Carrot Glycemic Index
For a long time carrots have been an unjustly excluded food, or at least limited, from the diet of the diabetic; all because of the first studies conducted on the glycemic index of foods, which attributing to carrots a value of 92, in fact they bound them among those with the highest glycemic index.
Benefits
Fortunately, subsequent studies, including the most recent, have practically overturned this evidence, re-inserting the carrots among the foods with a medium-low glycemic index (39 ± 7). Not only that, carrots could even have a preventive role on the development of diabetes and insulin resistance: some studies suggest that a high level of carotenoids in the blood would also have a protective effect against the aforementioned alterations of carbohydrate metabolism. These antioxidant substances that are precursors of vitamin A are particularly abundant in carrots (hence the name carotenoids), to which they give the typical orange color.
In the carrots also soluble fibers abound, which help to mitigate the glycemic load and exert a protective effect on the gastric and intestinal mucosa, regularizing its functions both in the case of constipation (to be consumed with abundant water) and in case of diarrhea.
In the Diabetic Diet
In the diabetic's diet, therefore, carrots and their NON-sugary juice (glycemic index 45 ± 4) can - according to individual preferences - play an important role, without exaggerating with their consumption (many other vegetables have, at par of weight consumed, index and lower glycemic load).
