This is an interesting subject I’de like to get some other opinions on:
The rationale behind avoiding high GI carbohydrates (aside from their frequent lack of significant nutritional value) is the fact that the normal human body overcompensates for the sugars that are broken down very quickly by releasing too much insulin. This possibly leads to an energy crash, or the carbs being storaged as fat if unused. However, in an individual with type I diabetes, insulin is completely self-administered and not dependent on the pancreas, and the precise amount of insulin required to return one’s blood sugar to normal can be given without the overcompensation that occurs in a normal person. What are your thoughts on whether this makes carb selection, be it high or low GI, more or less important for a diabetic. Can a diabetic “get away” with eating more simple sugars simply because they can avoid insulin overcompensation?
Thanks for your thoughts.
Well, I’ve seen a lot of people that don’t control their simple sugar intakes, then compensate by using more insulin. This always ends badly. So, In my humble non-medical opinion, not monitoring your sugar intake then compensating with more insulin is very bad.
[quote]mindeffer01 wrote:
Well, I’ve seen a lot of people that don’t control their simple sugar intakes, then compensate by using more insulin. This always ends badly. So, In my humble non-medical opinion, not monitoring your sugar intake then compensating with more insulin is very bad.
[/quote]
Word.
High levels of insulin are bad for your eicosanoids(e.g. good prostaglandins) and non-enzymatic glycosylation is one of the mechanisms of aging.
Whilst it’s true that the GI of the food has less relevance to a diabetic for the purposes of insulin response, the key problem here is that a diabetic still needs to maintain correct blood sugar levels, and low GI foods are better for this.
When simple sugars are ingested, the blood glucose can rise rapidly, and often faster than and onset and action of exogenous insulin, thus raising BG to levels that can be damaging (hyperglycemia) for a diabetic. For a non diabetic, as BG rises, the pancreas reacts directly with insulin to counteract the glucose rush.
Maintaining post-prandial BG levels in normal range is made easier by ingesting complex carbs, as the absorption of the carbs will closer match the action of the exogenous insulin. Complex carbs also tend to require less insulin use per gram than simple carbs, thus reduce insulin requirements, and help prevent lipogenesis (fat storage) through excess insulin.
It seems from anecdotal evidence that diabetics have trouble controlling body weight, so I’m guessing that having this kind of control over insulin is not a boon.
Thank you for your input guys