Diabetes Counselling Online Archives - Diabetes Counselling Online

Yoghurt, probiotics and d-health

March 10, 2015 by Sally Leave a Comment

With so much fascinating talk about gut microbiata (micro-organisms/bacteria) and health about, I thought it worth a fresh look at yoghurt as part of the dairy serves in our day as it is a great source of these microbiata in our diets. I’m also often asked about which are the best yoghurts from a fat and sugar perspective. Please consult your healthcare team before following the advice here, especially if you’re pregnant, breastfeeding or have a compromised immune system.

We’ll start with a review of why dairy is so important in our diets, then go on to look more closely at probiotics (live organisms/bacteria) and to look at some of the yoghurt choices available on the market, and what to look for when you’re making choices. We’ll finish with some ideas to help us to include more yoghurt in our day.

Last year I wrote a couple of blogs on ‘Dairy and Diabetes’ that I’d really like to remind everyone of, as they included some important messages for our diabetes health.

In the first one, ‘Dairy Foods – health benefits for us with diabetes’ we looked at the dairy and alternatives group in the Healthy Eating Guidelines for Adults brochure. We notice that different genders and ages have significantly different requirements in this important food group. We all need different amounts for different reasons, and for us with diabetes it’s a really important food group for many reasons. Not least, that dairy products have a low-glycemic index. There’s also a great amount of evidence relating to how meeting our dairy serves can contribute to improved wellbeing, with or without diabetes, so pop back and have a read of this one too.

We’re also reminded in the words of the Australian Dietary Guidelines that: “Milk, cheese and yoghurt have various health benefits and are a good source of many nutrients, including calcium, protein, iodine, vitamin A, vitamin D, riboflavin, vitamin B12 and zinc. These foods provide calcium in a readily absorbable and convenient form.”

The Guidelines also remind people with lactose intolerance in relation to yoghurt that: “lactose in yoghurt is already partially broken down by bacteria that thicken the yoghurt, so should be well tolerated”.

The second blog (link above) is about milk comparisons and more ideas for including more dairy in our diet.

Which leads us on nicely to more on yoghurts….

Probiotics – why are they important?

Yoghurt provides similar health benefits that milk does and can have the added benefits of good bacteria or probiotics (eg aBc – La-5 Lactobacillus acidophilus, BB-12 bifidobacterium, Lc-431 Lactobacillus Casei and LCG) which contribute to improved health. Health based on those good bacteria is currently attracting a lot of research into improved immunity, general wellbeing and to improve specific conditions such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, NAFLD (very relevant for those with type 2 diabetes) and mental health among others. This article provides much more detail if you’d like to read more about probiotics and health/wellbeing.

However, not all yoghurts contain added probiotics, so it’s important to check the label for mention of them, otherwise you may not get the benefits you’re hoping for from them. It’s also worth noting that yoghurts containing probiotics will have a shorter shelf-life as the bacteria deteriorate fairly quickly, so don’t wait around until the yoghurt is on its ‘best by’ date if you’re hoping for the probiotic benefits.

Fat & Sugar in yogurts

With diabetes, and even just in general health, it’s important that we minimise added sugars and keep an eye on the saturated fats in our food products.

The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommends that we choose low-fat dairy products, which means we’re looking for less than 2g/100g saturated fat due to its link with heart health issues, inflammation and increased insulin resistance/decreased insulin production over time. This is particularly important for us with diabetes, and although adding fat to a carbohydrate will lower the glycemic index of the meal, it is just not worth taking the risk with saturated fats. It’s best to try to minimise them in our food choices.. The other aspects of the yoghurt (low GI quality carb and protein) will still help to lower the glycaemic index of the meal without the extra fat.

As to added sugar, we are always looking for as little as possible as an added ingredient. Lactose is a naturally occurring sugar with a low-GI that’s found in dairy foods, so just looking at the amount of sugar in the nutrition information panel may not help us to know whether it has added sugar. Check the ingredients listing first, looking for ‘added’ sources of sugar, like ‘sugar’, honey, palm sugar, maple syrup and other syrups. On the nutrition information panel, look for less than 10g/100g sugars to help watch the added sugars.

If you like the sweeter flavoured yogurts, try adding your own sweetness in the form of fruit, or even a small amount of added sugar, so at least you are in control of the extra sugars. Of course artificially sweetened yogurts are also readily available if you don’t mind the flavour.

