We have all been to restaurants where they give you bread or
biscuits while you wait for your food. Some can resist but most of us can’t. I
normally resist because I don’t want to get full before I eat my main course.
Here is another reason why you should skip the bread or eat it with or after
your meal if you want to stay healthy. Your body sees bread as sugar. The
starches in the bread are broken down very fast in your digestive system. On an
empty stomach this means you will absorb this sugar very quickly, which leads
to a spike in blood sugar and a spike in insulin.
The significance of this was recently illustrated in a
scientific study published in the Journal Diabetes Care. The researchers took a
group of 11 individuals with Type 2 diabetes and had them consume a controlled
meal on two separate days a week apart. The meal was the same both times but
the order in which the contents of the meal were eaten was altered.
What they found was the average glucose levels were reduced
by 28.6% at 30 minutes, 36.7% at 60 minutes, and 16.8% at 120 minutes after
starting the meal with chicken and veggies compared with the bread and OJ. The
overall “area under the curve” for glucose during the time period was 73%
lower. Levels of insulin after the meal (60 minutes and 120 minutes) were also
substantially lower.
This study was done in type 2 diabetics but I expect you
would get close to the same results with everyone. Lower glucose levels and
lower insulin levels should lead to greater appetite control, less fat
deposition, and possibly greater insulin sensitivity.
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