The Low-Carb Diabetes Plan That Works

The Low-Carb Diabetes Plan That Works
By Bettina Newman, R.D., and David Joachim , Bettina Newman, R.D., and David Joachim are authors of Lose Weight the Smart Low-Carb Way (Rodale 2002), the book from which this story was excerpted.
Prevention.com

After hearing for years that a high-carb, low-fat diet is the only real road to weight loss, you might be wondering how a low-carb diabetes diet can help you finally drop the pounds and help you get control of your blood sugar. Let us explain.

The high-carb, low-fat idea basically oversimplified how food works once it enters your body. It ignored the fact that not all carbs are good, and glossed over that not all fats are bad. Therefore, we loaded up on all the breads, pastas, and low-fat goodies, never realizing that it was making us fatter.

Here's how it really works. All carbs are converted to glucose and raise your blood sugar, but they aren't all converted at the same rate. How fast they are absorbed--and how much--is what affects your weight.

There are two general classes of carbs--refined and unrefined. Refined carbs (white breads, white flour, pastas) are essentially refined sugars, meaning once you eat them they are quickly turned into glucose in your system.

Unrefined carbs are the kinds found in whole grains, beans, fruits, and many vegetables. The fiber in these foods helps to slow down your body's absorption of carbs, therefore slowing the process of turning carbs into glucose. The problem comes in when you eat too many carbs--especially too many refined carbs. If you eat excessive amounts of quickly absorbed carbs, you create a situation where more glucose becomes available than your body needs. That excess glucose gets turned into fat.
The Carbs/Diabetes Connection
What's the problem with eating lots of carbs if you have diabetes? If you eat excessive amounts of quickly absorbed carbs, you upset your body's precise balance of blood sugar. Simply put, eating too many carbohydrate grams may cause a situation where more glucose becomes available to the cells than the body needs.

Obviously, for people with diabetes this is a dangerous scenario. But it also affects your weight because, as stated before, the excess glucose gets turned into fat.

Consequently, blood sugar goes down because the glucose is going into the body's cells as fat. And when your blood sugar begins to drop, you feel hungry. If, like many Americans, you eat a lot of refined carbs such as soft drinks and candy bars--or even pretzels and crackers--you are feeding a vicious cycle in your body that never really satisfies your hunger because you get only short-term relief.

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