Dietitian Connection recently published a comparison table of yoghurts by student dietitian Stacey Beech (thank you Stacey!) which includes information about all the macronutrients (fat, carbohydrate & protein) as well as fibre, calcium, sodium and probiotics. From this list I’ve picked a few ‘better’ examples of brands from that table to try, with a focus on the good bacteria, the low saturated fat, and low added added sugars. My top three favourites are:

The Nestle Ski Soleil (artificially sweetened) range
Vaalia Natural Probiotic Yoghurt (unflavoured)
Pauls All Naturally Tub Set Yoghurt 99.8% Fat Free (also unflavoured)
Jalna Low Fat plain yoghurt

There are other yoghurts on the market that may not have made Stacey’s list, so remember that you want the pack to tell you about the good bacteria (probiotics) it contains, look for less than 2g/100g saturated fat and less than 10g/100g sugar (preferably no added ‘sugar’). This Aldi one is a good example. It’s 2.7g/100g saturated fat, just over our target, but ticks all the other boxes so I’d say that it was worth a try too!

If you’re finding that plain yoghurt is a little bitter for your tastebuds, why not give the lactose free versions a try. These seem sweeter because the added lactase enzyme has split the lactose sugar into its parts, which changes the way it tastes, but with the same health benefits.

Some of the strained Greek yoghurts are also less tart because the whey has been strained off.

Of course you can always make your own, but watch the sugar and fat components in doing that

Multiple uses for yoghurt

For those of you who struggle to meet the recommended dairy serves in your day, yoghurt is an excellent option that can be included multiple times across the day. More than one serve a day is easy to achieve. It works:

At breakfast on top of cereal with fruit
As a snack or dessert choice
As a dressing on your salad (mixed with fresh herbs, lemon juice or vinegar and a teaspoon of grainy mustard)
In place of sour cream on your baked potato (helping to lower the overall GI of the potato)
In place of fats in baking recipes (read this blog by Joan Bailey to learn more)
As dip or accompaniment to Indian curries (example recipe)

How else do you include yoghurt in your day? We’d love to have your comments and suggestions! See the comments box below.

Sally

Please Share!

Guest Blog:Thanks Teacher

February 22, 2015 by helwild 1 Comment

Our guest poet, Maureen Campey, has written another great poem about Parenting a child with diabetes. This time, Maureen has written about her teenage son starting a new year of High School, one of those momentous hurdles that we all face as parents.

Here are Maureen’s wise words.

Sending our kids back to school always brings its own set of worries and frustrations. My T1 14yr old has gone back to a new set of teachers. He seems pretty cool with it all. My ‘coping mechanism’ seems to have become, Writing Poetry! Weird, I know but it helps me get it out of my system. I hope you don’t mind if I share!

Dear Teacher

Hi, hello, it’s me again.
Please don’t roll your eyes!
I’m not a helicopter parent,
I come in peace!

I need to explain
That my child will be carrying an invisible pancreas.
You won’t even know it’s there.
He will carry it with him wherever he goes.
He will do its job and look after it
But sometimes he may grow a little weary.
Your help may be needed as he mustn’t let go of this tiresome load.

Scared? Don’t be!
Imagine how he feels all day, every day
Yet he keeps on going.
Your job is small and help is at hand for you.

My child must calculate many things at the same time.
He must think like a pancreas.
Can you imagine?
As well as trying to learn,
He must anticipate the effect of every action and piece of food
Whilst travelling from class to class, and teacher to teacher.
No mean feat!

I will make sure you are given the knowledge you need.
I ask that you are willing to accept your role.
Let him be and don’t become a helicopter teacher.
He is not perfect.
Do not expect gratitude,
There will be no immediate reward for what you do
But know that he will go on to live a full life
Having learnt from you that this burden can be shared.

You will never know the gift you have given my child
But please know that I will be forever in your debt.

Maureen Campey

Please Share!

D-thoughts on bread

February 9, 2015 by Sally 5 Comments

Bread has become a staple food in our modern diet but can be problematic for those of us with diabetes, especially if it has a high glycemic index, we eat too much of it, or it contains too much of nutrients such as sodium and saturated fat which can affect our heart health and longer term insulin resistance. Today’s blog aims to help to you make better choices by understanding where it fits in the Australian Dietary Guidelines and find a bread that you can enjoy while maximising your glycemic control.

