They predict one of three people born today will develop adult onset diabetes!
The other day on CNN I saw an article in which a researcher had used the glycemic index (G.I.) (a measurement of how a specific food becomes sugar in the bloodstream over a period of time and therefore stimulates our need for insulin) to compare the effects of brown rice and white rice. They concluded that brown rice is a better choice because the G.I. is lower and therefore you would need less insulin to process it. Using less insulin is a good thing since the epidemic (one of every 3 people born will become a diabetic) has to do with adult onset diabetes in which our insulin receptors do not work properly(they are overworked from trying to process too much sugar in the bloodstream and stop functioning properly). When I read this article I thought to myself,” rice is not where it’s at, they are barking up the wrong tree”. Why? All the grains have high G.I.s (lots of sugar) and values differ, so I generally recommend avoiding most of them for diabetes prevention or weight loss but take a look and see what you think. Here are some examples. In Barry Groves book, high is over 70, medium is 56 -70 and low below 55. White rice is 55, buckwheat, 54 instant rice, 87 and instant potatoes, 83. Therefore, I prefer selected grains such as pearled barley, 25 or rye kernels, 34 or cooked bulgur, 48.
However, if you really want to go low in the glycemic index try fats!
The G.I. of Brie is 0! Same for cheddar, feta, butter, eggs, and salad oils such as olive oil, 0! Fatty fish such as sardines, herring and mackerel, 0! Fat does not raise insulin levels! Nuts are also low in sugar and require little insulin to process. Cashews are 22 and peanuts roasted and salted are 21. Barry Groves in his book” Natural Health and Weight Loss” states “the one thing that studies in this area have consistently shown clearly is that eating fat gives by far the best control over blood glucose and insulin levels.”
For more information about healthy and unhealthy fats, please see my 2 articles entitled Health, Weight Loss and Fats, Surprise, It’s Not What You Think…
In summary, if you’re concerned about weight loss, diabetes and the like, read up on the tables giving information about the glycemic index and foods. I think you will find you will benefit from staying away from the breads, cakes, and grainy foods and using selected grains, sprouted breads, healthy enjoyable organic and tasty whole fats, and clean, nontoxic sources of fatty fish.
Good health,
Jerry Gore M.D.