Dietitian Cortis wrote in a Facebook post that eating refined starch, with its high glycemic index (GI), causes blood sugar to rise sharply and to a higher level. Being in a high blood sugar state for a long time not only increases the risk of type 2 diabetes but may also cause chronic kidney and cardiovascular disease. Many people, for convenience in the morning, casually eat a piece of bread to get by, without knowing that this increases the risk of high blood sugar. He cited a study published in 2017 in the European Journal of Nutrition. The study used a randomized crossover design and invited 12 healthy Chinese male subjects to explore the effects of drinking low-fat milk and soy milk before (preload) or simultaneously with (co-ingestion) carbohydrate intake (white bread) on post-meal blood sugar, insulin, and gastric emptying rate.
The trial used "white bread plus plain water" as the reference standard and divided the subjects into the following 5 groups for testing:
Bread alone
Soy milk and bread eaten at the same time
Low-fat milk and bread eaten at the same time
Soy milk first, bread 30 minutes later
Low-fat milk first, bread 30 minutes later
Researchers collected capillary and venous blood samples from the subjects before and 3.5 hours after the meal to precisely measure their blood sugar and insulin levels.
The study results confirmed that changing the order of eating has an immediate and remarkable effect on controlling post-meal blood sugar:
The study found that whether eaten at the same time as the bread or drunk earlier, milk or soy milk can significantly reduce the post-meal blood sugar peak and glycemic index.
Soy milk first, bread 30 minutes later: The subjects' blood sugar peak dropped by 30% (from 2 mmol/L to 1.4 mmol/L), and the glycemic index dropped by 50% (from 100 to 50).
Low-fat milk first, bread 30 minutes later: The subjects' blood sugar peak likewise dropped by 30% (from 2 mmol/L to 1.4 mmol/L), and the glycemic index also dropped significantly by 36% (from 100 to 64).
Hong Kong's Hospital Authority states that diabetes is a chronic disease of metabolic dysfunction. When the insulin secreted by the pancreas is insufficient, or insulin cannot function, blood sugar will rise abnormally, leading to diabetes. Among them, type 2 diabetes accounts for more than 90% of all cases, mainly related to factors such as poor dietary habits, obesity, and lack of exercise. Body cells resist insulin and cannot effectively absorb and use glucose, causing excess sugar to accumulate in the blood.
Excessively high blood sugar can cause disorders of fat and protein metabolism, and in the long run will cause damage to multiple body systems and organs, including the cardiovascular system, retina, nerves, and kidneys. According to the American Diabetes Association, the standards for abnormal blood sugar and diabetes are as follows:
Impaired fasting glucose: fasting blood sugar between "≥5.6 mmol/L" and "<7 mmol/L"
Impaired glucose tolerance: 2-hour post-meal blood sugar between "≥7.8 mmol/L" and "<11.1 mmol/L"
Both impaired fasting glucose and impaired glucose tolerance belong to prediabetes
Diabetes: fasting blood sugar ≥7 mmol/L, or 2-hour post-meal blood sugar >11.1 mmol/L
Early Symptoms of Diabetes:
Some patients may experience the following symptoms in the early stage of the disease:
Frequent thirst
Frequent urination
Feeling hungry
Weight loss
Easily fatigued
Blurred vision
Wounds slow to heal
Itchy skin; women may experience genital itching
Source: Dietitian Cortis, Hospital Authority
