Low Glycemic Index Products

In an effort to organize things a bit, I have divided my diabetic friendly food information into Low Glycemic Products, links to recipes, and my own recipes.  You can learn more about how I started this diabetic journey and random tips and tricks I have learned on the link to my own recipes page.

Monk Fruit

Ok...so let me preface this by saying, I HATE all forms of sugar substitute. I have tried them over and over and over...and I hate them. They are nasty, and the aftertaste is even nastier!!! Until monk fruit. My husband is not as averse to sugar substitutes as I am, so I bought some monk fruit one day on a whim to see if I could make him some desserts. And since I had it in the house, I figured I would try it, because I've tried all the others. Why not add one more to the list so I can prove my point when people foist sugar substitutes on me? But this one is different. I LIKE this one. Is there SOME difference between this and sugar? Probably. I can tell a difference in my tea, but only a slight one and it's more of a "clean" or "fresh" affect than an aftertaste.  A few tips:  when baking with it, use the baking version (it's a super fine powder) and mix the monk fruit with the liquids FIRST and let it dissolve before baking to avoid the "cooling affect."  Also, a word to the wise - buy it on Amazon in 3 lb bags - it's cheaper that way.

Breyers Natural Vanilla Ice Cream

If you are not a fan of Breyers Carb Smart Ice Cream (which we really like), the natural vanilla is the best option we have found for being lower carb than most.

Breyers Carb Smart Ice Cream

This has a significantly lower carb count and is very good!  If you are a guest in my house, you are probably going to be served either Carb Smart or Natural Vanilla Ice Cream because everyone likes ice cream and I don't feel like I'm serving a "diabetic" dessert to guests with those two options.

Barilla Protein Plus Pasta or DreamFields

Both have some great options if you need a low glycemic index pasta.  They have several noodle shapes and while they still have to be eaten in moderation, they were the first pastas I found that made spaghetti (a favorite dinner for us) an option again.

Heart of Palm Noodles

These come in a variety of brands and can be found at Aldi, Wal-Mart, Amazon, and a host of other places.  We like the angel hair noodles the best and I have found it works the best if I rinse the noodles and then heat them in a bit of butter in a skillet or use them in a baked pasta.  I recently served this at a minister's dinner with about a 50/50 split of diabetic and not.  Even the non-diabetics who are not accustomed to "substitutes" never realized I had served them vegetables in place of noodles in the baked spaghetti.  

Spelt Flour

Spelt flour is a lower glycemic index flour that can be used as a 1 for 1 substitute for all-purpose flour.  There is some degree of flavor difference, but it's not significant and the texture is perfect.  I usually substitute it in all my baked good with 1/4 almond flour  and 3/4 spelt flour subbed in for whatever the recipe calls for.

Kamut Flour

Kamut is another low glycemic index flour.  You will have an easier time searching specifically for recipes designed for Kamut flour and the flavor and texture difference is noticeable, but it's not a "bad" difference.  It makes WONDERFUL bread.

Oat Flour

I make this in my food processor because it's cheaper that way.  Cookies and pie crusts have been my most recent experiments and both have turned out extremely well.  Oat Flour has a significantly lower glycemic index than either spelt or kamut, so it makes it a great option.  It does have a different substitution ratio, so be sure to research that or look up recipes specifically using oat flour.  You will find a few on my recipe links page.

Bulgar Wheat

This definitely still has carbs, but if you need a substitute for rice that has a few additional properties that will limit the sugar spike, we really like this one.

Low Carb Tortillas

Carb Balance are popular, Aldi has their own version of it, and several other brands have varieties.  I like most of them.  Just look around and try different brands to find your favorite.