Grains for Diabetics: Healthy Choices and Preparation Tips

Grains for Diabetics

Cultural Attachment to Grains

Many people, especially Asians, are so accustomed to eating grains that they simply cannot give them up. The Chinese, for example, feel "incomplete" if they do not eat rice. Yet grains make up the biggest source of glucose in the modern diet and if you have diabetes, or if you are at risk, one of the most important dietary changes that you need to make is to reduce your intake of glucose.

Grains and Macrobiotic Diet

On their own, grains may not be totally harmful. People who follow a macrobiotic diet eat a very high-grain diet that consists of at least 50 percent whole grains. Yet they generally do not have diabetes. But the grains they eat are whole and natural - not the typical grains that most other people eat. They avoid refined grains and grain products, along with processed foods. Plus, they avoid sugar, honey, and most other sweeteners, using only malt syrup, which does not contain fructose.

Advice for Grain Consumption

If you absolutely have to take grains, my advice to you is as follows:

• Limit your grain intake especially if you are physically inactive.
• Eat whole grains like brown rice and whole wheat flour products. Avoid white rice and refined flour products like white bread, refined pasta, cakes, and pastries.
• Eat a wide variety of grains including barley, millet, oats, rye, quinoa, and amaranth. These grains tend to have higher levels of fiber, proteins, fats, and other nutrients, such that the amount of starch is relatively lower. Also, barley has been scientifically proven to help people with diabetes. In traditional Chinese medicine, millet is said to nourish the spleen and pancreas and thus is helpful for diabetics.
• Choose grains with a lower GI: With growing awareness about the glycemic index, some products, such as special strains of rice, are being marketed as having a lower GI. This is possible because they may contain lower levels of amylopectin A, the type of starch that digests very quickly.

Special Methods of Food Preparation

Special methods of food preparation help as well. Some Asian families cook their rice in plenty of water and then discard the excess water to let the rice dry out during the final minutes of cooking. This reduces the starch content, although some vitamins would be lost. For bread, stick to sourdough bread made by natural fermentation. This produces lots of health benefits, including a lower GI. You can also make your own "sourdough" pancakes - similar to Indian dosai - by allowing the pancake batter to ferment overnight before cooking it in the morning.