Diabetes | Why do you lose a good helper to stabilize blood sugar if you eat too many refined grains?

In China, the awareness rate of diabetes among the general public is relatively low. Many people think they are normal, but only when they go to the hospital for a check-up do they find out that they have diabetes.

So how do we get diabetes?

Highlights of this article

1. Blood sugar and diabetes

2. “Good” and “bad” carbohydrates

3. Whole grains are good helpers for stabilizing blood sugar

4. Eating this way will keep your blood sugar stable

0 1 Blood sugar and diabetes

Diabetes is actually related to many factors. High body mass index (BMI), high intake of refined grains, low intake of whole grains, high blood pressure, and low physical activity are all major risk factors for diabetes [1].

Today we will focus on the impact of diet.

When we consume too much refined carbohydrates or refined sugar in one meal, they will be quickly broken down into a large amount of glucose by the intestines and absorbed into the blood. Before this, the pancreas has actually begun to prepare to secrete a large amount of insulin to meet it, but this wave of glucose is too strong and too much, and the insulin cannot cope with it for a while, causing it to remain in the blood and exceed the normal range.

But over time, insulin eventually brings the excess blood sugar under control—which is roughly how the body handles excess refined carbohydrates or sugars after a meal.

How different foods affect blood sugar levels

There is a detail that needs attention here - in the above physiological process, insulin is generally secreted in excess, exceeding the body's needs.

If this happens once or twice, the body will treat it as an emergency and deal with it urgently. However, if this kind of diet becomes the norm, insulin will be excessively secreted every day, which will lead to one consequence - weight gain .

This is because:

For one thing, too much insulin can lead to low blood sugar, which triggers hunger and tempts you to eat more.

Second, fat synthesis increases. Another identity of insulin is a synthetic hormone that prompts refined carbohydrates or sugars to synthesize fat through the liver and then store it under the skin or in the internal organs.

So it’s not the fat people’s fault that they always want to eat, so stop blaming them for “eating non-stop even though they are so fat”.

Gaining weight may also be accompanied by the development of insulin resistance.

In layman's terms, insulin is like a courier, responsible for delivering the package (glucose in the blood) to the buyer (the body's cells). Insulin resistance is like a buyer who celebrates Double 11 every day. There are too many packages at home and they have no room to store them, so they have to refuse to sign for the glucose delivered by insulin. Glucose has nowhere to go and can only be forced to wander in the blood vessels, causing long-term high blood sugar.

But the body doesn't care about all this, as long as blood sugar is still at a high level, it will continue to secrete insulin in the hope of lowering blood sugar... At this time, for the individual, although it seems that the health status is not greatly affected, at most it looks a little fatter than others, but in fact the body's entire endocrine regulation ability may have lost balance - obesity + insulin resistance, this is the early stage of diabetes.

"Prediabetes": The last chance to reverse Prediabetes is the pre-diabetes stage, which refers to a state of glucose metabolism disorder in which blood sugar is high but does not reach the diagnostic criteria for diabetes. It is an early warning sign of diabetes . At this time, there is still hope of recovery through improving lifestyle and drug intervention. Therefore, some doctors say that patients with prediabetes are "people walking on the edge of a cliff."

Finally, when the pancreas is working hard every day and the poor diet continues, blood sugar levels remain high for a long time and prediabetes develops into diabetes.

However, such diabetic patients are still in the early stages, because although the pancreas has been working overtime, it can still work. But if we continue to let the pancreas work so hard, it will also age and retire when it can no longer work. From then on, we will lose the only hormone that lowers blood sugar and become a true lifelong diabetic.

0 2

“Good” Carbs and “Bad” Carbs

Now, some overweight, obese or diabetic patients may be worried: all the staple foods and desserts we eat daily have a high carbohydrate content, so do we not have to eat them?

Of course not. One size fits all is not right.

In fact, there are good and bad carbon water. We often hear about whole grains such as brown rice, buckwheat, quinoa, and black rice, and root vegetables such as potatoes, yams, and sweet potatoes. Although the carbohydrate content is not low, they are generally considered to be "good carbon water" and are a good helper for stabilizing blood sugar.

