Dangerous Food for Diabetics

Diabetes is a metabolic disease where your body can't use sugar, the body's main source of energy, from foods. Normally, most of the foods you eat are turned into glucose or sugar, which then enters your bloodstream. Insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, acts on cells throughout your body to facilitate the uptake of glucose into adipocytes, or fat cells. Without insulin, glucose builds up in your blood, which, particularly over longer periods of time, can threaten your main body organs, including the eyes, heart, kidney and brain. So, diabetic people must avoid foods found in the starch and starchy vegetables group.

White Bread

People with diabetes are advised to limit their intake of foods high in glycemic-index numbers, such as white bread. Glycemic index is a numerical system of measuring the relative blood glucose response to carbohydrate-containing foods. White bread, a starchy food, may release blood glucose quickly and cause rapid spikes in your blood glucose levels. Carbohydrate is a form of sugar, and your body converts this carbohydrate to blood glucose nearly as fast as it processes pure sugar, notes the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Potatoes

Consume potatoes, which are a starchy, tuberous vegetable, occasionally in modest amounts -- not as a daily vegetable. Potatoes contain large amounts of easily digestible carbohydrate, also called "freer" carbohydrate, and thus are an important contributor to dietary glycemic index and load, according to Haverford College. Because the basic building block of every carbohydrate is a sugar molecule, the carbohydrate in potatoes may be digested and absorbed into your bloodstream relatively quickly, causing a sharp rise in circulating glucose.

White Rice

White rice may also contribute to diabetes risk because it's loaded with complex carbohydrate, a plant-based sugar, which can lead to swift, high spikes in blood sugar following a meal. White rice may even increase your levels of blood sugar and insulin more quickly and to higher levels than an equal amount of calories in a cocktail of pure glucose, according to a study published by the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension. Nutrition experts recommend eating brown rice over white rice in an effort to manage your diabetic conditions.

References

Article reviewed by Christine Brncik Last updated on: Dec 5, 2010

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