Carbs often get a bad reputation, especially if you’re living with diabetes. Because carbs have the biggest effect on blood glucose (blood sugar), you might think that you need to stop eating them. But carbs give your body energy and provide nutrients it needs, like B vitamins, fiber, calcium, and folate.
Including high-quality carbohydrates in your eating plan makes sure you have the energy and nutrients you need, helps you manage your blood glucose, and supports your overall health.
What Carbs Do in Your Body
When you eat carbs, your body breaks it down into glucose and sends it into the blood. This is called blood glucose. Insulin helps move the glucose from your blood into your cells, where it is either used as fuel for energy right away or stored for later use. Diabetes causes your blood glucose levels to rise higher than they should (hyperglycemia), and why the carbs in your eating plan play such a large role in managing diabetes.
When you have prediabetes or diabetes, there is an issue with insulin. Your body doesn’t either make enough insulin, can’t use insulin efficiently, or both. This causes blood glucose levels to rise higher than they should. This is called hyperglycemia.
Why You Need Carbs
Carbs are key to keeping your body running and giving you the energy you need during the day. Without blood glucose for energy, it starts to affect how well your body works. For example, if your brain doesn’t have a steady of blood glucose to work well, you may start feeling annoyed at small things, angry, or have trouble thinking.
If you take insulin or certain other diabetes medications and don’t eat enough carbs, your blood glucose can drop too low (hypoglycemia), which can be dangerous.
Quality Carbs
Quality carbs are those in vegetables, beans, lentils, fruit, whole grains, milk, and yogurt. They break down slowly and have key nutrients like fiber or protein, vitamins, and minerals that provide many health benefits.
Fiber slows digestion, helps keep you full, and supports digestive, heart, and brain health. An eating plan high in fiber also supports a healthy gut microbiome—the “good bacteria” in your gut—which plays a role in blood glucose management.
A general guideline is to eat at least 14 grams of fiber for every 1,000 calories you eat. For example, if you eat about 2,000 calories a day, aim for at least 28 grams of fiber.
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