Carbohydrates, High Blood Sugars, and Diabetes

You can find carbohydrates in all types of foods except meat. Some dietitians recommend excluding nearly all carbohydrates when you are on a diet.

Companies have started introducing low-carb bread to their ranges. Excluding bad carbohydrates such as sugar from your diet is a positive step, but going further and refusing to eat fruits and whole grains can potentially deprive you of cancer-fighting foods.

High carb intake can lead to high blood sugar and an increased risk of diabetes.

Carbohydrates Are Broken Down into Simple and Complex Carbohydrates.

Sodas, candy, and fruits contain simple sugars, while whole grains, fruits, and cereals contain complex carbs. The main difference between the two groups is their chemical structures. Simple sugars are made up of a few sugar molecules, while complex carbs are made up of hundreds and even thousands of these molecules put together. In your body, the end product of both is glucose.

Complex carbohydrates

Another difference between the two is the time needed to digest. If you consume 100 calories of simple sugars, your body can digest it much faster than if you eat the same amount of calories made of complex carbs. Simple sugars are closer to the end product than complex carbs, which need more digesting time. Therefore if you take a meal of simple sugars, you will be hungrier sooner than if you ate a meal made of complex carbs. Consuming soda and eating candy can add up to many calories at the end of the day.

Studies have shown simple sugars contribute to obesity and diabetes, especially in children. It has also been shown that eating good carbs can shield you from many types of cancers. So next time you pick up the magazine about the newest low-carb claim, throw it away and grab an apple.

Carbohydrates, High Blood Sugars, Diabetes and Knowing the Connection?

There is a strong connection between carbohydrates, high blood sugar, and diabetes. Carbs give your body the energy or fuel it needs to function correctly.

There are two types of carbohydrates; simple and complex. Simple carbohydrates are in foods such as fruit, corn, grape, and table sugar. They are single-sugar molecules. Complex carbohydrates are foods that contain three or more linked sugars. They create blood sugars, and that’s where the problems start for people with diabetes. Understanding more about the connection helps to control your diabetes…

A Personal Experience with Diabetes

I am a diabetic type 2, and, at the moment, I control my blood sugars through tablets and diet. Blood glucose control is crucial for any person with diabetes – it is the only way to minimize future health complications, heart disease; neuropathy resulting in amputations; kidney disease, and early death.

Four years ago, my A1C sugar levels were starting to get out of control – they weren’t massively high but were creeping up. My Doctor increased my medication – with no accurate satisfactory results. My blood sugars were everywhere; I could go from a high reading at night and be woken by a hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) in the early hours.

Then I discovered the Atkins diet, and because I wanted to lose weight, I started to follow the low-carb, high-protein menus.

Then I discovered the Atkins diet, and because I wanted to lose weight, I started to follow the low-carb, high-protein menus.

That’s when I discovered the real connection between complex carbohydrates, high blood sugars, and diabetes.

simple carbohydrates

Suddenly my blood sugars stabilized, and it was because I was no longer piling in vast amounts of carbohydrates, which were pushing my blood sugars far too high.

This seemed to fly in the face of conventional advice on the proper complex carbohydrate-rich diets for diabetes. I already understood I had to avoid sweet, sugary food – these contained simple carbohydrates. I hadn’t realized that the more complex carbohydrate of bread, potato, and cereals also affected my blood sugars.

But (there’s always a ‘but,’ isn’t there?) the Atkins diet did not suit me. I had constant diarrhea, which was stressful and debilitating. So I came off that diet after 3-4 months, and my blood sugars began to get out of control again.

But now I knew about the connection; I only needed to find the right program that followed the low-carb principle.

And recently, while researching a diabetes website, I discovered a low-carb program that suits me.

My Diabetic and Pre-diabetic Advice

Do your research! But Understand the close connection between the complex carbohydrates you eat, how they affect your blood sugars, and how they can make it difficult to control your diabetes.

Once you understand that link, look for a diet or system that you can adapt to bring your blood sugars back under control safely.

Remember, too many carbohydrates (complex or simple) give you high blood sugar levels, and if you have diabetes, your body cannot cope with the additional overload.

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