Can People With Diabetes Eat Bread
If you have diabetes it's certain that someone has asked "can you eat bread?" Often the question comes as you're preparing to actually eat bread (implying you may not know what you're doing). Well, as with most things food not all bread is created equal. And as with most things food, of course, we can eat bread if we manage our portions and look to get valuable nutrients along with the carbohydrates.
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Can I eat bread?
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Can I Eat Bread if I Have Diabetes?
I get this question all the time…all the time. Can I eat bread? Or I find people saying “don’t worry, I’ve cut out all the bread from my diet to manage my diabetes.”
Here’s the secret that I want to make sure you hear... Yes, you can eat bread! Total grams of carbohydrates are what we are managing when we have diabetes but that doesn’t mean you need to stay away from bread. Yes, I know bread has carbohydrates but it’s a matter of balancing your plate with your food choices and getting the most nutritional value along with the carbohydrates.
What Do I Look For When Choosing The Type Of Bread?
When I’m choosing bread, I want the nutrition benefits of whole grain and fiber. I look at the food label. Looking at portion size (some bread have 2 slices while others have 1 slice as the serving size); Look for total grams of carbohydrate and grams of fiber. The more fiber, the better. Remember that our daily requirement of fiber is 25 grams for women and 38 grams for men. We want more fiber in our diet for the health benefits AND to help slow down the absorption of the carbohydrate we are eating.
For Pumpernickel, rye, wheat, raisin bread: in general, 1 slice is a serving.
For hamburger or hot dog buns, English muffins, or a 6-inch pita: half a bun, muffin or pita is a serving generally equivalent to 15 grams of carbohydrate.
For bagels: it gets a little trickier. There are such a variety of sizes. In general, one-quarter of a large bagel (a 1 oz serving) is equivalent to a 15-gram carb choice (this bagel has a total of 53 grams of carb). If there is a food label on the bagels you are purchasing, then definitely use the label, if you are buying your bagels from a bakery that doesn’t have the nutrition information available to you, then make sure to do some trials with how it affects your reading.
Remember that you can do your own investigative work regarding your diabetes management. The rule of thumb is to check in pairs. Check your blood sugar before the meal and two hours after the start of the meal to see how the meal you ate affects your blood sugar readings.
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Until next time, Cheers to your health.
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