> -----Original Message-----
> From: Paleolithic Eating Support List 
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Paleogal
> Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2006 9:43 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Blood Sugar, was salt in paleo diet
> 
> 
> > > Kristina K. Carlton wrote:
> > > [blood sugar] 1 hour after eating chicken and cabbage and
> then a few
> bites
> > > of a "pancake" made with instant oatmeal, water, and barley flour 
> > > and topped with local
> > > honey: 146
> >
> > The honey is a complicating factor here. It would be more
> interesting
> > to
> see
> > what the level was after eating the oatmeal without added sweetener.
> 
> I'm more inclined to think it's the processed grains.  Oliva
> 

Me too. However, when I mentioned this experience to someone who's diet is
nearly Paleo (she is still somewhat skeptical of the Paleo diet and started
eating oatmeal again after a friend convinced her that it's good for
lowering cholesterol) she quickly asked if a sweetener was used. When I
mentioned that yes, a sweetener was used and that it was honey, that
confirmed her suspicion and she dismissed the result. I think this would be
a common reaction of Paleo skeptics, so it's too bad that the reading wasn't
taken without consuming honey, but I certainly wouldn't ask anyone to eat
oatmeal for the sake of science. :-)

There are also claims that oatmeal will "balance" blood sugar:


- Dr. Joey's Healthy Food Substitutions - Part 2
"Because oatmeal is higher in fiber, the glycemic index rating is lower,
thereby balancing blood sugar levels. In short, less insulin is secreted."
www.truestarhealth.com/members/cm_archives59ML4P1A7.html - 

- "oatmeal is a great tasting way to help you maintain healthy blood sugar
levels because it is a good source of fiber."
http://www.quakeroatmeal.com/includes/PDFs/LivingwithDiabetes.pdf

- <<Sugary cereals get into your body quickly and cause a peak in
blood-sugar levels, but the levels then fall dramatically after two hours or
so. Oatmeal, on the other hand, is absorbed slowly, so oatmeal eaters gets a
slow rise in blood sugar and enough energy to last through the morning.

What's more, oatmeal eaters don't experience a steep drop in blood-sugar
levels, and that's a good thing. A dip in blood sugar can bring with it a
release of hormones that affect mood.>> 
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5738848


I am skeptical of these claims because I know that when I ate any kind of
breakfast cereal, including oatmeal made from raw, organic rolled oats
(usually made with water and a little maple syrup or fruit, and sometimes
milk or yogurt--and sometimes the oats had been soaked overnight because I
had heard that was a good way of doing it and I liked the smoother texture
it produced--especially when I used milk or yogurt), for breakfast I was
prone to hypoglycemic symptoms before lunch, and I know someone else who
experienced this too. Of course, oatmeal advocates could claim that it was
the little bit of sweetener I added that caused the symptoms (though not
many people eat oatmeal unsweetened, so that is not an entirely convincing
argument either way).

Another thing to keep in mind is that even "whole" sprouted grains from an
organic farm are processed, because grains are essentially inedible without
some processing (for example, threshing, soaking, sprouting, fermenting,
drying, milling, roasting, and boiling are all forms of processing of the
original grain--one doesn't normally pick and eat grain the way one would a
wild blueberry), so the term "processed grains" is a little redundant
(though I know what is meant by it) and for me there were health issues with
any kind of grains, whether whole, sprouted and organic or more thorougly
processed, though the hypoglycemia issues were more pronounced with the
more-processed grains.