When you grind a whole grain into a powder, something happens you don’t want to happen. It becomes broken down so it is absorbed into the bloodstream quickly like sugar and makes the blood sugar rise too fast.
In other words, the grain ceases to be a resistant starch like the whole grain, beans, nuts, seeds, vegetables and fruits. This is because it doesn’t have the protection fiber provides in the food’s natural state…
You might think you were safe eating refined carbs like cookies, crackers and bread just because they have low sugar. But, that is not the case. While high fructose corn syrup is unhealthy because it makes for a fatty liver, one of the most dangerous carbohydrates for people with diabetes or to those who are trying to lose weight is eating refined carbs.
Flour or refined carbs makes your blood sugar rise almost as high and as quickly as white sugar. This means processed starches have had their long chains of sugars broken down which would otherwise have slowed sugar absorption into the blood stream.
You want to eat plant based whole foods…
- Whole grains like brown rice
- White rice is better to eat than no rice at all
- A white baked potato should be fine
- Beans like pinto or lentils
- 1 oz. of Nuts or Seeds (not every day)
- Vegetables (especially large green salads or steamed vegetables like broccoli)
- Fruits (but never juice)
You want to avoid refined carbohydrates…
- Any grain that has been made into a powder or flour
- This means bread and tortillas, etc.
- Most snacks and junk food
- Fruit juices
- White sugar, especially high fructose corn syrup
- Low sugar bakery products (which are the same as sugar because of the flour)
- Soft drinks
- These are all low nutrient and empty calorie foods
Just because something you eat is vegetarian approved doesn’t mean it’s good for you. For example, a soft drink and a bag of potato chips qualifies. You want to choose carbohydrates that release their sugar slowly.
