Jeremiah Farias (00:00.302)
Are some carbohydrate sources better than others for type 2 diabetes? Which are the best sources? In this video, I answer these questions. Hey everyone, my name is Jeremiah Farias. I’m a registered dietician and I’ve been researching health and wellness for over a decade now. I help adults suffering from blood sugar dysregulation issues, things like type 2 diabetes, pre -diabetes and low energy levels. I hope you enjoy today’s video. The role and plays of carbohydrates in those who have type 2 diabetes is often misunderstood.

Many believe that carbohydrates are the actual cause of insulin resistance. Therefore, they should avoid or limit them. And this is where those in the low carbohydrate ketogenic space land. I argue that carbohydrates can and should be included in one’s diet, even if they have type two diabetes. However, the amount and the quality of those carbohydrates do matter. The amount of carbohydrates where one starts,

is not necessarily where they will be at the end once they improve their glucose metabolism and oxidation capacities or abilities. Meaning as you heal and you improve glucose metabolism, the more carbohydrates one can include in their diet. So what are the best carbohydrate sources for those with type two diabetes and even the general population? I’d argue that fruits, tubers and squashes are the carbohydrate sources that one should prioritize.

Fruits, a large variety to choose from, in -season fruit, fresh fruit. You can use frozen fruit and dried fruit. Copy that with dried fruit. I’d say to avoid those with added ingredients, added sugar, just simply the organic dried fruit with tubers that includes sweet potatoes, white potatoes, if you tolerate them, and even cassava products.

Then last, squashes, those include things like butternut squash, acorn squash, spaghetti squash, and pumpkin as well. They’re winter, more dense carbohydrates or squashes versus zucchini. So why do I recommend carbohydrate sources like fruits, tubers, and squashes as those two prioritize? There’s a few reasons. The first is their carbohydrate or sugar content composition. Fruits, certain tubers like sweet potatoes and squashes,

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are a combination of glucose and fructose. The unique thing about fructose is it doesn’t require insulin to be stored. And so fructose, when it’s consumed, it will go straight to the liver. The liver will use it as it desires, as it needs to produce energy within its own cells. It’ll be stored as glycogen, which is just stored glucose or carbohydrate that we use to actually stabilize blood sugar in between meals.

We use it while we sleep to fuel the brain. So liver glycogen is really important. If there’s any extra, it can then be even sent to peripheral tissues out to circulation for the muscles cells to use and other tissues and other cells to utilize. And then it can even be stored as fat if there is any extra. And that is often a concern that many people have, especially in the low carbohydrate ketogenic space in communities.

is that fructose is driving fatty liver disease. The studies looking at fructose driving fatty liver disease are done often in animal models and mainly rat models. Rat livers are not the same as human livers. Their capacity to store liver glycogen process fructose is limited compared to humans. And then also these studies are using 100 % fructose solutions.

or the foods that I’m recommending, they’re 50 -50 usually at most. And then if there are other sources that are not 50 -50, it’s usually a bit more glucose than fructose. And the rates in humans, the novel lipogenesis are very low. Someone is usually metabolically unwell and they’re not utilizing energy efficiently. However, when it comes to working with people, the people that I see,

I’m about optimizing that cellular energy production. We’re eliminating, reducing things that impair that process while consuming things that optimize that process. And so for that reason, the first reason, because of the carbohydrate and sugar content, you can be really beneficial in controlling blood sugar levels. You’re not gonna have high post -brandy or after meal blood sugar spikes, which is beneficial from a cardiovascular disease risk. And that’s the first reason I recommend.

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fruits, tubers, and squashes. The second reason has to do with fruits, tubers, and squashes, micronutrient content. Micronutrients, if you recall, are vitamins and minerals. And these sources of carbohydrates are often going to provide you with some very important nutrients that play a role in metabolizing glucose and even a role in insulin sensitivity. We’ll focus on one.

in this video and the one I’ll start with, which all of these sources are very rich in is the mineral potassium. So potassium is required for insulin release in the beta cell. And this is a great quote from Dr. Chris Masterjohn where he says, potassium also directly activates enzymes that enable decision -making about whether glucose should be broken down for energy used to stoke the metabolic flame in which all fuel is burned.

or conserved while protein is made into extra glucose. And there are some papers highlighting potassium deficiencies, increase insulin resistance or increase or rather impair insulin secretion. One study found that those with the lowest potassium levels below four milli equivalents per liter had the highest risk of developing diabetes.

Those on thiazide diuretics, which waste potassium, have again increased risk of diabetes and show impaired glucose tolerances. Hey everyone, I wanted to take a quick break from the content and share with you a free guide that I created. It’s titled, Five Steps to Improving Your Blood Sugar Metabolism. In it, you’re going to find a lot of practical information that you can begin implementing today to start changing the way that your body uses glucose in the cell.

And if you’ve checked out any of my previous videos, this is what I believe is the primary culprit that’s driving blood sugar metabolism issues like type two diabetes and pre -diabetes. You’re gonna get specific information going over the importance of protein, the types of protein to consume, and how to even calculate how much protein should you be having on a regular basis. The quality of carbohydrates you should be including in your diet. Again, previous videos I’ve gone over highlight.