And for those of us who avoid wheat/rye bread due to the gluten content (coeliac disease, wheat intolerance or a FODMAP intolerance) we can take a look at some of those options too.

Probably a good place to start is a look at where bread fits in the Australian Dietary Guidelines, then we’ll go on to a reminder on label reading, which will lead in nicely to a look at some of the better bread choices on the market for people with diabetes based on a comparison table put together by student dietitian Stacey Beech for Dietitian Connection.

Australian Dietary Guidelines

Of course bread fits into the grains and cereals food group in the Australian Dietary Guidelines, and we encourage breads that are full of whole grains which provide extra nutrients and fibre in the bread you’re choosing. This is beneficial for your general health, as well as your diabetes health. And the more whole grains there are, the lower the glycemic index will be to help you avoid those spikes which can be associated with breads for some people.

Click on the image if you need it to be larger

You can read more about grains in this blog on grains prepared earlier for Diabetes Counselling Online. And the recent blog on snacks highlights that a piece of grainy bread can work well as a snack (with a topping) if you haven’t used your suggested serves for the day.

Label reading on bread packs

It’s important not just to think about the amount of carbohydrate in the bread you’re choosing, because often if the carb is low they’ve had to manipulate fat and sodium to make up for it.

As with most products we should be aiming for lower total fat (breads are usually quite low at around 2-6g/100g), lower saturated fat (well under 2g/100g) and lower sodium (less than 400mg/100g). Fibre should be as high as possible, and protein can be higher too (to contribute to lowering the GI).

We discussed this comparison a while ago in the Diabetes and Food – let’s celebrate it! closed Facebook group and the main point made was that although the Helgas low carb seeded loaf is indeed lower in carb with 27.7g/100g compared with 44.5g/100g in the ‘usual’ one, there’s over 10% more energy (kilojoules) meaning it won’t help with weight management because the fat is 10.9g/100g in the low carb version, compared with 2.8 in the grainy one. If you’re not trying to lose weight then it’ll be fine, but it’s worth bearing this in mind as we know that extra body weight contributes to poorer glycemic control.

It’s also worth checking comparison tables (summary of one below) as I noticed there’s a bread called ‘Well Being Lower Carb Bread’ that actually has the same level of carbs as many of the wholegrain varieties – just a reminder to not always believe what it says on the pack!

Helgas low carb 5 seeds bread NIP — Helga’s low carb 5 seeds bread NIP

Helgas mixed grain bread NIP — Helga’s mixed grain bread NIP

Good bread options from the Dietitian Connection bread comparison table by Stacey Beech

This is a mini-table with content taken from Stacey’s more comprehensive table, to show you some of the better bread choices on the market. All values are per 100g.

By no means am I suggesting these are the best breads, but by showing you this comparison I hope to help you to recognise which breads will be better choices for you. I’ve only chosen the ‘mainline’ brands to compare. And I’ve only covered wheat breads here, where rye breads are also a good option.

Bread	Energy (kJ)	Protein (g)	Fat (total) (g)	Fat (sat) (g)	Carb (g)	Dietary Fibre (g)	Sodium (mg)
Burgen Wholegrain & Oats Bread	964	10.7	9.1	0.6	31.9	6.4	280
Helga’s Traditional Wholemeal Grain Bread	1010	9.9	4.0	<1.0	38.0	7.3	400
Coles Smart Buy Multigrain Sandwich	990	8.8	2.4	0.4	47.0	4.3	400
Well Being Lower Carb Bread	952	10.4	2.1	0.6	36.8	8.8	349
Tip Top 9 Grain Wholemeal	1040	12.4	6.4	0.7	30.6	8.7	370

And here are some of the gluten free comparisons if you have an interest here.

Bread	Energy (kJ)	Protein (g)	Fat (total) (g)	Fat (sat) (g)	Carb (g)	Dietary Fibre (g)	Sodium (mg)
Helga’s Sunflower and Red Quinoa GF Bread	1100	6.3	8.0	<1.0	40.1	4.2	400
Coles GF Chia & Seed Bread	1130	7.3	7.5	1.5	41.2	3.7	280
Country Life Gluten & Dairy Free Lower GI	1030	6.0	7.2	<1.0	37.2	4.2	400
Pure Bred Multigrain Farmhouse (added Iron)	717	5.1	2.3	0.3	32.6	9.7	534
Burgen GF Sunflower and Chia Bread	1190	7.0	9.7	1.4	39.7	4.2	400

I included a variety of breads here for you consider what type of bread will suit your personal needs, but of course you should consider how you personally enjoy the taste of the bread you’ve chosen. Trying a few different varieties is often a good idea in that respect to find what works for you, for taste, glycemic control and long term health.

