When watching your blood sugar, you may have heard of the glycemic index. The glycemic index looks at how much a certain food will raise your blood sugar level relative to how much the raise would be with pure glucose. Low glycemic index foods are 55 or less, and those cause a slow, smaller blood sugar rise. High glycemic index foods cause a quick, higher spike.
Please remember we are discovering your body’s response to foods seems to be more individualized than we originally knew. This is why we like a CGM (continuous glucose monitor), so you can figure out what your triggers are. That being said, there are overall themes.
When you want to add a starch to your meal, what should you add? What starches are better?
LOW GLYCEMIC INDEX STARCHES (<55)
- Barley 28
- Lentils 32
- Kidney Beans 24
- Whole grain pasta 48
- Sweet corn 52 and corn tortillas 46
- Most fruits and vegetables, beans
- minimally processed grains and pasta
- low-fat dairy foods
- nuts
MODERATE STARCHES (56-69)
- Potato chips 56
- Sweet potato 63
- Couscous 65
- Brown rice 68
- White rice 73
- Cereals like Cream of Wheat and Mini Wheats.
HIGH STARCHES (70+)
- White bread 75
- Instant Oatmeal 79
- Cornflakes 81
- Rice cakes 82
- Bagels
- Cakes, doughnuts, croissants
- Most breakfast cereals
So what can you do?
- SUBSTITUTIONS
- Instant oatmeal–> Steel cut oats
- Cornflakes–> Bran flakes
- Baked potato –> Pasta, bulgur
- Corn —> leafy greens
- White bread –> Whole grain bread
- White rice–>Brown rice
- PRELOAD MEALS with protein, fats, and vegetables THEN eat the carbohydrates. If you can’t preload, add proteins and fats to your carbohydrates. Eat a bagel with egg or cream cheese, not plain.
- SMALL PORTION SIZES, particularly of high glycemic index foods. That means when you make a bowl of pasta with sauce, have it be SAUCE with a little bit of pasta.
- WALK after meals to help decrease the glucose spike.
How can Biohackr Health help?
We are focused on blood sugar. TEST your blood levels to see fasting glucose, HbA1c level, and insulin levels. Do a CGM continuous glucose monitor to see YOUR response to foods. As indicated above, there are general trends, but we are finding people vary in their response to foods. Take our PROBIOTIC with bacterial strains designed to help with glucose tolerance. If you need to lose weight, SEMAGLUTIDE + TIRZEPATIDE have both been shown to help with diabetes and insulin resistance.
If you don’t know where to start? Get an insurance covered visit with our Biohackr affliliated MD consultation to help you figure out what your needs and options are.
