I got South Beach Diet from the library to look at the recipes and started reading it as well. On page 55, Dr. Agatston says, "Here's tip that will lower the glycemic index of any meal; Fiften minutes before you begin eating, have a spoonful of Metamucil in a glass of water. It's true, this is normally intended as a mild laxative. But it's simply psyllium, which is fiber - nonsoluable fiber. When you swallow that spoonful, the fiber forms a slippery lump which makes its way through your digestive track, clearing our anything in its path. When you take some before eating, the fiber gets mixed in with the food and has the effect of slowing the speed with which your stomach digests what you've eaten."
Has anyone tried this? Did it improve your post-meal sugars?
I take Metamucil, daily. Be sure to only get the sugar free kind, because the regular has like 9 grams of sugar in it. I can’t say that it has ever improved my control very much in reducing glycemic load, BUT, what I can say is that it fills me up quite a bit… Enough so that I don’t eat as much as I would without it, and then, less of a potential blood sugar spike.
Psyllium is soluable fiber. Afraid Dr. A is incorrect. There are soluable & insoluable types of fiber.
Psyllium, being soluable, absorbs water & adds bulk to stools & slows stomach emptying. It doesn’t clear anything in its path:) If this was the case, we wouldn’t be getting nutrition from food in the digestive tract. It doesn’t really mix with food, it just absorbs water like a sponge.
It can be habit forming, if used for long periods, & can have an adverse effect on muscle tissue. It may not be safe for Clara, unless she’s constipated. Just my two cents, but I don’t think this should be used as a way to control a child’s BG.
Not sure if this is safe or not, but Metamucil before every meal could be too much. I would ask the doctor if it was safe or not. If the doctor thinks it is safe, I see no reason not to experiment. I can say we had a nasty spike earlier this week when she had mashed potatoes for dinner even though I took care to lower the carb load (45 grams). She ate her steak and broccoli first so no insulin. Then would not finish eating. In the next hour, I gave the mashed potatoes and milk. Tonight she was having mashed potatoes again and starving so I added butter (we usually use I can’t Believe its Not butter, a low fat spread) to the mashed potatoes (she had 65 grams), gave her chicken, broccoli and a half cup milk. Don’t know what she was at the one hour mark but 147 at the two hour mark and came down to 89. I did overbolus by one unit. I think you could add fiber with a hefty serving of veggies, and use the fat and protein to slow down the spike. But it is also true she can spike one night from the exact same foods and amounts and be fine the next.
