What Happens When? Easy Choices for Better Health

from Reverse Diabetes (Reader's Digest Association)

© WAVEBREAK MEDIA/THINKSTOCK

2. What happens when I eat a bowl of high-fiber cereal for breakfast?

The inside story: First, consider what happens when you eat sugary, low-fiber breakfast cereal. The carbohydrates in those crunchy treats make a rapid trip through your digestive system and are just as speedily converted to glucose. You know what that means: Your blood sugar spikes then plummets, and you're hungry soon after. Choosing breakfast cereal or other foods high in fiber minimizes that problem for a simple reason: You can't digest fiber. Instead, this rough stuff gets in the way as your body tries to absorb carbs and convert them into glucose. That makes for a slower, gentler rise in blood sugar after a meal. Keep eating high-fiber foods and your blood sugar will stay low, which will make cells throughout your body start processing this key energy source more efficiently. That means your pancreas won't have to work so hard to churn out insulin, which can help keep diabetes at bay and make you less likely to need medications if you have the condition.

Eating fiber-rich whole-grain cereal has other benefits for blood sugar. For instance, whole grains are high in the mineral magnesium, which helps insulin to perform its handiwork. Eating high-fiber foods also lowers cholesterol and fills your stomach, which means you feel satisfied on fewer calories. That makes fiber a dieter's friend.

BOTTOM LINE: In one huge study of more than 21,000 men, those who ate a daily bowl of cereal — especially high-fiber whole-grain varieties — cut their risk for type 2 diabetes by 37 percent.

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