Vegetables are good but some have a surprisingly high glycemic index. Eating too much will cause blood sugar to spike!

People with diabetes are often advised to include more vegetables in their diet to improve their blood sugar levels. However, not all vegetables are suitable for daily consumption.

People with diabetes should be careful not to eat too much food with a GI index ranging from medium (56-69) to high (>=70), which can easily lead to a spike in blood sugar after consumption. The GI index also varies depending on how the food is prepared.

Below are vegetables with high GI index, diabetics should pay attention in their diet.

Potatoes and Sweet

French fries have a glycemic index of 95.

Both potatoes and sweet potatoes are higher in starch, sugar and lower in fibre than other leafy vegetables. Boiled sweet potatoes have a GI of 63 , while boiled potatoes have a GI of 78. Mashed potatoes even have a glycemic index of 83 , while French fries have a glycemic index of 95. Sweet potato chips, a popular snack, are also high in calories and sugar.

According to American nutritionist Mackenzie Burgess, no vegetable is completely off-limits, but you need to pay attention to portion sizes and preparation methods. Burgess recommends that diabetics stay away from mashed potatoes and french fries, which can easily lead to excess fat in the body.

Pumpkin

Boiled pumpkin has a glycemic index of 75.

Boiled pumpkin has a glycemic index of 75 , containing a large amount of soluble sugar and starch. Eating a lot will directly affect blood sugar levels. Therefore, according to nutritionists, diabetics can still eat pumpkin, but if they do not control their food portions, it can easily increase blood sugar.

Sweet corn

 Nearly 100g of sweet corn contains 21g of starch and only 2g of fiber.

Corn has a medium glycemic index but contains a lot of starch, so it can still increase blood sugar levels. According to American nutritionist Harland Adkins, nearly 100g of sweet corn contains 21g of starch and only 2g of fiber. Therefore, if you love corn, you should only eat a small amount, combined with foods rich in protein and fiber.

Some fruits are very sweet

On her seemingly healthy list of foods are some fruits. She claims some fruits are worse than others, like mangoes, pineapples, bananas and grapes which are very high in sugar and should be treated as desserts and eaten sparingly.

Mango is one of the fruits with high sugar content.

'Today's fruits, and even today's vegetables, are not what they used to be in nature – most are small, fibrous and not very sweet, ' says Dr Brown . 'But today's fruits are bred to be larger, sweeter and less fibrous, all of which affect our blood sugar levels.'

Some fruits are also high in fibre, which means they take longer to digest and the slow release of sugar prevents blood sugar spikes, which is what we should be eating.

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