I ran into this article about potatoes and reducing the GI.

I don't believe in the GI myself. It is not that I don't think it is correct. It is more that I control my blood sugars in a way that the GI is of no use to me. I don't believe in 'playing with fire' when it comes to carbs. Ok, maybe I do cheat on myself sometimes. I do have a bite or two of potatoes sometimes, but that is not the point of this post.

Here is a quote from an article on potatoes and the GI and how to lower the GI.

They found: “Cold storage of boiled potatoes increased resistant starch (RS) content significantly from 3.3 to 5.2% (starch basis). GI and II of cold potatoes added with vinegar (GI/II=96/128) were significantly reduced by 43 and 31%, respectively, compared with GI/II of freshly boiled potatoes (168/185). Furthermore, cold storage per se lowered II with 28% compared with the corresponding value for freshly boiled potatoes.”

The researchers concluded: “Cold storage of boiled potatoes generated appreciable amounts of resistant starch. Cold storage and addition of vinegar reduced acute glycemia and insulinemia in healthy subjects after a potato meal. The results show that the high glycemic and insulinemic features commonly associated with potato meals can be reduced by use of vinegar dressing and/or by serving cold potato products.”

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2005) 59, 1266–1271. doi: 10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602238. November 2005. Vinegar dressing and cold storage of potatoes lowers postprandial glycemic and insulinemic responses in healthy subjects, M Leeman, E Östman and I Björck.

If you do eat potatoes or want to but cannot because of the GI being too high you might want to research this further.

Looks like splitting hairs to me. And I agree with your view on carbs : either you eat them or you don't eat them. And GI is an unneccessary complication. I say this is from a T1 perspective.

I can see how GI could be more useful for T2s. Eating low GI foods is a useful way to deal with a compromised phase one insulin response. But if you ain't making any of your own insulin, keep it simple and stay away from carbs altogether ...

Mark

GI Is not the Greatest thing to go by because it is influenced by too many things.

Combining Foods will Effect the GI of Different foods.

Eat a Slice of White Bread and it will raise your suger so much. but eat it with Peanut butter and all of a sudden it raises it much less. Also the GI of food can change depending on how they are cooked.

the best Diet is still a balanced diet. And dont eat carbs by themselves...best to always have some Protein or fat with any carbs to lower the effect they will have on your blood sugar.

I think it was the American Diabetes Association who recently did an article in their monthly magazine about the GI index. They basically said the same thing Pipermac said...that the GI index is misleading because the actual glycemic effect depends on how foods are combined. They also pointed out that the glycemic index is based on eating approximately 50 grams of a particular food, and that does not accurately reflect how much people eat of certain foods.

I also agree with Mark...either you eat carbs or you don't. If you're on insulin and you control the amount of carbs you eat, you should be able to do quite well.

There's also that thing with "net carbs." Frankly, despite being on insulin, I cannot use the net carb count at all...whether it's sugar alcohols, fiber, or simple carbs, to my body a carb is a carb is a carb.

And the most profound statement is Piper's "the best Diet is still a balanced diet."

Ruth

I agree with you about the GI. It may work just fine, for non-diabetics. The only thing I question about "a balanced diet" is what do you mean. I know what it means to the general public. To me it is just like when diabetics get the very best bread - you know whole grain and all the other things that makes it better. In the end even the very best flour products are not good for diabetics. I agree with a balanced diet idea, but I think it would be different for me than it would be for others. I lost the ability to eat everything that would be on a non-diabetics balanced diet when I became type 2. I said boo hoo poor me - for a moment and then faced reality. Believe me, I would eat potatoes(more than a spoonful like I rarely do now) if I could justify it. I only posted this because I know some people do eat them and this might be of interest to them. My goal of keeping my blood glucose levels down is top priority for me = that means giving up the "good life" as I knew it before...

When I say Balance I mean Balanced...as in what you refer to the general Public. I know you go by Dr Bernstein. But I still believe a No Carb Diet is not good for health. Particularily for diabetics. Ketosis for a diabetic is generally not supposed to be a good thing.

Bernstein does not believe in no carb diet. I once commented that I would just as soon have none, but I do not come close in actual practice.

Ketosis is only a possiblility just as it is with Metformin and I still take that. You just have to be careful and pay attention to your health.