Sourdough and Wraps

These types of breads can be beneficial for people with diabetes, especially for those who really don’t like the grainer options.

With sourdough it’s important to check that it is ‘real’ sourdough as the term ‘sourdough’ is often misused as a marketing word on some breads. If it’s real sourdough, then the glycemic index should be lower (due to the fermentation process involved).

Wraps

There are a few good wraps around, although there aren’t many actually listed in the Low GI Shoppers Guide 2014 with a low-GI. The only one I could spot was the Diego’s low-carb wraps which have 11.g carb per serve. But I’d be checking the fat and sodium levels on that label before buying them…

One of our often discussed favourites in the Diabetes and Food – Let’s celebrate it! Facebook group is the Goodness SuperFoods Barley Max wrap which does tick all the boxes, so is a great one to try if you haven’t already.

I don’t want bread!

Of course no-one is suggesting that we *have to* eat bread. Many people I know choose to avoid it for various reasons, and that’s what suits you, then it’s easy to meet your grain serve guidelines in other foods.

It’s also worth mentioning that everyone is different as to how different carbs affect your BGLs, so a little self-experimenting with testing your BGLs before and 2 hours after meals can go a long way with various foods so you can have a better feel as to how those foods effect you personally.

I hope you’ve found this blog on bread helpful in making your choices best for your diabetes and general wellbeing. Sally

Sally is the Social Media Dietitian with Diabetes Counselling Online, owner of her private practice (Marchini Nutrition), has had type 1 diabetes for close to 40 years and coeliac disease for many years too. You can access a linked list of all Sally’s Diabetes Counselling Online blogs here.

Please Share!

D-thoughts on snacking

January 26, 2015 by Sally Leave a Comment

Happy Australia Day! And what good timing for a blog on snacking! It must be the ‘most asked’ question I get as a dietitian: “What are the best snacks for people with diabetes?”

It’s not really a black and white question as the answer depends on your personal diabetes requirements, your personal tastes, your ability to be mindful in your choices and your knowledge of healthy eating in general. So this blog aims to help you to be mindful in making snacking decisions.

We encourage you to choose foods that are higher in nutrients to add to your overall wellbeing, rather than ‘discretionary choices’ which everybody, diabetic or not, is encouraged to limit. It’s especially the case for us with diabetes… but it doesn’t mean missing out on delicious flavours!

Priority One

Your first priority needs to be your overall diabetes goals. Are you getting all the nutrients from your diet that you need for wellbeing? Are you needing to watch your weight? Is matching your food intake to your body’s ability to process carbs an issue for you?

A perfect segue to our Australian Dietary Guidelines… Are you actually meeting the quantities recommended in the 5 main food groups across your day?

In an ideal world we would choose snacks that are included in the foods that we are recommended to enjoy each day. In these examples I’m referring to the ‘Healthy Eating for Adults’ brochure, but there’s also a Healthy Eating for Children brochure for those thinking about their children with diabetes. In both cases, the actual food group listings are on page 2.

Each of the food groups has snacking potential, so there’s always plenty to choose from.

In the ‘Vegetables and legumes/beans’ group you can always find a low-carb snack if that’s what you’re after. Whether it’s raw veg to nibble on, celery with nut butter, blanched asparagus spears when they’re in season, tasty tiny tomatoes that burst with flavour in your mouth, hummous dip with veggie sticks, or even leftover cold roasted non-starchies or ratatouille (recipe in the files section of the closed ‘Diabetes and Food – let’s celebrate it!’ Facebook group). There are always options in this group of foods if one of them will meet what you’re looking for…

Next group down and a great one for those wanting something to satisfy a sweetness craving is the ‘Fruit’ group. With diabetes we are recommended to aim for about 2 serves per day, eaten at different times. However, some fruits are really low in carbohydrate, so we can have more of these without upsetting our glycemic control. Some of those include berries, passionfruit and kiwifruit. But still watch your quantities. If you want to know how much fruit will contain 15g of carbohydrate, take a look at www.calorieking.com.au , search for the fruit you are looking at, and adjust quantities to get to the 1 carb serve number.

