Low-GI diet beats high-fiber diet for diabetes

[M_Smith]

Low-GI diet beats high-fiber diet for diabetes
[SIZE=-1] It's easy to think of a high-fiber diet as healthy but boring. Fiber is good for us, we're told, but it can lead to a repetitive ?brown? diet of whole grains. And when faced with a choice about what you'd prefer to eat, you'd have to be pretty disciplined to choose whole-grain pasta over the regular variety. For anyone who's been struggling with these issues, a new study offers some welcome news. For people with diabetes at least, it's more important to eat a mix of fiber, rather than getting it mainly from wheat products. The way to do this is to choose foods that release their energy slowly, like nuts, beans, and lentils.
Researchers in Toronto, Canada, looked at 210 people with type 2 diabetes. Half were told to eat a standard high-fiber diet, choosing the "brown" option whenever possible. The rest ate what is called the low-GI diet, based around foods that give a slow, steady supply of energy.
GI stands for glycemic index. The lower a food's GI, the slower it's broken down by your body. Low-GI foods include rye bread, oatmeal, beans, peas, lentils and nuts. High-GI foods, like white bread and sugar, release energy more quickly, which may be harder for your body to cope with if you're diabetic.
















In the study, people who ate the low-GI diet had healthier blood sugar and cholesterol levels than people eating the high-fiber diet. However, the study only lasted six months, so we don't know if this would lead to longer-lasting benefits.
Although the low-GI diet was originally developed for people with diabetes, it follows the principles of a healthy diet. People were asked to eat three servings of fruit and five servings of vegetables every day, and not eat too many fatty or sugary foods. So, if you're trying to eat healthily or lose weight, you could do worse than including some low-GI foods in your diet.
What you need to know. If you have type 2 diabetes, the first treatment your doctor suggests may be changes to your lifestyle. You'll need to eat a healthy diet, get some exercise and lose weight if you're overweight. You could discuss with your doctor or dietitian ways to include some elements of the low-GI diet in your healthy eating plan.
?Philip Wilson, patient editor, BMJ Group
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If you are living with diabetes, read more on keeping tight control of your glucose level, and see our Treatment Ratings (subscribers only) for lifestyle changes and treatments that can help you live a long and healthy life.
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