Nutrition Research – Diabetics – Reduce carbs for breakfast

Type 2 Diabetes Diet – lowering carbohydrates at breakfast time may help to prevent a spike in blood sugars throughout the day.

What did the researchers do?

In a controlled experiment a small group of people with Type 2 Diabetes had different breakfasts and researchers looked at the respond to glucose through the day. One day they had an omelette, and another day they had oats and fruit for breakfast. The other meals (lunch and dinner) were the same on both days, and they wore a continuous glucose monitor to look at the glucose in their blood over 24 hours.

What did they find?

On the day that the participants had eggs for breakfast the protein and fats helped to prevent a large spike in blood sugar after breakfast. There were also improved glucose readings for the next 24 hours. They also found participants were less hungry and craved sweet foods less if they ate the low-carb breakfast.

What does this mean?

So does this mean diabetics should reduce carbs? It means the classic breakfast of cereal isn’t the best choice for you if you’ve got diabetes or high blood sugars. Starting your day with protein and fats is a good choice to help stabilise the blood sugars throughout the day. The reason blood spikes are bad is that they can impact on the way the liver and kidneys work, as well as damaging eyesight and nerve endings.

So what can you eat?

• Two eggs omelette with tomatoes, avocado and spinach
• Scrambled tofu with mushrooms
• tin of sardines on one wholegrain toast
• Whole-fat plain yoghurt with seeds

Link to research: https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/ajcn/nqy261/5435774?redirectedFrom=fulltext