Carbohydrates

Diabetes : Carbohydrates

             Carbohydrates are in everything that contains sugar or starch. So for example in bread, potatoes, rice, macaroni, peas and beans, milk, fruit, candy, cookies, and chips.

                  Your intestines change carbohydrates into glucose. That comes in the blood as blood sugar and that is the fuel for your body. But if you have diabetes, there is too much blood sugar in the blood. The blood sugar level is then too high.

Count carbohydrates

                People with diabetes use medication or insulin to keep blood sugar good. Often you have to keep track of how much carbohydrates you eat. There are lists for that. The number of carbohydrates is also on labels of food. It is good to distribute carbohydrates as much as possible throughout the day.

How much carbohydrates can I have?

We are often asked this question. In general, diabetes is recommended to eat fewer carbohydrates than is recommended in the Schijf van Vijf for bread, rice and potatoes. But how much can you do? This depends on your weight, daily activities, medication and blood sugars. Ask advice from a dietitian or your diabetes nurse.

Fast and slow carbohydrates

                  Some carbohydrates are more quickly converted into blood sugar than others. So there are 'fast' and 'slow' carbohydrates. The slower your blood sugar rises, the better. Because if your blood sugar rises quickly and then falls quickly again, you get a lot of peaks in your sugar level and that is not good.

For example: in an egg-cake there are as many carbohydrates as in a wholemeal sandwich. But in an egg-cake are mainly fast sugars. You get a higher and faster peak in your blood sugar and that is not healthy. So preferably opt for food with slow carbohydrates, and not too large portions.

Slow (good) carbohydrates:

Fast (bad) carbohydrates:

everything with white flour: white bread, white pasta and white rice

Advantage of slow carbohydrates: fibers

In slow carbohydrates are often a lot of fiber. Fibers not only reduce blood sugar peaks, but they also provide a feeling of saturation earlier and longer. As a result, you will not snack fast between meals.

Be moderate with potatoes

The carbohydrates in potatoes are broken down into quick sugars. Do not eat potatoes too often, take a small portion and choose wholegrain products and legumes more often.

Glycemic index

Some people like to take into account the so-called glycemic index of nutrition. The number that indicates how quickly a food increases the blood sugar is called the glycemic index (GI). A low GI means that the blood sugar rises slowly, and slowly decreases. That is better than a high GI, which represents a rapid increase, followed by a rapid decline. If you take this into account, you have more control over your blood sugar level. In addition, diet with a low GI reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease in people with diabetes.

depends on different things

There is a problem with the GI: it is very difficult to determine exactly. This is because the GI can be different for the same food, depending on the circumstances. For example, it shows how ripe a fruit is, how small cut or pureed something is, how much water has been added to it, whether there is vinegar and what the temperature is. For example, thick pasta varieties have a lower GI than thin pasta varieties. And boiled potatoes have a lower GI than mashed potatoes.

In addition, other nutrients that occur in the same meal also have an influence. For example, fats and proteins provide a lower GI. That makes it difficult and therefore not everyone finds it useful to work with those numbers. But it does matter if you use as many foods with a low GI as possible. For example, eat wholegrain bread instead of lighter bread.

Also important: glycemic load

Still, after a meal, the blood sugar peak depends even more on how much carbohydrate you eat than what kind. Therefore, a term is used in addition to the GI: the glycemic charge (GL). That is a measure of the total 'load' of carbohydrates from a meal.

Because only the GI of a food does not say much if you do not take into account the portion size. For example: watermelon has a low GI per 100 grams, because melon contains a lot of water. But if you eat a whole melon, the total amount of carbohydrates can increase significantly: the GL is high and that causes a big increase in your blood sugar.

All in all quite complicated. But if you try to avoid the fast carbohydrates as much as possible and do not make the portions too big, you're already a long way.

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