Selecting Carbs?

[Mike-S]

Selecting carbs by lower glycemic index and lower glycemic load numbers still leaves many foods that diabetics and hypoglycemics possibly shouldn't be eating; what other criteria could be used to help pick out appropriate foods? The may / june 2006 issue of Diabetes Self-Management magazine (no financial interest) has an article on the energy density of foods that might be useful; the energy density is the number of calories per serving divided by the grams in a serving; eating lower energy density foods and portions could be helpful. Thoughts? Thanks! Mike

[Gaelen]

Mike-S, I'd think it would depend on which phase of Protein Power you were in...if Phase I, limiting yourself to 30-40g ECC per day and 7-10g ECC per meal, your best bets are to keep your carb sources focused on:

portions of dairy
dark leafy green vegetables
appropriate portion sizes (within ECC guidelines per meal) of brightly colored veggies like tomatoes, beets, etc.
appropropriate portion sizes (within ECC guidelines per meal) of berries and low-carb fruits like melons
appropriate portion sizes of nuts and seeds.


If you stay away from processed carbs and stay with whole foods as much as possible, and focus on keeping your carb intake to the plan's recommended Phase I 7-10g ECC per meal, or 10-15g ECC per meal in Phase II, you shouldn't have to worry about either glycemic 'load' or glycemic density.

[Reverie]

How about considering nutrient density?

While searching for recipes to use swiss chard, I found the World's Healthiest Foods site. If you go there and click on the link WhFoods List A-Z, you can click on a food and find out which nutrients are highest.

If you click on the Essential Nutrients link, then you get a list of vitamins and minerals and fiber. If you click on something like potassium, you find that a cup of swiss chard has twice the potassium compared to a banana.

They have a rating system that factors the nutrients for the amount of calories. With this system, our lower carb vegetables and fruits really shine as the superstars! Grains and beans fall to the bottom of the list because they have too many calories for the amount of nutrient. Even for fiber, which is a big surprise and supports the Paleo point of view.

Here is the link:
http://www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php

[Reverie]

I'd like to add one other resource for selecting carbs. Dr. Richard K. Bernstein's book, Diabetes Solution, has a detailed chapter on what to eat. Every diabetic should have this book along with PP or PPLP.

You can read that chapter online here:
http://www.diabetes-normalsugars.com/book/chapter10.shtml