Quick, Easy Ways to Reduce Damage from Delicious Carbs

[View this email in your browser]( Quick, Easy Ways to Reduce the Damage Simple Carbs Can Do to Your Blood Sugar Levels Let’s toast the researchers who recently discovered that there are simple ways (including toasting) to reduce the impact that bread, pizza, pasta, and rice have on your blood sugar levels. If you’re like most Americans, you’re eating five servings of foods packed with simple carbs, such as refined grains, pastas, and white bread, every day. And all those refined carbs turn into sugars in your guts and bloodstream, triggering inflammation, weakening your immune system, and setting you up for an increased risk of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. The smart move is to slash refined carbs from your daily diet and feast on whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables that deliver plenty of fiber and nutrients, and stabilize your blood sugar levels. But let’s be honest. Few folks are going to give up their daily dose of refined carbohydrates. Luckily, the researchers found how you can reduce the damage simple carbs do to your blood sugar levels. They fed 10 healthy folks homemade and commercially-produced white bread that had been prepared in 3 different ways – toasted; frozen and defrosted; or frozen, defrosted, and then toasted. Then they tested the effect each “treatment” had on the bread’s impact on participants’ blood sugar. Compared to eating fresh bread, those three methods significantly reduced the impact that refined carbs had on blood sugar. The most effective method—freezing, thawing, and then toasting—reduced the glycemic impact by almost 40%. That works because freezing, thawing, and toasting changes the molecular structure of the starch molecules in the bread—making them slower to digest and reducing their glycemic load. Another Cool Way to Reduce Your Blood Sugar Berberine, an alkaloid compound used in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine, helps manage inflammation and infection. A recent meta-review of studies of the herb, published in the journal Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, indicates it may also lower HbA1c levels (long-term glucose levels) and reduce insulin resistance in folks with diabetes. [The iHerb blog, “Berberine Health Benefits,”]( says: “the journal Ethnopharmacology published a detailed review of 27 clinical studies with berberine. Results showed quite convincingly that in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus, berberine (500mg two to three times daily) along with lifestyle intervention lowered the level of fasting blood sugar levels, after-meal blood sugar levels and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) more than lifestyle intervention alone or placebo.” And “when berberine was compared to type 2 diabetes [medications] like metformin, glipizide and rosiglitazone, there was no statistical significance between the treatment of berberine and these drugs. In other words, the clinical results seen with berberine are on par with the drugs, but with no significant side effects.” However, berberine can interact with metformin and other diabetes medications, so talk with your doctor about taking the supplement. [Try Berberine]( Sizzling Garlic Shrimp with Fresh Tomato Toast Incorporating toast into meals is easy - try my daughter Daphne's tender shrimp in sizzling garlic-chile oil, served with a side of grilled bread rubbed with more garlic and tomato, otherwise known as Gambas al Ajillo and Pan Con Tomate! [Get the Recipe]( This newsletter is not a substitute for your physician’s advice and the claims have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to treat, cure or prevent any disease. Know someone who might be interested in this newsletter? Please share it with them! First time reading? [Sign up here.]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Twitter]( Copyright © 2024 ZoCo Productions LLC, All rights reserved. You're receiving this email because you signed up for a ZoCo Productions newsletter. Our mailing address is: ZoCo Productions LLC 555 W 57th St.New York, NY 10019 [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](.