Sourdough and diabetes?

From what I have read it scores lower on the glycemic index, which means it releases its sugars more slowly. All carbohydrate in any form will affect the blood sugar and diabetics have to monitor their insulin intake to compensate for the carbohydrate that they eat. Some diabetics will take more insulin to cover the carbs, others take a stricter approach to diet to try and keep sugar levels stable. Maintaining stable sugar levels can be an extremely complex subject, and for some diabetics, even with close monitoring can be near impossible to achieve. If your family members have found a diet that keeps their blood sugars relatively stable, I would encourage them to stick with it. And certainly take medical advice before adding in carbs they are not used to to ensure that they thoroughly understand what they are doing.

Found this link that might help.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/318704-what-kind-of-breads-can-diabetics-eat/

to 1 tsp of sugar - even those without sugar added.  What is different is that whole grain and SD bread, especially those with whole barley in them, have a lower Gi so that all the sugar doesn't hit the bloodstream at the same time causing a larger spike in blood sugar for diabetics.  Most doctors would tell diabetics to stay away from all foods high in carbs including bread - except for most veggies and some fresh fruits low in carbs.

And I make and eat white sourdough bread; it does not spike my blood sugar the way regular white bread does.  It's even better if I throw some oatmeal into the dough.

First of all, there are many different types of diabetes.

Some have to do with blood sugar (diabetes mellitus), some don't (diabetes insipidus).

The way you ask I assume you're referring to diabetes mellitus. But within this group there are still a lot. The most common one is DM type 2. Here the pancreas can produce insulin (and usually produces a lot), but the cells don't react very well and don't produce glucose transporters. Therefore the bloodglucose levels stay higher. As physical activity causes the muscle cells to absorb the glucose better this might be included in the therapy.

Also, as fat/protein have a lower GI, they need less Insulin per calories. The GI is not how fast the blood glucose rises but the surface under the curve above basal glucose level. This mostly is proportional with the rapidity of the carbs, but not always. Pure fat/protein make the blood glucose rise just a bit but need insulin for about 9 hours. The area under the curve therefore is not neglectable because of the long timespan. But because of the little rise at each point in time, the pancreas might be powerful enough to keep the bg level low. One treatment of course can be external insulin.

The second most common type is DM type 1. This is a totally different disease that unfortunately has a similar name, also has something to do with blood glucose levels and always has to be treated with insulin. In general, Insulin here works just fine. But due to an autoimmune defect, the pancreas can no longer produce insulin. This is usually treated with 5+ injections each day or with an insulin pump (a small infusion set that delivers a portion of insulin every 3 minutes). Here no diet is necessary as long as the exact contents of a meal are known. As there is no regulation from the pancreas the patient has to estimate (or usually measure) the contents of food, physical activity... and adjust the insulin intake accordingly.

... and there are a lot of more types e.g. the MODY types that are caused by single genetic mutations.

As you can see, for Type 1, industrially produced bread could be most healthy, as you can calculate the contents of a slice precisely up to a fraction of a gram of carbs, fat, protein, ... and take the exact amount of insulin for it.

For Type II, a whole grain sourdough bread might be most healthy as it has a lower glycemic index AND as it also has less carbs per slice definitely a lower glycemic load.

I hope this wasn't too much or too confusing information. The standard lectures for a diabetic are well above 100 hours of theory, reaching form how insulin is absorbed after subcutaneous injection, how it reacts with it's receptors on different cells in the body, how glucose transporters in cell walls work, half-life of insulin in blood and glucose transporters in cells, how other hormones/steroids interact (circadian rhythm, illness, ...)...

I'm no longer working in the medical field, but if you have any question, just ask.

...about the effects of sourdough bread vs regular bread, which stated that even white sourdough is better at controlling blood sugar spikes than a regular whole wheat bread.  It was a fairly scholarly study and I can't remember most of it, but I tried it, testing my blood two hours after eating white sourdough (with honey added) and my bs did not spike.  Unless I'm making a very lean bread, I always add a sweetener, sugar or honey or even maple syrup, but if a recipe calls for a lot of sugar, I generally cut down the amount.  As a diabetic, you want something that will slow down the absorption of sugars in your bloodstream, so try to stick to unprocessed ingredients as much as possible, or add something like oatmeal or bran to you bread.  Sugar is not forbidden for diabetics.  I'm type 2, controlled by oral meds and diet and exercise.  Good luck, and remember it's not the end of the world.

