3 tips for choosing the best breakfast carbs

Carbohydrates do raise blood sugar, but cutting them out isn't the answer. The trick is controlling the types of carbs you eat in the morning and how much of them you consume.

• Cereal: Choose cereal with at least five grams of fibre per serving.

Among other benefits, fibre helps you feel full so you can get through the morning with only a small snack, if anything, before lunch.

Fibre from bran cereal is also associated with less inflammation in women with type 2 diabetes. That's important because experts believe inflammation plays a major role in diabetes as well as the development of heart disease.

• Bread: Some companies are selling bread with increased fibre and fewer carbs; two slices contain the same amount of carbohydrates that are in one slice of regular bread.

Consuming 25 grams of fibre a day helps lower cholesterol and control blood sugar levels.

• If you're debating between oatmeal and cold cereal, choose oatmeal.

It has fewer calories than most cold cereals and, unlike most cold cereals, oatmeal is high in sugar-stabilizing soluble fibre.

According to the Canadian Diabetes Association, soluble fibre may help those with type 2 diabetes prevent heart disease because it reduces cholestrol.

But avoid instant breakfast packets of oatmeal; they usually contain added sugar, not to mention sodium, which can raise blood pressure.

Looking at the bread's colour won't tell you if it's really whole grain — you have to read the ingredients list.

Breads that list "enriched wheat flour" as the primary ingredient have been stripped of most of their nutrients — in fact, about 11 vitamins and minerals are lost in the process.

Breads that are enriched also contain added sugar and fat.

• Choose a bread whose first ingredient is "whole grain" or "whole wheat."
• Even if you choose a bread that's 100 per cent whole wheat, it may not be as friendly to your blood sugar as it could be. If the wheat has been finely ground to the point that the bread has the texture of white bread, it will be digested nearly as fast as white bread and have similar effects on your blood sugar.
• Coarser grains take longer to digest and will raise blood sugar more slowly. Breads with visible grains either on the crust or in the crumb are a good choice.

Whether your preferred carb in the morning is toast, cereal or oatmeal, make sure you're choosing whole grains, not only for their fibre but also for their antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.