In the ‘Grain (cereal) foods’ group, it’s easy to calculate whether you’re going to meet your daily recommended amount. Often for people with diabetes this is a group that people actually tend to be low in. Instead of choosing a ‘discretionary item’, swapping in a low-GI high fibre grain snack such a piece of heavily grained toast with a topping to suit your taste can be a great option to satisfy your hunger and keep your BGLs stable. Or even a small bowl of your high-fibre cereal. Of course these options all contain carbs, but they are all much more nutritious than a cracker or sweet biscuit.

In the ‘Protein’ group, snacking options are easy to find, but it’s important to remember to try not to exceed the guidelines in terms of serve sizes and number of serves recommendations. This is because protein contains energy (or calories/kilojoules) that will cause weight gain if you have too much, although they shouldn’t upset your glycemic control. I recommend having a read of this blog on Protein : written earlier, if you’d like more info. The perfect snack from within this group for us with diabetes is really a handful of nuts, as the evidence behind inclusion of nuts in our diet is quite outstanding. Read more about nuts in this blog.

And last, but not least, is the ‘Dairy and/or alternatives’ group. I wrote a couple of blogs about dairy and diabetes as it’s such an important food group for us with diabetes. Here’s a link to the first one and the second one that contain more great ideas for snacking. My favourite snacking recommendations to help meet the nutritional guidelines are a low-fat yogurt (low sugar too if you’re watching your carb intake closely) or plain low-fat greek yogurt with berries mixed in. Or a low-fat milk based smoothie made on frozen berries, with a couple of teaspoons of chia seeds added for extra fibre. Even a cup of milk based coffee can do the trick… These should work well to satisfy hunger and provide you with the nutrients this group is known for.

Priority Two

Your second priority, also a very important one, is to ask yourself what do you actually feel like eating and why? Sometimes snacking can become a habit. People say “I have a sweet tooth and NEED a biscuit or cake”. (or whatever) This is important too, because if you deprive yourself of what you really want (or feel you need) all the time, then your craving will only grow bigger and you’ll end up overdoing it and regretting it later. Not a good thing, but happens all too often. If you can enjoy a small amount of what you feel you “need”, being mindful of enjoying every mouthful, savouring the textures and flavours that you’ve wanted so badly, then you’re in a better place to return to your ‘healthier’ options on a regular basis.

Do I really need to snack?

If you’re medicated for your diabetes, and are putting yourself at risk of a hypo if you don’t snack, then you should snack as you’ve been advised by your medical diabetes team. If in this case you’d rather not be snacking as you’re just not hungry, then you should talk to your d-team and arrange to have the medication adjusted so that you don’t need to snack.

For those of you where snacking has just become a habit, it’s worth thinking twice to see if you really are hungry before you just head for a snack. Is it out of habit or because you’re bored? Sometimes a drink of water will satisfy that ‘hunger’ feeling, which may actually be your body telling you that you’re dehydrated. If you’re bored, take the opportunity to go for a walk, call a friend, do something off your household chores list, read a book, or engage in your hobby.

If you are constantly actually hungry, it may be worth your while to visit an Accredited Practising Dietitian to see how your meal plan can be adjusted to help avoid that happening. Being hungry is not good or necessary for you to manage your diabetes and weight well.

More ideas?

In the Diabetes Counselling Online closed Facebook groups ‘Diabetes and Food – let’s celebrate it!’ and ‘Diabetes Weight Matters’ we’ve asked the members what their favourite snacks are and have created a document up in the files section of the groups. I think I still need to finalise the weight matters file, but it’ll be there soon. These are member ideas, not necessarily dietitian approved, so please use this blog as a thought process in helping to make your snacking decisions right for you.

Also in the current issue (February 2015) of the Australian Healthy Food Guide they’re running a feature relevant to this blog that you may find helpful. It’s entitled “Your Treat Foods Toolkit” and explains “why those ‘naughty’ treat foods are discretionary, and how they can fit into a healthy diet.” It’s written by an Accredited Practicing Dietitian, Brooke Longfield and can be found on page 34. Although not related specifically to diabetes, you’ll find it helpful for portion sizes and understanding more about ‘discretionary’ foods.

Happy snacking! Sally

Please Share!

Making Rice Nice for Diabetes

January 12, 2015 by Sally Leave a Comment

Rice is one of those grains that can be problematic for people with diabetes, so I thought it might help if we explain a little of why that is, why different rices have varying effects on our BGLs and ways to make rice more diabetes friendly.

