Low Glycemic Index foods

captainmcdreamy
captainmcdreamy Posts: 1 Member
edited November 2024 in Food and Nutrition
My insulin levels have recently increased to an unhealthy number. I want to get a better handle on what foods should be avoided or eaten with caution. For instance, do foods that are made with pea protein instead of whey protein have a higher glycemic index? This is assuming the % carbohydrates, sugars, fats, and proteins remain the same.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated especially if someone knows how to calculate glycemic index or has a resource.
CaptainMcDreamy

Replies

  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,997 Member
    Just Google "glycemic index list or chart." Lots to choose from.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Can you test your blood sugar? What I understand from others (and some reading) is that individual reactions can vary so that's the best way to go to find out what foods work for you and which do not. Paging @rheddmobile who always has good information on this.
  • SolotoCEO
    SolotoCEO Posts: 293 Member
    You can find the glycemic index online. As far as what makes your sugar levels spike - that is very individual. Basic rules for diabetics - carbs are carbs and your body (for insulin purposes) does not differentiate between good or bad carbs. The lower the glycemic index...the less likely eating those foods will spike your blood glucose - but almost all carbs will raise it. Work with your doctor/dietician to see what foods causes you to have issue.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    How are you testing your insulin levels? Do you mean blood glucose levels, or were you specifically tested for insulin? If you mean blood glucose, you need to be focusing on limiting carbs. If you do mean insulin, about your only recourse is eating smaller more frequent meals.

    Protein isn't ordinarily a big culprit in spiking blood glucose levels, although it does have a slow effect so type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetics have to be aware of it. If you make any insulin at all your body can usually cover protein fast enough not to be a big issue. In fact whey protein in particular raises insulin more than it raises blood sugar, which means for some people like me eating cottage cheese makes my blood sugar drop.

    @SolotoCEO is correct that different people have different blood sugar reactions to the same foods, so testing is essential until you learn your own tolerances.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    The science behind the low GI diet does not hold up. (It's b.s.)
    But here is a link:

    https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/glycemic-index-diet/art-20048478?pg=2
    wrote:
    The GI value of any food item is affected by several factors, including how the food is prepared, how it is processed and what other foods are eaten at the same time.
    A GI diet prescribes meals primarily of foods that have low values. Examples of foods with low, middle and high GI values include the following:

    Low GI: Green vegetables, most fruits, raw carrots, kidney beans, chickpeas, lentils and bran breakfast cereals
    Medium GI: Sweet corn, bananas, raw pineapple, raisins, oat breakfast cereals, and multigrain, oat bran or rye bread
    High GI: White rice, white bread and potatoes

    Commercial GI diets may describe foods as having slow carbs or fast carbs. In general, foods with a low GI value are digested and absorbed relatively slowly, and those with high values are absorbed quickly.
    Commercial GI diets have varying recommendations for portion size, as well as protein and fat consumption.

    Results
    Depending on your health goals, studies of the benefits of GI diets have produced mixed results.
  • MarkusDarwath
    MarkusDarwath Posts: 393 Member
    SolotoCEO wrote: »
    Basic rules for diabetics - carbs are carbs and your body (for insulin purposes) does not differentiate between good or bad carbs. The lower the glycemic index...the less likely eating those foods will spike your blood glucose - but almost all carbs will raise it.

    +1 to this. For those of us with insulin resistant diabetes, the glycemic index of a food is less important than it's glycemic load, ie. how many grams of carbs it contains in a serving. If you eat some watermelon, for example, it is a high GI food, so its carbs are processed and enter the blood very quickly..but.. we're only talking about a small number of grams in a normal serving. No matter how fast that small amount of glucose enters your blood, it's only going to raise your total glucose, and therefore insulin, by a small amount.

    For a non-diabetic, high GI foods will raise insulin levels more than low GI, because a normal insulin response will meter out insulin -and send the glucose where it belongs- in time with the rate at which the glucose enters the blood stream. A slow and steady stream of incoming glucose will be met with a slow and steady stream of insulin, while a sudden large sugar rush will be met with a rapid flood of insulin.
    In the type 2 diabetic, the glucose remains in the blood much longer than it should, so that a slow rise will still result in basically the same peak as a rapid spike. The difference is merely how long it takes to get there.

  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    captainmcdreamy wrote: »
    My insulin levels have recently increased to an unhealthy number. I want to get a better handle on what foods should be avoided or eaten with caution. For instance, do foods that are made with pea protein instead of whey protein have a higher glycemic index? This is assuming the % carbohydrates, sugars, fats, and proteins remain the same.
    Any advice would be greatly appreciated especially if someone knows how to calculate glycemic index or has a resource.
    CaptainMcDreamy

    Whey protein and pea protein have the same glycemic index.



  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,997 Member
    edited February 2018
    RodaRose wrote: »
    The science behind the low GI diet does not hold up. (It's b.s.)

    I don't think that a low GI diet is BS.

    I am not diabetic but I follow a low GI carb and hi protein diet which has worked for me over the past 20 months in losing and maintaining weight, losing body fat and increasing lean body mass.

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