People whose doctors tell them they are glucose intolerant probably also hear something like this in more technical language: "You are pre-diabetic. Save yourself. Eat differently." Glucose intolerance does not mean that you will have to be on a diet, per se, for the rest of your life, but it does mean that you will have to change your eating habits for good. It's not as painful as you might think.
Sugar Has to Go
You'll have to give up sugar. That means no sugar-sweetened soft drinks, baked goods, puddings, candy and other sweets. But you don't have to eliminate sweet things. There are many good sugar substitutes. Sucralose tastes much like regular sugar--most people can't distinguish it from sugar--and many manufacturers of products such as sugar-free ice cream and diet soda now use it. Some people complain of an after-taste, however.
Watch out for sugar alcohols, such as malitol. They end in "itol." Often used in sugar-free candy, they also taste good and the texture is perfect, but a little bit is all your system can handle without developing diarrhea.
Avoid Other Simple Carbs
Other than sugar, you will want to avoid other simple carbohydrates, which will spike your blood sugar. These include pasta, flour-based foods, rice and potatoes. Beans are also high in simple carbs.
Complex carbohydrates are another matter. Complex carbohydrates are the stuff of fresh vegetables. Substituting high fiber fresh vegetables for potatoes, rice and pasta helps to fill the side-dish gap.
Calculate Net Carbs
Learn to read labels and calculate net carbs. One serving of a given product may have carbs in it, but some of them may be fiber, which do not spike blood sugar, so you can deduct the fiber count from the carb count. For example, high fiber bread may have 16 carbs per slice, but it may also have 7 grams of fiber per slice, so the net number of carbs amounts to only 9 carbs per slice.
The Paleolithic Diet
Research suggests that a Paleolithic diet, one composed of complex carbohydrates and lean meat (preferably wild or free range) and that eschews dairy and simple carbs, legumes, potatoes and all but tiny bits of unprocessed grain, improves glucose tolerance. A recent study at Sweden's University of Lund concluded, "a Paleolithic diet may improve glucose tolerance."
Other Low-carb Diets
Low carb diets go by many names: the Atkins diet, the Protein Power diet, the Paleolithic diet and more. All of them, to one degree or another, will help to control glucose intolerance. Avid followers of each argue about differences, but the bottom line for someone who is glucose intolerant is to make an informed decision with the help of an informed physician and make dietary changes.
Omega 3 Fatty Acids
Omega 3 oils, also called omega 3 fatty acids, also help to control glucose intolerance, as well as lower blood pressure and triglycerides and control cholesterol. The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, concluded, "consumption of omega-3 (fatty acids) positively affects components of (metabolic syndrome), insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance."
Extra virgin olive oil, flax seeds and flax seed oil, avocados, salmon, albacore tuna and other fatty fish all contain omega 3 fatty acids. If you don't like fish, fish oil capsules are a good substitute.
You Will Have Enough Energy Without Simple Carbs
Don't worry about having enough energy without simple carbs. All nutritious foods give you energy. A calorie by definition is a unit of energy. Simple carbs, though they give you a shot of quick energy, lack nutrition, spike your blood sugar, leave you in a slump and result in you storing fat, rather than burning it--because you are burning the simple carbs rather than the fat.
Eat Properly Now
To control your glucose response and prevent diabetes, eat as if you are already a diabetic. There are many good cookbooks available that can give you ideas on how to modify your current diet so that you won't miss simple carbs as much as you think you will.
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