I’m a doctor – here are five foods you thought were healthy but actually aren’t

• Fruit juice, fruit and oat milk are some of the foods Dr Brown disapproves of 
• They have a ‘huge glycemic impact’ that could cause blood sugar levels to rise
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A doctor on TikTok has warned that five foods you thought were healthy are actually not because of their ability to spike blood sugar.

Dr Mijin Brown, who goes by Dr Midge on the social media platform, posted a video  about the foods to avoid, ‘at least from an insulin resistance perspective.’ 

In the video, which has garnered over a million views, Dr Brown explains that fruit juice and fruit might be less healthy than people think because of their high sugar content.

Oat milk, oatmeal and rice cakes also have a ‘huge glycemic impact’ after you eat them, she claims, which can lead to insulin resistance.

Eating food with a high glycemic index can cause blood sugar levels to rapidly rise, triggering the pancreas to release more insulin, and then quickly fall. This can promote cravings and overeating. 

Repeating this cycle often may also cause insulin resistance, which is when cells in your muscles, fat and liver do not respond well to insulin and cannot easily take up glucose from your blood.

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As a result, the pancreas makes more insulin to help glucose enter your cells. Blood sugar levels can become too high, which can eventually lead to type 2 diabetes. 

Spiking blood sugar over time can lead to plaque in arteries, inflammation and heart and joint issues.

Dr Brown said: ‘The reason all of these foods are not so healthy is because they have a huge glycemic impact after you eat them. The bigger the glycemic impact, the bigger the insulin impact, and that is not good, as this leads to insulin resistance.

‘Insulin resistance is the root cause of all of our lifestyle-related diseases that most of us are suffering from,’ Dr Brown said, and showed a graphic of different conditions, including heart disease, cancer, fatty liver, PCOS, erectile dysfunction, dementia, migraines, body fat and diabetes.

The first food Dr Brown disapproves of is fruit juices. ‘This one is obvious,’ she said.

‘Did you know that some fruit juices have as much sugar as a can of soda? Even the unsweetened variety can have as much as 26g of carbohydrates, which is about six teaspoons of sugar. All this, with very little fiber.’

Next up is fruit. ‘Fruit today, even veggies today, are nothing like they were a long time ago in nature,’ she said.

‘Most were small, fibrous and not too sweet. But fruit today is crazy. They’ve been engineered to be bigger, sweeter and less fibrous, all of which impact our blood sugar levels.’

Some fruit is worse than others, she claimed. Mangoes, pineapples, bananas and grapes are very high in sugar and should be treated as a dessert, she said.

Fruit has lots of fiber, which means they take longer to digest, meaning a slow release of sugar, which prevents blood sugar spiking.

‘Number three, oat milk. One cup of oat milk has 15g of carbohydrates, and we’re not talking about the ones with added sugar.

She added: ‘Not to mention that many of the store-bought brands are made with preservatives, thickeners and emulsifiers, none of which is good for our gut health or our overall health.’

Her fourth item of food is oatmeal – ‘another controversial one that’s routinely recommended to diabetics as a healthy option,’ she said.

‘One of the reasons they probably recommend it is as a source of fiber. One cup of oatmeal has about eight grams of fiber but 62 grams of carbohydrates,’ Dr Brown said. ‘It’s not worth it, guys.’

If you really want oatmeal, she recommended the Steel Cut brand and to ‘stay away from the instant oatmeal with added sugar and flavors.’

All plain oatmeal is nutritionally rich, with more protein than most grains and also numerous vitamins and minerals. Oats contain a soluble fiber called beta-glucan, which helps promote regular emptying of the bowels. 

Her final suggestion was to be careful of rice cakes. 

‘I think the “calories in, calories out” enthusiasts love this one because two rice cakes only have 70 calories, but they also have 14 grams of carbohydrates and not much fiber at all,’ she said.

‘The only way you’ll be satisfied with eating two of these is to eat more,’ she said.

‘Another way to eat these would be to add something to it like avocados or nut butter to add either more fat or protein and some more fiber. This should lessen the glycemic impact.’

Fiber helps regulate the body’s use of sugars. It also absorbs water and causes stools to be larger and easier to pass. A low-fiber diet can lead to constipation and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).