Whole Grains Found to Stabilize Blood Sugar For up to Ten Hours

Saturday, January 12, 2008 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer
Tags: whole grains, health news, Natural News

(NewsTarget) When eaten as part of a breakfast with a low glycemic index, whole grains can help control blood sugar all day long, according to a study conducted at Lund University in Sweden. A breakfast with a low glycemic index even appeared to improve alertness and mental function.

Anne Nilsson of the Unit for Applied Nutrition and Food Chemistry tested the effects of four different types of whole grains and found that in a low glycemic index breakfast, whole grains regulated the body's blood sugar for up to 10 hours. The study suggested that the same effect could be gained from eating whole grains before bed.

Nilsson found that of the four grains tested, barley had the best effect on the body. Breads demonstrated a better effect than a hot cereal such as oatmeal.

The research also demonstrated that those who ate a breakfast with a low glycemic index had better concentration and memory skills for the rest of the morning than those whose breakfast had a higher glycemic index. In related findings, participants whose bodies had a higher tolerance for glucose performed better on such tests than those with a low glucose tolerance.

"These findings indicate that people with great fluctuations in their levels of blood sugar run a greater risk of having a generally lower cognitive ability," Nilsson said. Such fluctuations may be caused by a diet with a high glycemic index.

"In other words," remarked consumer health advocate Mike Adams, author of How to Halt Diabetes in 25 Days, "high glycemic index foods make you stupid. Being stupid, it turns out, makes you buy more high glycemic index foods like sugary breakfast cereal or toaster pastries, and then the cycle of stupidity just gets worse." The way to turn it around and regain cognitive function, says Adams, is to avoid eating grains entirely. "I no longer recommend the consumption of grains. Vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds are the foundations of the diets of the healthiest people. Grains are simply not consumed very much by the healthiest people in society today." Adams is also a proponent of Juice Feasting, described here: http://www.newstarget.com/022367.html

The glycemic index of a food or meal refers to what effect it has on the body's blood sugar. Foods with a low glycemic index, such as those high in complex carbohydrates, cause a slow, sustained rise in blood sugar that does not cause the body's insulin levels to spike. Foods with a high glycemic index, such as those high in refined sugars, cause the body's sugar and insulin levels to rapidly increase and then crash.