Smart Cooking Methods For Diabetes to Lower Blood Sugar

How does cooking affect the glycemic index of foods?

Cooking can alter a food’s structure and chemistry, changing how it is digested. While some cooking methods have little to no impact on your blood sugar, other ways of cooking can lead to blood sugar spikes.

What are the best ways to cook food for better blood sugar control?  

When it comes to cooking methods, steaming and boiling are your best choices. Steaming helps maintain a food’s natural structure and glucose is absorbed more slowly when you consume it. Boiling also offers a gentler way of cooking which does not generally cause blood sugar spikes.

Before you turn on your barbecue, you should know that high-heat cooking can impact your blood sugar levels. Using high heat to cook foods – grilling, frying or using the oven — breaks down carbs more quickly. This leads to a faster integration of glucose into the bloodstream.

Researchers have found a unique way to reduce the impact of high-GI foods like white rice, potatoes and pasta. You can cook them, let them cool, and either eat them cold (potato salad, pasta salad, etc.) or reheat them. This process increases resistant starch, slowing down glucose absorption, and lowering the impact on blood sugar.

How does cooking time or level of doneness impact the GI?

As a general rule, uncooked items will have a lower GI than cooked food. That is because cooking increases a food’s glycemic index by breaking down the food’s natural structure. This makes them easier to digest and moves glucose into the bloodstream more quickly.

Be cautious about overcooking carbohydrate-rich meals, as this can raise a food’s GI even further. Take the example of pasta. Pasta that is overcooked will raise your blood sugar levels much faster than pasta prepared al dente, where it is not cooked as long, and is tender but still firm.