Understanding glycemic index and food choices in diabetes

Dr. Akshay Jain, MD, FRCPC, FACE, CCD, ECNU, DABIM, DABOM, Clinical and Research Endocrinologist talks about how understanding glycemic index can help improve your diabetes.

Duration: 1:49

If you're affected by diabetes, you may have noticed that some foods may make your blood sugars rise up much more higher and quicker than other foods. For instance, when you have roti made of refined flour, it may make your sugars go up through the roof compared to roti made of barley, oats or Jo.

This is because of something called glycemic index. Glycemic Index is basically the proportion of sugar and the kind of sugar that is present in every food. It's really important to know the glycemic index of foods so that you can choose wisely in the quality as well as the quantity of foods that you are about to eat. Certain foods may have very high glycemic index.

These include Cornflakes or Cheerios. In fruits, stuff like bananas, watermelon, dates, in vegetables, potatoes or frozen corn, white rice, bread, all of these have high glycemic index. Low glycemic index foods include oatmeal, bran, fruits like apples, berries, peaches, legumes like dal, vegetables like cabbages, eggplant, tomatoes, spinach, brown rice, nuts, skim milk and eggs, all of which are very healthy for people with diabetes.

That's why whenever you're choosing your food, try to choose brown rice or wild rice over white rice. In fruits, try to choose things like apples or blueberries instead of bananas or watermelon. If you'd like to know more about glycemic index, please contact your local dietician or your healthcare provider.

Presenter: Dr. Akshay Jain, Endocrinologist, Surrey, BC

Local Practitioners: Endocrinologist