a protein like steak eventually break down into glucose. The glycemic index is a measure of the rate at which foods break down into glucose. The lower the number, the faster the food breaks down into glucose and the higher the number the slower the blood breaks down. There, that wasn't so bad, was it? The glycemic index is thus a very important tool for creating a diabetes diet.

So what's the diabetes diet?