White flour is one of the most widely used ingredients to prepare many processed foods easily found at your grocery store, convenience stores, bakeries and restaurants. Pizza, sandwiches, burgers, muffins, crackers, pasta, breakfast cereals, cookies, granola bars and cakes are all made from white flour. White flour is usually made from wheat that has been stripped out of its germ and bran, and mainly provides carbohydrates in the form of starches. If you have an impaired tolerance to glucose, foods made with white flour are not a good option for you.
Glucose Intolerance
Glucose intolerance puts you at risk of later developing type 2 diabetes. It is diagnosed by giving you a sweetened orange drink and measuring your blood glucose, or blood sugar, levels in the next two hours. If your blood sugar levels raise above 140 mg/dL after two hours, but stay below 20 mg/dL, you are glucose intolerant. If you are, your body is not able to tolerate a large dose of carbohydrates, whether it comes from sugars or starchy white flour, and is not able to compensate appropriately to keep your blood sugar levels in the normal range.
Insulin Resistance
Insulin resistance usually is the underlying problem for people suffering from glucose intolerance. Insulin is the hormone that your pancreas releases when you consume carbohydrates, such as sugars from fruit juices or dessert and starches from white flour and potatoes. If you are intolerant to glucose, it is very likely that your body cells are not as sensitive as they used to be to normal amounts of insulin in your blood. As a result your pancreas has to produce more and more insulin to try to lower your blood sugar levels. People with insulin resistance and glucose intolerance tend to have higher circulating insulin levels.
White Flour
White flour is pure starch. Starch is made of chains of different lengths of glucose molecules attached to one another. Once digested, the starch found in white flour becomes single unit of glucose and can be absorbed into your blood to raise your blood glucose levels. The more white flour you eat, the more glucose molecules will enter your bloodstream and the higher your blood glucose and insulin levels will raise. In addition to contributing to your high blood glucose and insulin levels, white flour and foods made from white flour do not provide you with any important nutrient.
Healthier Carbohydrates
Avoid white flour as well as foods made from white flour because of their potential harmful effects on your glucose intolerance by elevating your blood glucose and insulin concentrations. Get most of your carbohydrates from fresh fruits, but not fruit juices and dried fruits, as well as nonstarchy vegetables, such as bell pepper, asparagus and cauliflower. Plain yogurt, unsweetened nuts, natural nut butter and sweet potatoes also provides healthier carbohydrates that will keep your blood glucose and insulin levels more stable. Accompany each of your meals with a serving of protein from poultry, fish or meat and healthy fats from avocado, olive oil or coconut oil.
