Type 2 Diabetes and Mashed Potatoes - How to Make a Favorite Comfort Food More Diabetes Friendly!

Type 2 Diabetes and Mashed Potatoes - How to Make a Favorite Comfort Food More Diabetes Friendly!

There is no single food that is more detrimental to diabetes control than mashed potatoes. Potatoes. A high-glycemic form of carbohydrates is thought to increase insulin resistance and the risk of type 2 diabetes. Spuds of all kinds, a popular side dish of the American Thanksgiving holiday, raise blood sugar levels, but there are three things you can do to minimize or even eliminate the damage.

1. Just say no to the moment:When nutrition researchers measured the glycemic index of instant mashed potatoes, they found that the instant mashes caused blood sugar levels to rise even faster than consuming glucose tablets. This seems a little unlikely until you consider what's really in instant potatoes.

There are all kinds of additives, flavors, and stabilizers designed to keep the flakes from coalescing in the box. When these chemical additives enter your system, you react immediately.

Without getting into the chemistry, this could be a “fast” allergic reaction or a slower immune sensitivity reaction, but both cause your adrenal glands to release cortisol, which in turn increases blood sugar levels. By simply peeling, cooking, and mashing potatoes, the effects on glucose control can be greatly simplified. Instant has a glycemic index of approximately 110. Cooked red russets have a glycemic index of approximately 78.

2. Don't Eat Them Hot:Another factor that is overlooked when choosing foods to keep blood sugar levels as normal as possible is heat. Warm foods...although they don't scald hot foods...are digested faster than warm foods or room temperature foods. If you just let your food cool before eating it, your body will digest it more slowly and your pancreas will have more time to release the insulin needed to transport digested sugar where it needs to go. You can still let your blood sugar get out of control by eating too much cold carbohydrate, but all other things being equal, hot or cold food is better than hot food for diabetics.

3. Try Cauliflower:If you cut off the green leaves before cooking, cooked cauliflower will be the same color as cooked spuds. If you add an unpeeled walnut to the water with the cauliflower while cooking, the walnut will absorb the cabbage flavor and the result will taste like potatoes. If you drain the cauliflower thoroughly in a colander before mashing, scooping out the last drop of cooking liquid, you will have the same consistency as pureed spuds. But you have 80 percent fewer carbohydrates.

Inspired by Beverleigh H Piepers