Joslin Pushes Carbohydrates

No, they are not pushing a certain number of grams, but pushing just the same. For those of us using a low carb/high fat food plan this should be unacceptable. The Joslin site receives many new to diabetes people and their promotion of carbohydrates will lead these people down the path to poorer A1c's and other problems.

Quote - Everyone needs carbohydrates or “carbs” to give our bodies the energy necessary to work and play. Carbs are made up of starches, sugars, and fibers. Carbs also provide us with lots of vitamins and minerals. People with diabetes need to pay particular attention to carbohydrates, as these foods become glucose in your blood. They are not the enemy. - Unquote.

Fat also is used by our bodies for energy for work and play. Often other sources of food provide us with more vitamins and minerals. Yes, we need to pay a lot of attention to carbohydrates because this is the cause of high triglycerides and is converted to glucose, which causes our blood glucose levels to spike to unreasonable highs. Many people do find that carbohydrates are our enemy.

Quote - But be selective; some carbs are really healthy and others are merely empty calories. We all know that cereal, pasta, rice, and breads are rich in carbs. Go for the whole grains, the brown rice and high fiber foods- check that food label! - Unquote

Yes, we all know that cereal, pasta, rice, and breads are heavy in carbohydrates. Be very careful about whole grains, brown rice, and high fiber foods as they don't affect everyone the same. Learn the value of “testing in pairs” as this will reveal how badly these foods raise your blood glucose levels. Joslin will not tell you about this.

Quote - Some other healthy carb choices include starchy vegetables, such as peas, corn and winter squashes. And I bet you didn’t know that beans such as those in chili or three bean salad also contain carbs. Fruits are another delicious healthy carb choice- but watch out for fruit juices. They are loaded with carbs and the very important fiber you get from eating a piece of fresh fruit is gone. So forget the juice- eat the orange! - Unquote

Starchy vegetables are loaded with carbohydrates and this includes carrots. Yes, beans also contain carbohydrates. If you need a list of low carbohydrate vegetables, please read this. Now most fruits have very few carbohydrates, but contain more sugars and fructose. Joslin is correct in their statement of forgetting the juice and eating the whole fruit if you insist on having fruit. Limiting the amount of fruit consumed is often wise unless you have done your research. Many berries can be healthful unless over consumed.

Mindless eating at crowded gatherings or while watching TV needs to be replaced with mindful eating. When we are distracted, we tend to eat more than when we are consciously watching what we eat, savoring our food, and chewing it thoroughly.

And the last part of this blog is important. We all need fiber for our systems. This helps our intestines move the waste through our system as will the fat and

help the bacteria that are naturally there do its work in moving the nutrients into our blood stream where it can be utilized.