Over-processed grains such as "refined rice", flour and their products are sources of refined carbohydrates and are generally considered "bad carbohydrates".

0 3

Whole grains are a good helper for stabilizing blood sugar

How do these "good carbohydrates", such as whole grains or some beans, stabilize blood sugar? This depends on its secret weapon.

01

Dietary fiber

This is our old friend.

Dietary fiber can form a "barrier" on the surface of the small intestinal mucosa, delaying the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates and helping to better stabilize blood sugar levels after meals.

Some dietary fibers with high viscosity and gel properties , such as β-glucan in oats, can increase the viscosity of chyme, thereby reducing the contact between food and digestive enzymes and inhibiting glucose absorption.

In addition, when the viscosity of chyme is high, nutrients cannot be absorbed in a short time and will be delayed to the end of the ileum, where they stimulate the intestinal mucosal cells to secrete special chemicals, suppress appetite, and promote insulin secretion, thereby lowering blood sugar. Some fermentable dietary fibers can produce short-chain fatty acids through the fermentation of intestinal flora, which also has a similar effect.

Image source | References [2]

Not only that, dietary fiber can also enhance satiety, making you eat less and helping to reduce energy intake. It is an all-rounder that helps manage weight and stabilize blood sugar.

02

Amylase inhibitors

Many plant seeds, such as unprocessed whole grains such as rice, wheat, buckwheat, quinoa and most beans, contain amylase inhibitors , commonly known as "starch blockers". Their main function is to inhibit the digestion and absorption of some carbohydrates by pancreatic amylase in the intestines, thereby better stabilizing postprandial blood sugar levels.

03

Flavonoids

Beans also contain a class of flavonoids, and more and more studies have found their benefits to human health. For example, they were first discovered to have anti-free radical and antioxidant effects, which can reduce oxidative damage and inflammation levels caused by high blood sugar in the body.

In particular, chickpeas also contain a flavonoid substance called " biochanin A ", which can not only reduce the body's oxidative stress and improve lipid metabolism, but also enhance insulin sensitivity and better stabilize blood sugar levels [4].

0 4

Eating this way will keep your blood sugar stable

Whole grains sound good, but that doesn't mean you have to eat brown rice every day.

In order to take into account the taste of the staple food, you can mix refined grains, whole grains and beans in a certain proportion and steam them. The taste will not be too rough and can better stabilize blood sugar. For example, we can cook red bean and black rice porridge instead of white rice porridge alone; we can also make mung bean and barley rice, chickpea and quinoa rice, etc.

If you eat less refined grains, you don't have to worry too much about gaining weight or getting diabetes. I'm more worried that you might not eat well. The variety of snacks and desserts really opened my eyes...

As a large agricultural country, carbohydrates have always been our main source of energy. We cannot do without them, nor can we eat too much or too little. Just follow the dietary guidelines, 250-400 grams a day, and try to eat more "good" ones to replace some of the "bad", which is suitable for most people.

According to the "Scientific Research Report on Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents" released in 2021, the risk of death is lowest when the carbohydrate energy supply percentage is 50-55%.

Data source | References [3]

For patients with diabetes and obesity, here is a little tip for eating: eat vegetables and meat first and then eat staple food, which will help stabilize blood sugar!

References

[1] Li, Yanping et al. “Time Trends of Dietary and Lifestyle Factors and Their Potential Impact on Diabetes Burden in China.” Diabetes care vol. 40,12 (2017): 1685-1694. doi:10.2337/dc17-0571.

[2] McRorie JW Jr. Evidence-Based Approach to Fiber Supplements and Clinically Meaningful Health Benefits, Part 1: What to Look for and How to Recommend an Effective Fiber Therapy. Nutr Today.2015;50(2):82-89.

doi:10.1097/NT.0000000000000082

[3] 2021 Scientific Research Report on Chinese Residents’ Dietary Guidelines.

[4] Biochanin A improves insulin sensitivity and controls hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes - ScienceDirect.