May 6, 2004
Hypoglycemia, Meal Planning, Food and Diet
Question from Adelaide, Australia:
My seven year old daughter was diagnosed on Easter 2004. Why does she sometimes have a low blood sugar only two hours or less after eating a meal with the required amounts of carbohydrates? Once, she went down to 3.2 mmol/L [58 mg/dl]. We had a risotto with chicken and vegetables, then she had an ice cream. Would it have been the type of rice (arborio) that gave her a quick rise, but then also a quick low? It does have a high GI (Glycemic Index), but I didn’t realize that this means you come down really quickly, too. Am I right thinking this? Would the protein have had a part to play in this too? Does the protein count at all? This happened another time when she’d had a potato as part of the meal, which is also a high GI vegetable.
Answer:
Yes, you’re right on the rice having a high GI that means a quick blood sugar rise and a secondary earlier low afterwards. In this context, proteins don’t play a major role. They turn into sugar much later on, but vegetables instead may lessen the rice digestion rise if they are consumed with rice even in a large quantity. My advice is to try to eat rice as infrequently as possible. Pasta and even ice cream have a much lower GI for sure.
MS
