Many people think starchy foods are off limits to people who have diabetes. Not so, say public health authorities from the American Diabetes Association, Harvard's Joslin Diabetes Center and the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse. In fact, if you're diabetic, you're encouraged to have a serving of starch at each meal. Although starches are easily stored as energy, meaning your body likes to preserve them, starches from whole-grain sources come with many health benefits that all people, including those with diabetes, need. Just remember to keep tabs on the portion size and calorie content of the starches you eat and avoid deep-fried sources of starch.
Starch Characteristics
Starch is the main source of carbohydrates in the typical American diet. Starches are formed when sugar molecules string together. The combining of these molecules makes it easy for your body to store the energy. Plant-based foods like rice, corn, wheat, potatoes, beans, peas and lentils are made of massive starch molecules.
Starch in Diabetic Eating Plans
The National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (NDIC) says eating starches is healthy for everyone, including diabetics. Because starches provide a supply of energy and most starches contain other important nutrients, you should eat some starch at each meal. Consider the calorie content of the starches you consume. Select fewer fried and high-fat starches such as chips, french fries, pastries or biscuits. The NDIC recommends pretzels, fat-free popcorn, baked tortilla chips or potato chips, baked potatoes and low-fat muffins as lower-calorie starch options. Both the Joslin Diabetes Center and the American Diabetes Association recommend controlling portion sizes -- if you choose starchy foods that are also full of fiber, you'll stay fuller longer and be less tempted to overeat.
Glycemic Index
As a carbohydrate, starches fall somewhere on a continuum known as the glycemic index, which reflects how your blood sugar will fluctuate after you eat a carb-containing food. Although the glycemic index is not a mainstream tool used in American public health, many researchers have validated its usefulness in determining how carbs behave in diabetics' eating plans. For example, a group of French researchers studied the effects of wheat-based starch and starch from a bean in healthy and diabetic rats. Publishing in the June 2002 issue of "The Lancet," they were the first to find that replacing high-glycemic starches with low-glycemic starches led to lower levels of triglycerides and decreased size of fat cells in the diabetic sample.
Starch Blockers
Starch blockers are prescription medications sometimes given to diabetics to slow absorption of starch. A starch blocker essentially gives your body more time to handle all the carbs in your meal. In a study of 714 people who had impaired glucose tolerance, a signal that diabetes could be ahead, University of Montreal Department of Medicine researchers concluded a starch blocker could delay the onset of type 2 diabetes. However, its effect on A1C, which reflects diabetes status over time, is usually moderate, according to the University of California at San Francisco.
References
- British Journal of Nutrition: Effects of Long-Term Low-Glycaemic Index Starchy Food on Plasma Glucose and Lipid Concentrations and Adipose Tissue Cellularity in Normal and Diabetic Rats (abstract); M. Metzger et al.; May 1996
- The Lancet: Acarbose for Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: The STOP-NIDDM Randomised Trial; J. Chiasson et al.; June 2002
- University of California, San Francisco: Starch Blocker
- Joslin Diabetes Center: 5 Common Myths for People With Diabetes Debunked
- American Diabetes Association: Diabetes Myths
- Diabetes Forecast: The Science of Carbs; Ericka Gebel; September 2009
