Whether you’re a diabetic or not, it pays to balance your blood sugar.

Image from Syntagma Photographic

A high sugar/refined carbohydrate diet will almost certainly ensure you suffer from mood swings at inconvenient times. You may also endure memory lapses, mental fuzziness, acute fatigue and weight issues.

In modern times it’s not so easy simply to restrict sugary foods. Sugar is often disguised in packaged foods with other names like, glucose, dextrose and flour (white flour acts like sugar in the blood stream). It’s hard to avoid the sweet stuff without adopting a very limited diet.

It is, however, possible to balance your blood sugar naturally. A two step strategy is best. You can cut out overt sugar in your meals, and also assist the body in coping with what’s left.

Chromium is said to have an effect in regulating blood sugar and can be bought as a mineral supplement. But two natural products you can add to your food will make a difference.

Camomile may be bought as a tea, or tisane, in tea bags. Apart from its relaxing effect, it gently balances your blood sugar.

Cinnamon has a similar function. It can be taken in many ways. Sprinkling a quarter teaspoon over breakfast cereal is probably the easiest.

Sugar is a major problem in Western societies. It causes obesity, street violence (in association with alcohol), and endless ill health.

A spoonful of sugar is the problem not the medicine

Because of the power of the weight-loss industry, many believe that a diet aimed at lowing the GI (Glycemic Index) of foods consumed is all about losing weight. It isn’t — although that’s one of the effects.

For example, do you experience mood swings, mental fuzziness or memory lapses? In the absence of brain disease, you are probably suffering from high blood sugar. The condition often leads to Type 2 diabetes, which affects cells’ sensitivity to insulin.

Adopting a low GI program is the way out of this vicious cycle.

Foods like fresh (not processed) meats, chicken, fish, oils, eggs and cheese don’t appear in GI lists because they don’t immediately raise blood sugar and provoke an alarming insulin response. They do, however, contribute to total calorie intake, so should be eaten in sensible quantities.

We’ll be discussing this in more detail in future posts, so to begin with, here’s a list of low GI foods and their index in ascending value.

Low GI foods
Roasted and salted peanuts 14
Low-fat yoghurt with sweetener 14
Cherries 22
Grapefruit 25
Pearl barley 25
Red lentils 26
Whole milk 27
Dried apricots 31
Butter beans 31
Skimmed milk 32
Low-fat fruit yoghurt 33
Wholemeal spaghetti 37
Apples 38
Pears 38
Tomato soup, canned 38
Apple juice, unsweetened 40
All Bran 42
Chick peas, canned 42
Peaches 42
Porridge made with water 42
Lentil soup 44
Oranges 44
Green grapes 46
Orange juice 46
Peas 48
Baked beans in tomato sauce 48
Carrots, boiled 49
Kiwi fruit 52
Stoneground wholemeal bread 53
Special K 54
Banana 55
Raw oatbran 55
Sweetcorn 55

To balance your blood sugar naturally, feel great, and increase your energy levels, a low GI diet is the way to go.