To Grain or Not to Grain?

That is one of the questions that I have been seeking an answer to ever since I was first diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. It is a common recommendation from major health organizations to include whole grains as part of your diet.

However, in my years of testing grain products and their effects on diabetics, I have discovered that processed grain products, of any kind, dramatically raise blood sugar levels. I have often read that whole grain products, such as oat meal, are a good choice since they have lots of fiber and don't spike blood sugar levels. Not true I say! At least the part about not spiking blood sugar levels.

I have proven this over and over again as I search for a cereal that I can eat for breakfast that doesn't shoot my blood sugar levels way up. I keep searching because I LOVE cereal. Who doesn't? It tastes good, is easy to make, and is a quick and convenient breakfast.

Since being diagnosed as a diabetic, I have mostly eliminated cereals and other grain products, such as bread (something else I LOVE), from my diet because of their effects on my blood sugar levels. They may have less of an effect on your blood sugar levels, but I doubt that for most diabetics.

At any rate, I keep searching for that elusive cereal that I can enjoy, even if it's just once a week. Here are results from my latest cereal tests.

Steel Cut Oats

I have tested oatmeal many times over the years because it is one of my favorites. I recently learned about steel cut oats and decided to give them a try as steel cut oats are supposed to be much better on your sugar levels than the rolled oats that are found in most oatmeal products.

BZZZZZZZZZ! Wrong answer. I am highly disappointed to report that steel cut oats behaved just as harshly on my blood sugar level as regular oatmeal. I have tried them five times over the last couple of weeks. Here is one example.

One day last week my sugar was at 150 in the morning (higher than it usually is). I ate some steel cut oats (1/4 cup before cooking, 27 carbs) and it went to 258. I went for a 5 mile walk about 90 minutes after breakfast and my blood sugar dropped to 88. This is a typical result when I eat any kind of cereal; rapid rise followed by a rapid drop, particularly after exercising.

I am going to continue testing with steel cut oats but with a smaller portion, 1/8 of a cup (uncooked). Here's why. I think that this type of oatmeal can be included in my breakfast at the smaller portion size, although I still need to prove that. The key is to prepare it the night before by boiling the oats in a cup of water and letting them sit in the pan overnight. The oats expand into a decent sized portion, even starting with 1/8 of a cup.

Cheerios

The other cereal that I have been testing recently is cheerios. I actually had not eaten cheerios in many years but decided to give them a try because there are only 20 carbohydrates in one cup of cheerios. As you may have noticed, most cereals have very high carb counts for even just a 1/2 a cup, often in the 40s per serving.

I have to say that cheerios is the best cereal that I have found so far. It does raise my sugar 40-50 points and even if I don't exercise it comes down again in about 3 hours. Yesterday I tried 1 cup of cheerios (20 carbs) and two fried eggs (yum). My sugar went up 45 points and in 3 hours was down to 108 without exercising. Today I tried the same breakfast. My blood sugar went up about the same and went down to 86 after walking.

UPDATE: After continued testing, once again I have determined that I just can't eat any cereals. The problem is that my sugar levels spike up too far in the first couple of hours after eating cereals. I just don't think that is a good thing. At this point I can't recommend to anyone eating ANY cereals because of the spiking issue. However, if your blood sugar levels don't spike up like mine do, it's probably okay for you. I am still of the opinion that humans should not eat most grain products.

Final Thoughts on Grain

In my years of research I have read a lot of pros and cons as to whether humans should eat grain products. Who is right may be difficult to determine. I can honestly say that cutting out most grain products from my diet has greatly improved my ability to control and manage my diabetes. I believe that strategy will work well for anyone.

One more thing. How grains affect me may be different than how they affect you. Plus, I do NOT take insulin or drugs of any kind in managing my diabetes (and never will again). So if you do similar tests to what I have described above, your results may differ, especially if you do take drugs or insulin.

More on the issue of taking diabetic drugs and/or insulin in a future post (I have very STRONG opinions on this).