A few days ago I saw one of my friend’s posts on Instagram. She was talking about her insulin resistance and was asking for the best diet ideas for insulin resistance…
That made me think if:
Insulin resistance diet -is a low glycemic load diet good?
It is a great diet I would settle for in a few illnesses, not just ‘make it’ an insulin resistance diet.
Glycemic index table
The glycemic index (IG) table is a table containing a set of the values that rank products according to the level of glucose in the blood after their consumption. It usually seems to be resolutely helpful. It seems…
Glycemic Index Table pdf (deliberately not to be found)
It’s common knowledge that most carbohydrate foods have a high glycemic index. However, the glycemic index may not and is NOT the best indicator of how quickly whole fruit carbohydrates turn into blood sugar.
There is a serious misconception because it is all about carbohydrate quality, not quantity.
What is the glycemic load?
Glycemic load is about the ACTUAL LOAD on the system, which is calculated by multiplying the glycemic index IG by the actual amount of carbohydrates in a portion (and not its total weight, i.e. with the weight of water and fiber), and then when dividing the result by 100.
Watermelon example
100 g of 🍉has GI of 72
However 92% of it = 💦 (water), plus some fiber (in 100g -0.4g)
Let’s calculate glycemic load then:
- 72(IG) x 8 g (carbohydrates in watermelon) & divide by 100
- The glycemic load of watermelon = 5!
Apple glycemic index
38! 🍎 glycemic load = 6!
It turns out that all fruits belong to the low or high middle categories on the glycemic index (GI) charts. However, they have a super low glycemic index which makes them perfect food for people wondering what to eat on an insulin resistance diet. Scroll below for some stats 😉
Of course, it is best to eat fresh fruit, because dried fruits concentrate more glycemic load due to the different density of dried fruit (much less water).
That’s why even organic dried dates are … fast food.
The truth is, the best for us humans are fresh, ripe, raw & unprocessed fruits.
The speed at which sugar enters the bloodstream is not the most important factor.
What makes the fruit an ideal food?
When you eat fruit whole with fiber, and as we know fruit is a low-fat food, some of the sugars will actually enter our bloodstream relatively quickly. But it will also quickly come out of it and fuel the cells with fuel, which makes the fruit an ideal food. Perfect energetically.
People with diabetes are advised not to consume industrial fructose, and this is absolutely right, but I see no reason why they should not be able to eat whole, raw fruit and vegetables that contain a simple sugar called fructose.
The glycemic load of most popular fruits
Fruits
- 🍓 Strawberries, IG – 40, GL – 1
- 🍉 Watermelon, IG – 72, GL – 4
- 🍈 Cantaloupe, IG – 65, GL – 4
- 🍑 Peaches, IG – 42, GL – 5
- 🍎 Apples, IG – 38, GL – 6
- 🍍 Pineapples, IG – 59, GL- 7
- 🍇 Grapes, IG – 46, GL -8
- 🍌 Bananas, IG – 52, GL – 12
Starchy vegetables, grains, and other complex carbohydrates:
- 🥕 Carrots, IG – 47,GL – 3
- Beets, IG – 64, GL – 5
- 🥣 Cereal bran, IG – 42, GL – 8
- 🍿 Popcorn, IG – 72, GL – 8
- 🌽 Sweet corn, IG – 54, GL – 9
- 🍞 Wholemeal bread, IG – 71, GL – 9
- 🍚 Wild rice, IG – 57, GL – 18
- 🍝 Spaghetti, IG – 42, GL – 20
- 🍚 White rice, IG – 64, GL – 23
- 🥔 Baked potatoes, IG – 85, GL – 26
- 🍠 Sweet potatoes, IG – 61, GL – 27
Here comes the controversy: It is fat, not fruit, that causes blood sugar problems (1).
When looking at the average raw food eater we notice a rapid and immoderate fat intake in their bodies.
On the other hand, a high-fat diet, whether raw or cooked, leads people to experience deficiencies, hormonal imbalances, intense cravings, and mood swings because of the sugar spike in the blood.
Diabetes or insulin resistance – what to eat?
Let’s see how sugar travels through the body:
Before sugar supplies the cells with fuel, its journey can be divided into three stages
- The first stage begins in the digestive tract when you eat sugar
- The second stage is when sugar passes through the gut wall and into the bloodstream
- In the third stage, when sugar is delivered to its final place, that is, it feeds the cells.
It all happens quite quickly – in a few minutes. But only if you are on a low-fat diet. As soon as you start eating a lot of fat in your diet, the sugar gets trapped in stage two.
This means that the body must do extra work, which may cause exhaustion and illness. The body is trying to disperse the sugar, but it cannot keep up because the sugar is backing up in the blood, creating permanently elevated sugar levels.
This in turn begins to wreak havoc on the body in the form of Candida overgrowth, fatigue, diabetes, and other fatal diseases.
Once we understand the role of the pancreas (read all about it the next paragraph) and the effects of fat on glucose we will understand why a plant-based diet is the most beneficial for diabetics (2).
- So what is the role of insulin?
- Why doesn’t insulin just fix this problem?
- Does sugar multiply & builds up in the blood because of the fat?
- What about the pancreas?
The role of the pancreas ?
The brain directs the pancreas, which is responsible for producing a hormone called insulin.
One of the roles of insulin is to attach itself to sugar molecules in the blood and then find itself with the insulin receptor in the blood vessel wall. Insulin can then transport sugar molecules across the blood vessel membrane into the interstitial fluid (the fluid between cells) and then carry the sugar away into a single cell.
In our bodies, fat performs many necessary insulating functions, including keeping the body warm, preventing too much water from escaping through our skin, and protecting nerve fibers.
However, excess fat in the diet puts more of it in the bloodstream, which has negative effects.
By eating too many fatty foods, a thin layer of fat builds upon the walls of your blood vessels, creating a kind of site for insulin receptors in your cells, sugar molecules, and also for insulin itself.
These fats can inhibit normal metabolic activity throughout the day and prevent the mentioned structures from communicating with each other.
Thus, too much fat in the blood inhibits sugar from moving out of the bloodstream through insulin resistance (3).
This leads to an overall increase in blood sugar levels as the sugar continues to flow from the digestive tract (stage two) but cannot leave the blood and cannot power the cells waiting for it (stage three).
This is the reason why you should NOT eat carbohydrates on a high-fat diet (5% of calories from carbohydrates).
Cells that don’t get their fuel, have to switch to fat.
All high-fat diets, such as Keto or Paleo, are based on the fact that insulin is ‘the engine of all evil’. Therefore, carbohydrate intake should be limited in order to reduce insulin secretion.
Meanwhile, high-protein foods are also often high in fat, and yes, 25 grams of beef raises insulin levels in diabetics, as does a quarter of a kilogram of simple sugars.
Dr. Micheal Greger points out in the video above that scientists have known for over a half-century that protein makes it go up as well. An “Insulin Index of Foods” published in 1997 listed 38 foods that increased insulin levels. This study and subsequent studies showed that ANY type of meat (beef, chicken, and pork) produced substantial insulin secretion.
“Meat protein causes as much insulin release as pure sugar.”
Check the list yourself to notice that meat raised insulin levels higher than a large apple, a cup of oatmeal, or even than a cup and a half of white flour pasta!
Sources:
