If we picture the Food Guide Pyramid and how grains are on the bottom it does seem pretty silly. If we switched the two grain & vegetable labels and the base our diet is vegetables we would be much better off!

Anecdotally, I find that a number of people with diabetes (including myself) have more pronounced changes in blood sugar levels (area under curve) to grains in general than to fruits and other sources of carbohydrate. While there is often some difference observed between whole grains and refined grains (those few of us Type 2s who have managed to get off oral medications and write about it all eschew refined grains), grain consumption in general is something we have to watch carefully. While this was not the issue under study, a recent review in Diabetes in Control suggests that blood glucose excursions are responsible for both long-term complications of diabetes (including cardiovascular disease).

To add to that: the anecdotal connections between Type 1 diabetes and celiac disease have been confirmed in a recent study published by the New England Journal of Medicine. Persons with celiac disease need to avoid gluten, which means avoiding most grains regardless of their state of “wholeness”.

This would suggest to me that grain consumption of any variety or proportion may need to be restricted (or at least more closely monitored) in the presence of diabetes mellitus.