The Taiwanese Association of Educators on Friday published a low-glycemic diet cookbook, which nutritionists say can not only help people with diabetes control their blood sugar levels, but can also help people reach and maintain a healthy weight.
Association president Tu Shih-te (杜思德) said food is what mainly affects the amount of sugar in the blood after a meal, but health education clinics have discovered that younger people and older people have different diet preferences, leading to different ways of controlling blood sugar levels.
However, across the different generations, a common problem is a lack of understanding about low glycemic index (GI) diets, Tu said.
According to the American Diabetes Association, “the GI measures how a carbohydrate-containing food increases blood glucose. Foods are ranked based on how they compare with a reference food — either glucose or white bread” and “a food with a high GI increases blood glucose more than a food with a medium or low GI.”
Tu said that many people with diabetes measure their fasting blood sugar levels every day, but do not monitor the amount of sugar in their blood after a meal, which is a risk factor in the development of cardiovascular disease, so choosing the right food — low GI — can help maintain more stable blood sugar levels.
Many young people cannot resist the temptation to eat cakes, sweet beverages such as bubble milk tea, or fruit high in sugar, but these are all high GI foods that can cause a rapid rise in blood sugar after eating, he said, adding that some young people with diabetes believe that they can eat whatever they want as long as they inject insulin regularly.
Association deputy secretary-general Chen Wen-hui (陳紋慧), who is a nutritionist, said some older people have difficulty in chewing, so they prefer to eat soft food such as salty rice porridge, pottage or thick soup (羹), but these foods made with starch gelatinization often have a high GI, and might also be high in fat, salt and sugar.
Some older people with diabetes also like drinking juice rather than eating fresh fruit, but juice does not contain dietary fiber and can be digested faster, so it can cause the blood sugar levels to increase more rapidly, she said.
Association vice president and nutritionist Hsu Pi-hui (許碧惠) said that in order to help people with diabetes establish correct dietary knowledge, the association published the low-GI foods cookbook that includes both Western and Chinese food, and also balanced diets from rich and diverse ingredients.
The association also urged people with diabetes to get regular health checkups, and actively control their blood sugar levels after a meal by choosing the right food, as well as taking prescription medication.
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