Should Type 2 Diabetics Read Food Labels?
Food labels can reveal so much more than calorie or kilojoule counts.
For type 2 diabetics, they can serve as a source of information about how the food will affect their body.
Knowing what to look for is the key to choosing foods that will help keep blood sugar levels even instead of sending you into a tailspin.
A red flag on any food label is the inclusion of sugar or corn syrup in the ingredients list.
Corn syrup is added to many foods for flavor and can severely interfere with a type 2 diabetic diet.
Corn syrup isn't only found in desserts, but may appear in such items as breakfast cereal, fruit flavored yogurts, and even canned kidney beans or packaged flavored soup or rice mixes.
Corn syrup is often listed on labels as HFCS (high fructose corn syrup).
This type of sweetener was originally developed as an alternative to sucrose (regular table sugar), since it was sweeter and therefore could be used in lesser amounts to achieve the same level of sweetness.
However, high fructose corn syrup has actually been scientifically proven to increase the chance of weight gain and type 2 diabetes.
The reason for this is that high fructose sweeteners won't trigger the production of insulin like regular sugar does.
Regular carbohydrates entering your system signal the pancreas to begin insulin production, then are converted to glycogen and stored in your muscles as energy.
High fructose corn syrup enters your system, fails to signal the pancreas to produce insulin, spikes blood sugar levels, and ends up getting stored away as fat cells.
HFCS can actually increase your body's resistance to insulin over time, making it still harder to maintain stable blood sugar.
It is commonly considered to be one of the major reasons behind weight gain and the development of pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes, as it is present in most highly processed foods as well as nearly all forms of fast food.
Learning to spot high fructose corn syrup on food labels is one step towards healthier eating.
Other additives or ingredients to watch out for include sugar, brown sugar (often simply white sugar with molasses added), modified corn starch (which acts as a binding agent and can cause food absorption problems), enriched wheat flour (white flour with vitamins added but no fiber), saturated fats (although plant based ones such as coconut oil or palm oil are all right), and hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils (trans-fats).
Once you learn to spot the culprits on food labels, you can avoid foods that are detrimental to controlling type 2 diabetes and your blood sugar levels.
For type 2 diabetics, they can serve as a source of information about how the food will affect their body.
Knowing what to look for is the key to choosing foods that will help keep blood sugar levels even instead of sending you into a tailspin.
A red flag on any food label is the inclusion of sugar or corn syrup in the ingredients list.
Corn syrup is added to many foods for flavor and can severely interfere with a type 2 diabetic diet.
Corn syrup isn't only found in desserts, but may appear in such items as breakfast cereal, fruit flavored yogurts, and even canned kidney beans or packaged flavored soup or rice mixes.
Corn syrup is often listed on labels as HFCS (high fructose corn syrup).
This type of sweetener was originally developed as an alternative to sucrose (regular table sugar), since it was sweeter and therefore could be used in lesser amounts to achieve the same level of sweetness.
However, high fructose corn syrup has actually been scientifically proven to increase the chance of weight gain and type 2 diabetes.
The reason for this is that high fructose sweeteners won't trigger the production of insulin like regular sugar does.
Regular carbohydrates entering your system signal the pancreas to begin insulin production, then are converted to glycogen and stored in your muscles as energy.
High fructose corn syrup enters your system, fails to signal the pancreas to produce insulin, spikes blood sugar levels, and ends up getting stored away as fat cells.
HFCS can actually increase your body's resistance to insulin over time, making it still harder to maintain stable blood sugar.
It is commonly considered to be one of the major reasons behind weight gain and the development of pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes, as it is present in most highly processed foods as well as nearly all forms of fast food.
Learning to spot high fructose corn syrup on food labels is one step towards healthier eating.
Other additives or ingredients to watch out for include sugar, brown sugar (often simply white sugar with molasses added), modified corn starch (which acts as a binding agent and can cause food absorption problems), enriched wheat flour (white flour with vitamins added but no fiber), saturated fats (although plant based ones such as coconut oil or palm oil are all right), and hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils (trans-fats).
Once you learn to spot the culprits on food labels, you can avoid foods that are detrimental to controlling type 2 diabetes and your blood sugar levels.