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Carbohydrates aren’t the problem. It’s your body’s ability to utilize them. However, quality of carbohydrates, quality of food do matter. So in this guide, you’ll find information on the carbohydrates, certain fats that we want to avoid or limit, and the others that we want to include and prioritize, along with a lot more information. You’ll be able to find the link to download this guide in the description below. The third reason that I recommend prioritizing sources of carbohydrates like fruits, tubers, and squashes.

has to do with the polyphenols that they provide us. So polyphenols offer an array of health benefits for us. And they include things like catechins, flavones, flavonols, anthocyanins, anthocyanidins, and phenolic acids. They’re very well researched on looking at their antioxidant -like effects on our bodies. And a very well -known polyphenol, but specifically a flavonol, is called naringinin.

Nuringin is found in citrus fruits. It’s concentrated in the peel, but you’ll also still get some from the actual fruit itself. But if you wanted a concentrated dose and optimizing your nuringin intake, you can make things like marmalade, which include the skin. And nuringin is known, very well known to reduce free radicals like reactive oxygen species. It enhances antioxidant activity, such as superoxide dismutase,

catalase, glutathione in various chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disease, diabetes, pulmonary cancer, and nephropathy. So it’s a very well -known, well -researched flavonol. So other polyphenols are very beneficial for gastrointestinal conditions. And the way that they support gastrointestinal health is they

act and have antibacterial, antiviral, anti -inflammatory, and anti -carcinogenic effects. How this is relevant with gastrointestinal health has to do with the controlling of certain bacteria. A very common issue that people have is something called small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, SIBO for short, as its name implies.

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This is an overgrowth of certain bacteria in general in the small intestine. The small intestine should be sterile, where bacteria should be primarily in or in, exclusively in the colon. That’s where the microbiome of the gastrointestinal tract should be present. So these polyphenols control any overgrowth and can control any overgrowth. They also control the…

growth and proliferation of more pathogenic bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella. These can cause gastrointestinal issues, inflammation, and so they help to control it. Additionally, polyphenols can help control the putrefaction process and reduce putrefactive byproducts.

And what putrefaction is, any time there’s incomplete digestion of certain proteins, amino acids, they are going to be fermented by certain bacteria. Bacteria will ferment fiber, but they’ll also ferment certain amino acids. And the fermentation of these amino acids is called putrefaction, and they produce harmful byproducts like ammonia and sulfites.

So not only do polyphenols reduce the production of those harmful byproducts, they also reduce the proliferation and presence of the bacteria that ferment these amino acids. The fourth and final reason I recommend prioritizing these types of carbohydrates has to do with their fiber content. Fiber is going to feed the bacteria within the colon.

as they ferment it, as they consume the fiber, they’re producing something called short chain fatty acids. Short chain fatty acids then nourish or feed the colonocytes, which are the cells of the colon, the large intestine. It’s a perfect symbiotic relationship that takes place. You nourish the colon cells, the colonocytes, you improve their integrity, reduce things like leaky gut, intestinal permeability, and you again have a well functioning digestive tract.

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Another interesting thing that some research shows is when the bacteria ferment these fibers and produce these short -chain fatty acids, that reduces the pH environment within the large intestine. This reduction or acidification of the large intestine makes the environment less inhabitable for more pathogenic bacteria. So it helps to keep beneficial bacteria.

happy and keep out the more harmful or pathogenic bacteria. I mentioned previously when I was talking about polyphenols, the concept of putrefaction. The fermentation of amino acids, fiber actually reduces putrefaction. When you have fiber to ferment rather than the bacteria have fiber to ferment, they’re less likely to ferment those amino acids.

So another great reason to have a fiber that’s coming from these carbohydrate sources in one’s diet. And that’s the fourth and final reason that I recommend fruits, tubers and squashes as the preferred carbohydrate sources. Believe it or not, carbohydrates offer additional benefits to our health. Some of these include optimizing thyroid function, improving antioxidant status, anti -aging effects.

and much, much more. So be on the lookout for future videos that I’ll create. This video was just to highlight the unique benefits that fruit tubers and squashes provide. And it’s clear, I’m a fan of high quality carbohydrates in one’s diet. And certain carbohydrates, I believe and argue are better than others. By prioritizing fruit tubers and squashes, you’re gonna be getting ample amounts of vitamins and minerals, polyphenols and fiber.

all of which are very beneficial for our overall health, improving glucose metabolism and reversing type two diabetes. And there are obviously more carbohydrates that one can include, but I argue these are the sources that should be prioritized over others because of their unique benefits. And everyone is different when it comes to what they can tolerate digestion -wise. Even some of these carbohydrate sources I mentioned, you will need to likely experiment sometimes.

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healing them versus eating the skin, cooking them well. And that all can make a huge difference in how one tolerates things digestion wise. Digestion is huge. We don’t want to be eating foods that are causing gastrointestinal distress, gas, bloating, changes in bowel consistency, because those are all highlighting there’s inflammation, irritation going on within the gut. So we want to find those sources that we uniquely tolerate.

Let me know in the comments, which carbohydrate sources do you enjoy, do you prefer? I hope you enjoyed today’s video. If you any questions about the content that I reviewed in today’s video, let me know down in the comments. You can also request topics that you’d like me to cover in the future. If you’re interested in working one -on -one with me, the best place to start is scheduling a free 30 -minute discovery call that I offer. I am credentials with a couple of insurance companies, so there will be a link in the description that allows you to check if I accept your insurance. Don’t forget to download my free guide,

five steps to improving your blood sugar metabolism, that link will also be in the description. If you enjoyed this video, please don’t forget to give it a thumbs up, share it with someone that you think would benefit and enjoy it. And also don’t forget to subscribe. I’ll be releasing new videos every week and I don’t want you to miss those. Thanks again for taking the time to watch this video. Take care, have a wonderful day.