It has been quoted all over the internet.

This blood sugar thing is a real bummer. Officially, I am not diagnosed as T2 but probably am. I have been running close to 300 all the time now. My eating habits ice cream chips pop's etc. Chewing tobacco, soon to quit, don't drink, farily active but last few weeks not much. I got put on metformin a couple yrs ago, but seemed to make me worse? My dad was a Pharmacist and I hated pills. So I wasn't progressing much. I had been vegetarian for a long time years ago and vegan a few times. My mom had it bad and pancreas removed, it killed her. Then I had mine checked at 6.4 A1c. Then mine started.  When the blood sugar thing kept rearing it's ugly head I went back to vegan, work outs, no sugar added, chips, candy, pop, white bread, any bread, fried food etc. I felt great, energetic, slept well and my BS was back to normal yahoo. Then back to poor eating and poof BS is whacked again.

Ok glad I found this site. I am a chef without papers ha. Any way I believe Blood sugar people should become great cooks and part of that is baking bread etc. Now here is the deal, Sourdough Bread is the first bread ever made and Biblical--using the Wild Yeast Method and not the package yeast 48 hour method. I do believe that SD B products are best for us, depending on what's put in them. I don't know all the science on it but I believe the most beneficial SD B is the wild yeast method. Properly done and developed. I don't think the quick batch 48 hr method is best for Blood Sugar.

Sourdough starters are all over the web, and probably on this site but I haven't looked yet. Hope the Fresh folk don't mind but a good one to get started with is from The Creative Carrot. Sourdough! Once you get this one going your set to do what ever you want with SD. In this one and most of them there is a big fuss about keeping your starter at such and such temperatures, will the Old Sourdoughs--Mining, Logging camps, Chuck wagon cooks, Pioneer Women etc did not take care for such temperature control. Placed near a wood burner, cabinet etc. Some kept it in a dough ball and pinched off a chunk to make bread, some are even said to sleep with it in very cold times. Its too confusing and a hassle to do this. Mine are all at room temps and they are just perfect. I have one that is 100% stone ground WW, One that is half WW and half WW All purpose, and one is all WW All purpose. All hard winter wheat. Organic or whatever. I also keep abt a gallon and a half of Discard--what you take out of starter when it is feeding time. Once you get your main starter going you can tweak and experiment with other flours etc.

Ok all this yakking. It seems that just a good ole fashioned wild yeast (it is everywhere) starter and it's bread, rolls and pancakes witch are killer yum. Is much better for us Blood Sugar people. What does everyone think abt this.

Hi everyone.  I'm a newly retired medical laboratory scientist and performed A1c testing for thousands of patients.  In controlling your diabetes and blood glucose levels with your diet, please remember that it's not just the addition of sugar to your diet.  Any refined foods (i.e., white flour, white rice, processed foods) are so easily digested that glucose levels ramp up and down quickly.  Unprocessed foods that have a lower glycemic index are processed slowly keeping the blood sugar levels more steady.  Even if there is no sugar itself added to white flour or rice, enzymes in your digestive tract start breaking down those foods into sugars the minute they go into your mouth (i.e. amylase in your saliva), causing the same glucose problems as if you had eaten a candy bar.  Nearly all fruits and vegetables also have large amounts of carbohydrates in them, so eating them as close to their natural form helps slow that digestive breakdown.  Think about eating a piece of fruit instead of drinking its juice.  I've just gotten interested in the Tartine bread making philosophy and part of my interest is because of what I have read about the lower glycemic index of bread made with wild yeasts instead of commercial yeast.  I think there must be something to the fact that people survived for centuries eating lots of naturally leavened rustic breads.  I've also read that the way flour is produced today makes it so much more highly processed...even whole grains...that bread over time has changed for the worse. We definitely see more diabetes in certain cultures...even those with so called "healthy" diets who consume large amounts of "white" foods such a rice.