Glycemic Index Eating Tips:
Some Eating Tips for the Glycemic Index
Part 2
(Click here for part 1)5. Learn different cooking styles.
The GI rating of many foods will change based on how it's prepared. Generally the longer something is cooked, the higher the GI rating is.
Raw foods tend to have the lowest blood sugar impact, but not everything can be eaten raw.
Many things can be cooked less, though. Pasta. for instance, can be made "al dente" style, meaning it's still firm when eaten (this is the only way Sicilians enjoy pasta!). This will cause the pasta to have less of an impact on your blood sugar levels than fully cooked soft pasta will.
6. Realize your personal blood sugar responses.
The best way to integrate the glycemic index into your diabetes or hypoglycemia management program naturally is to keep a diligent watch on how different foods affect you.
Some diabetics can eat a food and have little to no major impact on their blood sugar levels, while others will see their blood sugar go through the roof.
The way the food affects you can be different as well. You might notice this when you eat one thing, and your blood sugar levels will start rising in less than an hour. Something else however may not start a rise for up to four hours later.
There are some diabetics who can eat pizza, and have little to no problem with their blood sugar levels afterwards. Others, however, may find their blood sugar levels go extremely high just hours after eating the pizza. The same examples abound for people who eat breakfast cereals, rice, breads, pasta, and candy.
Part of the reason for these differences is likely due to portion sizes or cooking methods.
Take pizza:
- There is no one exact universal pizza that everyone eats.
- Some pizzas have very thick crusts, and that gives you a lot more simple carbohydrates when you eat it.
- Some pizzas have lots of vegetables on them, which can help balance your GI load.
- Some pizzas, sauces or toppings could have added sugar in them too.
- In many cases, however, the response is based mainly on what kind of pizza you have. Some may just have cheese, while others have all meat, or a thin crust, and a whole variation of other differences.
And all of these differences will affect your blood sugar levels.
That's why the glycemic index is not a hard and fast "diet" in the commonly accepted definition of the word.
You have to understand how different foods make your own body respond, how portion sizes change those responses, and how your cooking methods affect you too.
Managing diabetes using the glycemic index can be a very complicated, sometimes overwhelming process.
Given time, however, and an understanding about how different food works in different people and situations, you may be able to use it to successfully help manage your diabetes much more naturally.
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