YOUR DIABETES
eating style Low carb diets are often put forward as a good way to help manage diabetes, weight loss and blood glucose levels. But as MYKE BARTLETT discovers, not all carbohydrates are created equal. The topic of carbohydrates can be very confusing when it comes to managing diabetes, with many conflicting messages either promoting or demonising carbohydrate rich foods. What we do know is that not all carbohydrate foods are created equal. Low glycaemic index (GI) foods such as wholegrain bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, legumes, lentils, buckwheat and quinoa contain fibre which slows down digestion, giving us a slow, steady rise in blood glucose levels, keeping us feeling fuller for longer. High GI foods such as pastries, chips, confectionery, cakes and biscuits break down into glucose quickly which spikes our blood glucose levels. We can’t paint all carbohydrate foods with the same brush – some will help to stabilise our blood glucose levels and others won’t. We often hear the term ‘low carb’ used to describe a new food product, a new diet or style of eating. The fact is, there isn’t a specific number or criteria to define exactly what ‘low carb’ means. A diet termed ‘low carb’ could mean anywhere between 20g to 200g of carbohydrates per day (between 10% and 45% of your daily energy intake). With any low carb diet, foods high in fat and protein are increased to replace carbohydrate-rich foods. Foods high in good quality fats and protein can help to make us feel fuller for longer which can also have a positive impact on our blood glucose levels. However, like carbohydrates, not all fats are created equal. Healthy fats from plants or seafood are known to offer protection against some serious conditions, but eating too much of the wrong type of fat – saturated fats such as animal fats – can have negative effects on our health. Professor Grant Brinkworth (left) is one of the authors of The CSIRO Lowcarb Diabetes Everyday guide, a new book designed to help people with diabetes adapt their eating habits to reduce carbohydrate intake, while focusing on including good quality carbohydrates in addition to healthy fats and protein. The guide is based loosely on a research paper that reviewed 23 studies on the impact of low carb diets for people with type 2 diabetes. Low carb diets were defined as those as containing less than 130g of carbohydrates per day. “If you look at what the CSIRO low-carb diet is, it’s really just grounded in the core nutrition principles of healthy eating,” Grant says. “I don’t think it’s too radical, because it’s still using the same food people are already consuming, we’re just changing the portions.”
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