Eat Carbs Last For Better Diabetes Control

Eating carbs last at mealtime could help people with diabetes control blood glucose levels, according to new research.

If you’re like many people with diabetes, you are probably saying, “I thought carbohydrates were bad for people with diabetes.” No, carbohydrates are not bad, but if you eat the wrong type or too many of them at a meal or snack, they will cause your blood glucose level to go up higher than you want after eating. Results of a new study suggest when you eat carbohydrate can also affect your blood glucose level.

When individuals in the study with type 2 diabetes ate protein and vegetables before eating bread and orange juice at mealtime their blood glucose levels were half as high as when they ate carbohydrate first, and 40% lower than when they ate protein, vegetables, and carbohydrate together.

Moreover, when the study participants ate carbohydrate last, their insulin levels were lower, and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) levels were higher. GLP-1 is a hormone that helps control your blood glucose and appetite; these changes in insulin and GLP-1 levels could provide the added benefit of weight loss.

What is Carbohydrate?

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There are three main types of carbohydrates; sugar, starch, and fiber.

Sugar is called by many names; table sugar, cane sugar, brown sugar, turbinado, demerara, maple syrup, molasses, honey, and high-fructose corn syrup. Fruit sugar (fructose) and milk sugar (lactose) are also sugars. The main difference is that the naturally occurring sugar in some foods comes with many nutritional benefits like the fiber in fruit, the calcium in milk, the iron in molasses. When you start adding sugar to foods though, you’re not increasing the nutritional value, just boosting calories.

Starch, the second type of carbohydrate, is also basically sugar. It’s made from sugar molecules that are linked together in long chains. High starch foods include bread, cereal, pasta, crackers, starchy vegetables (green peas, corn, lima beans, potatoes), and dried beans (pinto beans, kidney beans, black-eyed peas, and split peas). During digestion, starches are broken down and converted to glucose.

Fiber is the third type of carbohydrate. Fiber is the indigestible part of any plant food, including the leaves of vegetables, fruit skins, and seeds.

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Fibrous food can also help control blood glucose levels after meals. Fiber slows the conversion of the sugar or starch into glucose, keeping the blood sugar more stable. And because fiber can’t be digested completely, it adds bulk and helps to move food waste out of the body more quickly. Fiber can also help you control your weight.

A good source of fiber contains 3 to 5 grams per serving. Some good sources of fiber are:

• Whole-grain products, including breads from whole wheat, rye, bran, oat, and corn flour or cornmeal; pastas; whole-grain or bran cereals; brown rice.
• Vegetables such as broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots and green peas; lentils, dried beans, and peas; sweet potatoes, turnips, and other root vegetables; and all forms of leafy greens—cooked or raw.
• Fruits including apples, bananas, berries, cantaloupes, kiwi, oranges, peaches, grapes, pears, and melons. Also, dried fruits, such as raisins and dried apricots.
• Nuts (peanuts, walnuts, almonds) and seeds (sesame, sunflower, pumpkin). 
Ultimately, it’s the total number of carbs—sugar, starch, or fiber—that matters in your meal, not the type of carbohydrate. If you balance sugars, starchy food, and fiber in your meals for an ideal number of carbs, you can enjoy a healthy, delectable meal.

Carbohydrates are an important part of a healthy diabetes meal plan because they can provide energy and nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Ultimately, it’s the total amount of carbohydrate – sugar, starch, or fiber at the meal that affects your blood glucose levels. And according to new research eating your carbohydrate last may also help control blood glucose levels and might help you lose a little weight.

Constance Brown-Riggs, MSEd, RD, CDE, CDN is a registered dietitian, certified diabetes educator, national speaker and author of The African American Guide to Living Well with Diabetes.. She is a Dannon One Yogurt Every Day Nutrition Advisor.