Disclaimer: I am not a dietitian, nutritionist, endocrinologist or chef. I just love food and cooking, one of my autistic special interests.
A friend and I were discussing a current debate about a sugar tax. Addressing the diabetes epidemic is about more than sugar. Sugar is more than sucrose. It includes fructose (fruit), glucose (grains), lactose (milk), galactose (some vegetables), and maltose (grains).
There’s also the issue of simple carbohydrates versus complex carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates take longer to break down, with a slow energy release, whereas simple carbohydrates are digested much more quickly, and can cause a spike in blood sugar.
Fibre, too, needs to be considered. Australian dietary guidelines recommend 25g to 30g of fibre daily. Fibre helps with a feeling of fullness, or satiety. Fibre is also food for your gut biome.
High fibre foods often cross over with complex carbohydrates; foods like oats, beans, lentils (insoluble fibre), fruit, vegetables, seeds and nuts (soluble fibre).
Additionally, there is a magical chemical process in cooked rice, pasta or potatoes that after 24 hours of refrigeration, the simple starches (a type of carbohydrate) become complex starches. This retrogradation forms resistant starches, a type of complex carbohydrate. This can have a positive effect on insulin sensitivity and blood sugar.
A discussion about socio-economic status also needs to feature here. Highly processed foods, which can have fewer complex carbohydrates, more simple carbohydrates, and can be higher in sugar and fat, are often some of the cheapest foods in the supermarket. Generational poverty may also mean that children don’t learn food preparation skills, and so cannot pass this to their own children.
I can’t wave a magic wand to fix this. But I can share my recipes; the recipes I’ve created for myself, and the recipes I’ve curated for myself.
Recipes are here
The Auld Skald's Fudgel 