You may know that, generally speaking, a quarter of a cup of cooked rice is one carb serve. You can see that in this snip from CalorieKing showing that half a cup of boiled rice = 28.8g carb (or 2 carb serves).

And this photo shows you what half a cup of cooked rice (2 carb serves) looks like on a plate.

You may also know that, particularly for us with diabetes, we’re better having rice that breaks down more slowly to glucose in our bloodstream, or low-GI rice. The main types in Australia of low GI rices are long grain rices including Basmati and Doongara. Even when choosing brown rice for the extra fibre, we’re best to choose brown Basmati or Doongara.

This mini-table gives you a feel for the glycemic indexes of various rice products.

Source: Low GI Diet Shoppers Guide 2014

Rice type	Glycemic Index	Glycemic Index rating
Aborio/risotto rice, boiled, SunRice	69	Medium
Basmati white rice, boiled, SunRice	59	Medium
Basmati white rice, SunRice, microwave pouch	52	Low
Calrose rice, brown, medium-grain, boiled	76	High
Calrose rice, white, medium-grain, boiled	87	High
Japanese style sushi rice, SunRice	89	High
Jasmine fragrant rice, SunRice	73	High
Long-grain rice, white, boiled 15 mins, Mahatma	50	Low
Low-GI Long-Grain rice, Brown, SunRice	54	Low

This is only a snapshot, but it indicates that there’s quite a difference in how quickly the different rice types break down to glucose in our bloodstream. It’s also worth bearing in mind that the longer you cook any rice the higher it’s GI rating will become, so try to keep it tender, not mushy.

What makes these rices different in GI is the type of starches they contain combined with the shape of the grains. The two main starches found in rice varieties are amylose and amylopectin. Wikipedia explains that high-amylose varieties of rice, the less sticky long-grain rice, have a much lower glycemic load. It’s to do with the chemical structure of the starches.

Nutritionally rice is mostly starch (80-90%). This snip from Wikipedia shows the nutritional content of Rice, white, long-grain, raw, and demonstrates that it doesn’t add a whole lot of nutrients to our meals other than carbohydrate.

By keeping your portion sizes reasonable, consuming protein foods and vegetables with your rice meal will add nutrients and lower the overall GI of the meal.

And dishes that you’ve previously always used rice in can be nutritionally enhanced by swapping in other forms of more nutritious grains such as barley, quinoa and cracked wheat. Why not do an experiment and try some swaps out for yourself? One of my dietitian colleagues makes her sushi with quinoa, and barley risotto is amazing! Here’s a recipe from Taste.com.au for it.

One trick with rice is to combine it with other grains for added fibre and nutrients and to further lower the glycemic index and improve that nutritional profile.

Fortunately more and more options are available to us.

The Australian company, SunRice, has a great range of ‘Health & Wellbeing’ rices and rice blends that you may like to consider trying.

And Coles also has recently launched some similar products that are all high in fibre and have a low glycemic index too. The varieties available are:

Brown Rice and Quinoa
Brown Rice and Chia seeds
7 Ancient Grains – a combination of brown rice, green lentils, millet, quinoa, sorghum, amaranth and chia seeds (the highest fibre variety).

These microwaveable packs usually contain 2 serves per pack. You should check the Total Carb per Serve column to check how many carb serves a ‘serve’ contains. It’s usually about two. They’re very convenient quality carb options to keep in your pantry.

Resistant starch

Just a reminder while we’re on the subject of starches, that cooked and cooled starches develop a crystalline structure which makes them resistant to digestion (hence their name) which lowers their glycemic index. So adding cooked and cooled rice to your salads is a great way of adding a serve or two of low-GI carbs to your meal to help manage your blood glucose levels and provide the many benefits associated with including low-GI carbs in each meal. The theory of resistant starch goes that if the starch resists digestion it will end up in the large bowel to feed the good bacteria which in turn improve our immunity and overall wellbeing. You can read more in the blog on fibre if you’re interested.

So I hope you learned how to make rice work better for you. Please let us know if you have any questions. Sally

Sally is the Social Media Dietitian with Diabetes Counselling Online, owner of her private practice (Marchini Nutrition), and has had type 1 diabetes for close to 40 years and coeliac disease for many years too. You can access a linked list of all Sally’s Diabetes Counselling Online blogs here.

Please Share!