There is so much conflicting information available for people with type 2 diabetes, it must be difficult for many to know how to meet their dietary needs. It is always important to include protein in your diet as it:

• is the main building block for every part of your body
• plays a vital role in stabilizing your insulin and blood sugar levels making it easier to lose weight

Carbohydrate foods sit right alongside protein … they are the next most important food to consider. Why are carbohydrates so important? All carbohydrates in your diet trigger a rise in your blood sugar level, but how high they rise depends mostly on the type of carbohydrate you choose to eat.

When using the glycemic index (GI), carbohydrate foods are rated from 0 to 100 and is a measurement of how quickly a carbohydrate food is released into your bloodstream. Pure sugar, three tablespoons or 50 grams, is ranked as 100 … an apple containing 50 grams of carbohydrates (fructose), would raise your blood sugar to fifty five per cent of the level caused by eating 50 grams of sugar. So an apple has a GI of 55.

So instead of thinking of carbohydrates as simple or complex, think of them as fast-acting or slow-acting. That means if you eat a large amount of sugar, you can expect your blood sugar level to rise quickly. Then your pancreas will produce four to five times the amount of insulin you need … to make sure that you don’t die!

When you have type 2 diabetes your cells will not even allow the extra insulin your pancreas has made to enter, therefore sugar also remains in your bloodstream, peaking at higher and higher levels. Now it becomes easy to see why eating high-GI foods will not help you in any way. Actually, it would speed up the deterioration that many type 2 diabetics experience!

The solution: choose your carbohydrate foods wisely. Low-GI carbohydrates digest more slowly and release sugar into your bloodstream a little bit at a time, over the course of hours. The benefit: blood sugar and insulin remain lower.

Fruits are classed as carbohydrate foods … fruits that are the sweetest have the highest GI and includes grapes, watermelon and pineapple. The good news is there are low-GI fruits and these will help you maintain better control of your blood sugar levels and include:

• cherries, grapefruit
• oranges, lemons, pears
• strawberries
• peaches, plums and apples

All carbohydrate foods end up as sugar in your bloodstream and, for that reason, incorporating low-GI carbohydrates into your diet will help both your blood sugar levels and your weight.

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