According to a recent report by Mintel on recessionary food choices, pasta is enjoying a resurgence as the ultimate inexpensive comfort food, making controlling blood sugar even more difficult in already trying times.
From 2007-2008, the pasta and related meals market jumped almost 10%, reaching $3.9 billion. Good news for pasta makers, but yet another complication for diabetics.
Kantha Shelke, who holds a doctorate in cereal chemistry and technology and is the author of an upcoming book on the history of pasta, explains the difficulty for diabetics in the latest issue of Functional Ingredients Magazine.
"The way pasta was originally manufacturered, it was very good for people with diabetes," Shelke told Functional Ingredients. "But the way industry went, the need for speed and greed in manufacturing, typical semolina pasta (coarse durum wheat) is now made in a much finer particle size with much less fiber," turning a once healthy choice into a challenge as you manage diabetes on a daily basis.
Pasta need not be avoided by diabetics -- in fact, it can be an economical staple of a healthy blood sugar diet if you choose the right pasta, according to Dr. Whitaker. Whole grain pasta, along with sprouted grain breads, can actually be theraputic carb choices.
Since the 1930s, numerous studies have shown that patients could stop taking insulin if they were given high complex-carbohydrate diets. And in 1976, Dr. James Anderson from the University of Kentucky demonstrated that the high-carbohydrate, high-fiber diet could eliminate the need for insulin and oral diabetic drugs in close to 70% of diabetic patients.
The bottom line: even with escalating prices, a careful shopper can still eat well and control blood sugar too. And defeating diabetes isn't just a boon for your health, but also for your wallet.
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