HOW TO AVOID SUGAR SPIKES: LOW GLYCEMIC FOODS

In 2016, Ludwig, professor in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard, wrote that the recommendations about avoiding dietary fat were based on limited scientific evidence.

Several recent studies found that high-fat diets actually produce greater weight loss than low-fat diets. And while the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans have now lifted the limit on dietary fat, “you’d never know it, because a full accounting of this failed experiment has not been made,” Ludwig wrote.

The glycemic index (GI) measures how different carbs may affect blood sugar. Foods with a high GI rating can affect blood sugar more than those with a lower rating.

A high fat meal will have a LOWER glycemic effect than a low fat meal even if they both contain the same amount and type of carbohydrate, and this is because…

The MORE FAT or acid a carbohydrate food contains, (or, the more fat or acid in the stomach, during digestion) the slower the carbohydrate food is converted to glucose and absorbed into the bloodstream.

Fermenting foods or the sourdough method of baking bread also lower the GI.

Eaten alone, protein and fat have little effect on blood glucose levels, but that’s not to say they don’t affect your blood glucose response when they are combined with a carb-rich food. Protein will stimulate additional insulin secretion, resulting in lower blood glucose levels.

Best low-glycemic whole foods to eat regularly that are also part of European cuisine: beef, chicken, turkey, pork, lamb, eggs, butter, seafood, fish, herbs, nuts, berries, apples, pears, peaches, plums, sourdough, rye bread, whole milk, cheese, fermented yoghurt, potatoes, carrots, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, cabbage, olives, barley.