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Hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar, occurs when the body does not have enough insulin because of a bad diet. Poor meal and drink selections, inactivity, and sickness can all contribute to obtaining excessive blood sugar. If left uncontrolled, hyperglycemia might cause diseases that impact your general health, including eyesight, kidneys, nerves, and heart.
Carbohydrates are required by your body, but you need to be vigilant about which ones you consume, especially while controlling high blood sugar. There are many forms of bread with various nutritional compositions. According to Lisa Young, the worst bread for managing high blood sugar is refined grain devoid of additional fiber.
“High-fiber bread that has three grams of fiber per slice should be eaten by people with high blood sugar,” says Young. “Added sugar in bread is also bad since it can cause blood sugar to rise even more. Fiber helps to keep your blood sugar stable.”
Carbohydrates are divided into two categories: simple and complex. Simple carbs are composed of sugars such as fructose and glucose, which contain simple chemical structures made on a single sugar or two sugars. Complex carbs have more complicated chemical structures, incorporating three or more sugars connected together. They also take longer to break down, resulting in a slower rise in blood sugar that lasts longer.
Complex carbohydrates, on the other hand, have been shown to improve blood sugar levels. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health states that categorizing carbohydrates into simple and complex does not account for the effect of carbohydrates on blood sugar levels and chronic diseases. That’s why the glycemic index is crucial when it comes to managing blood sugar levels.
The glycemic index (GI) is a scale from 0 to 100 that assesses how fast and much a certain food may raise your blood sugar after eating on a scale. Because high-fiber meals generally don’t include as many digestible carbohydrates, they tend to slow down digestion and result in a more gradual and less dramatic rise in blood sugar levels. Grains that have been refined and milled—where the bran and germ have been removed—have an even higher glycemic index than minimally processed whole grains.
Harvard claims that high-glycemic-index meals, such as white bread, are quickly digested and cause big fluctuations in blood sugar. They also warn that eating a lot of high-glycemic-index foods can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and being overweight.
Instead of white bread, try including whole-grain bread like Ezekiel, whole wheat, or oat-based varieties.
