Episode 37: Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load

Today we’re diving into the glycemic index and also talking about glycemic load. These are important tools to understand how food affects our blood sugars, and why we can eat blueberries but not pineapple when on a low-carb protocol.

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The glycemic load is tied to glycemic index and takes into account both the quality and quantity of the carbohydrates you’re eating, but scientists have proven that the glycemic index is what actually helps with blood sugar control and losing weight, not glycemic load. How high your blood sugar rises and how long it stays high depends on the quality of the carbohydrates (the glycemic index) and the quantity, and that’s where glycemic load comes in.

Wins & Fails

Jessie's Win: Jessie's wearing her sensor now, and hasn't been over 250 mg/dL for the last 3 days (except once after having Jimmy John's.) Her 670G pump was also affected by the recall, and sent hers back. We talked about this recall back in episode 30.

Colleen's Fail: Working from home means I’m using less insulin, and this directly relates to last week’s hack to only put as much insulin in your reservoir that you’ll need for three days. The last two sites have gone into day 4, and while the first one was great—I ran it down to 4 units—the second one didn’t do as well and I ran high all night and into the morning.

Hack of the Week

For Medtronic pumps, the bottom of the factory clip can be used as a tool to unscrew the battery cap. When I was on Medtronic I often resorted to keeping a quarter around. This would've been good to know back then!

Ever wonder what the glycemic index is, or what glycemic load means? We break it down for you and clarify why it's important to know what they both are.

Diabetes Spotlight

The spotlight this week is on a new study released by the University of Exeter, demonstrating that type 1 diabetes is not one, but two distinct conditions, defined by diagnosis age.

The paper summary says that children who are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes under the age of 7 have a different form or “endotype” of the condition compared with those diagnosed age 13 or older.