6 tips on healthy carbs to beat diabetes

If you’re managing diabetes you need to pick your carbs carefully. The following tips will help you select the right types for best health.

When you eat carbohydrate foods, you should be sure those foods are "complex" carbs — basically, grains that have not been stripped of their fibre and nutrients. These "whole" grains take longer to digest and therefore won't raise your blood sugar as dramatically as processed carbohydrates do. They also contain far more vitamins and minerals than refined carbs.

Many Canadians aren't used to eating whole grains and may not know where to begin. Fortunately, it's not difficult to do. Buy bread and rolls with the word whole on the label, and the name of the grain as the first ingredient. This is the easiest way to shift the balance from simple to complex carbs in your diet.

Don't be fooled by words that manufacturers sometimes use to make their products sound healthier than they are. For example, colouring a loaf of bread brown and calling it wheat bread doesn't make it whole wheat. Or saying a product is "made with wheat flour" could be true of both whole wheat bread and angel food cake. If a product is truly whole grain, the label will list whole wheat, whole oats or some other whole grain as the first ingredient on the label.

Eat a whole grain-rich breakfast. Some of the most accessible sources of whole grains can be found in your breakfast bowl, in cereals such as oatmeal, Grape-Nuts, and Wheat Chex. Look for a cereal that contains at least three grams of fibre per serving — the higher the fibre content, the better.

Give a boost to homemade baked goods by replacing one-third of the white flour with whole wheat flour.

Use whole wheat pasta. It's becoming more widely available, along with whole wheat couscous, bulgur and other whole grain products.

Switch to brown rice. It may take a little while to get used to it if you usually eat white rice, but soon you'll find yourself enjoying its nutty taste and slightly chewy texture.

Barley is one of the richest sources of cholesterol-lowering soluble fibre, but people don't often think to include it in their diets — and maybe you aren't sure how. Try these ideas for starters:

• Add it to soups and stews as a more nutritious alternative to pasta or noodles.
• Make a side dish by sautéing vegetables such as onions, garlic and carrots, then adding barley and herbs, such as sage and thyme, and simmering in water according to the package directions.
• Try a barley salad topped with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.
• Add barley to chili as a textured thickener that will allow you to use less meat.
• Use it in place of rice to stuff peppers.

Sticking to carbs that will not send your blood sugar soaring is easy if you know what to look for and how to include such foods in your diet. Follow these tips to help successfully manage your diabetes.