My eight year old daughter was diagnosed about eight months ago, and I do not feel that carb counting (which is what we have been doing) is good enough. I don’t think she is getting a “balanced diet” so I will look into this again. I also heard about some new rating called the “glycemic index” that tells you the effect that food will have on your blood sugar? Have you ever heard of this?

I have written many articles and Web pages about the glycemic index and will have a book about it coming out early next year. The best place to start is probably a relatively short article that I have on-line. (See my Glycemic Index page.) You can find the complete zip file of all foods that have been professionally tested at www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm.

The key book about the glycemic index is called The Glucose Revolution: The Authoritative Guide to the Glycemic Index-The Groundbreaking Medical Discovery by Thomas M.S. Wolever, MD. PhD, Jennie Brand-Miller, PhD, Kaye Foster-Powell, Stephen Colagiuri MD. A new edition of the book, called The New Glucose Revolution, is coming out in January or February, 2003. You might also want to get a hold of a little book by the same authors called The Glucose Revolution Pocket Guide to Children with Type 1 Diabetes.

Professor David Ludwig at Harvard University has done a lot of research on the value of the glycemic index for children, and his articles to date have all been published in professional journals. However, he is teaming up with Mollie Katzen, the food author and PBS celebrity, to publish a book about low GI breakfasts for children, to be published soon.

DM