Low GI diet - is this recommended?

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-04-2000
Low GI diet - is this recommended?
2
Thu, 07-26-2007 - 10:39pm

Good evening!  As I posted earlier, DH was just dx and we are waiting to meet with an RD who will surely help us with meal planning and also show him what kind of testing meter he needs.


Anyhow, my Mom is diabetic (but DH doesn't want anyone to know yet, so I can't discuss things with her).  A year ago she gave me a book about GI and GL.  She has managed her diabetes with no medication since she was dx about 5 yrs ago using GI/GL.  I wonder if this would be good to start learning about and possibly start DH on the diet until we get further instruction from a nurse or RD.


Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.  Also - does anyone know of South Beach Diet is good for diabetics?  It says it's low-glycemic but I didn't see much about it *helping* - only *preventing* diabetes.  TY SO MUCH!!!


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Avatar for cl_maryfrances40
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Fri, 07-27-2007 - 12:20am

Laurie,


Were you able to open the article that I referred you to earlier today?


I think, and this my opinion only, that it is so important to eat as normal a diet as possible and so I don't subscribe to the low glycemic meal plan. We have to live with this chronic disease the rest of our lives. My husband learned about the GI and now he won't eat carrots or beets. If you look at a good diabetic cookbook that has a listing of serving sizes for each fruit, veggies, carbs etc you will see that the portion size of veggies that are higher in the glycemic index is smaller. Now I don't eat beets very often and they are a real treat when I do eat them and so I don't see any reason to deny myself a small portion.


For most things that we eat it is the portion size that is important after we add in the fresh fruits and veggies.


South Beach has been recommended for diabetic who need to lose weight. But my experience is this. When you meet with the dietitian and tell her what your husband wants to eat and how he wants to eat it. She will develop a meal plan that fits your and his needs. What has always amazed me is how diabetics, who have been on weight loss plans without success, will lose weight when this tailored meal plan is developed.


So look at the article that I already suggested to you and hang on. Try and add fresh fruits and veggies to your regular meal plan and lay off the white flour, white sugar, white rice and white potatoes until you meet with the dietitian.






iVillage Member
Registered: 01-18-2007
Fri, 07-27-2007 - 5:54pm

The Glycemic Load is a better tool IMHO. It tells you the insulin response of a given food. For example carrots and beets may be med to high on the gylcemic index but are low on the glycemic load:-) Many dietitions are now using the Glycemic load.

M