Meeting with Alixe Bornon, type 1 diabetic since she was 13 and pastry chef. She gives us her nutritional advice to combine health and taste pleasure!
Why Doctor: What are the difficulties in eating when you suffer from diabetes, compared to a person without this pathology?
Alixe Bornon: You must constantly pay attention to your blood sugar levels, in the morning as soon as you get up, in the evening when you go to bed, at night when you sleep… It’s constant! Today I can do this easily thanks to a sensor in my arm which transmits it to me continuously, allowing me to know exactly the limit not to be exceeded. But in 24 years of diabetes, I must admit that I have had ups and downs, and I am still learning from them!
Three elements govern this blood sugar level: the mind, food and lifestyle. When we eat, we must pay attention to the glycemic indices of foods.
Know the glycemic index of foods to balance the plate
What is the glycemic index?
In fact, it is not the sugar itself that poses a problem for us, but the rises and falls in sugar levels, that is to say the speed at which it arrives in the blood. Apart from proteins, cheeses and certain green vegetables which do not contain carbohydrates, all foods have a glycemic index. It can be high or low, but 80% of the foods we eat tend to have high glycemic indexes. It is not easy to avoid them because 90% of supermarkets are full of these products and nothing is indicated on the packaging. We must therefore learn to recognize them and make associations to balance foods.
Diabetes: cooking food can more or less raise blood sugar levels
What examples of food combinations can you give us?
For example, a sandwich will most likely have a high glycemic index. So to compensate, you have to eat a salad next to it, and preferably first to allow the body to absorb the carbohydrates more slowly afterwards.
But that’s not all! There are also types of cooking that can modify the glycemic index of a food. For example, it is better to eat pasta that is not overcooked because the starches are less processed, which causes blood sugar levels to rise less. To accompany them, it is also preferable to choose a vegetable and cheese sauce rather than a Bolognese sauce, because the vegetables and lipids will help reduce the glycemic index of the dish. Concretely, with the first course, I need an insulin shot of 5 units, whereas it would be 15 units with the second… and yet it is almost the same thing, almost the same calories.
You have type 1 diabetes, an irreversible autoimmune disease, but you can also have type 2 diabetes, a disease that develops gradually and can often be avoided. Would you have any advice to give to people in good health who want to preserve it?
Indeed, all of this advice regarding the glycemic index applies to everyone because anyone can become type 2 diabetic if the pancreas begins to become exhausted. For example, it is better to avoid starting the meal with a piece of bread, because the carbohydrates will be directly absorbed by the body, causing a big spike in blood sugar and therefore a release of insulin by the pancreas to compensate. There’s no problem if you do it once in a while, but if it becomes a habit, and you snack between meals, it can end up tiring your body… But you know, the gastronomy is well done in general! In Italy, for example, we generally start the meal with antipasto, which helps to compensate for the often copious continuation based on pasta or pizza. In Asian countries, it is customary to drink green tea while eating. It’s practical because it contains enzymes that help lower the glycemic index of rice.
What stereotypes does your illness confront you with?
People sometimes imagine that being diabetic means being on a diet… but not at all! I eat everything, including cakes. But I eat consciously, and I know which foods will raise my blood sugar more or less sharply. This allows me to manage on a daily basis with insulin.
Type 1 diabetes: “I wanted to create the concept of a pastry that does not cause a spike in blood sugar”
Why did you become interested in baking?
Classic pastries raise blood sugar very easily because the ingredients have a high glycemic index: white flour, white sugar, etc. I have been diabetic since I was 13 and since then, all my birthday cakes adapted to my diabetes were bad… So I wanted to create the concept of a pastry which does not cause a spike in blood sugar but which remains tasty thanks to the choice of ingredients! Today I have two stores in Paris, Les Belles Envies. I also deliver to companies and, recently, I published a book which is distributed in pharmacies with 52 sweet recipes with a low glycemic index (52 Sweet Pleasures with a Low Glycemic Indexpublished by Propharma Développement).
Pastry: lemon zest reduces the glycemic index of whipped cream
Could you give us one of your recipes?
Here is the recipe for Breton and its strawberry.
The ingredients needed for the shortbread are: 3 egg yolks, 43 grams of coconut sugar, 125 grams of softened semi-salted butter, 100 grams of T80 flour, 50 grams of hulled barley flour, 6 grams of baking powder and 3 grams of fleur de sel.
For the preparation:
-Preheat the oven to 180°C.
-Whip the egg yolks and coconut sugar using a mixer until white.
-Add the butter and mix.
-Add the T80 flour, hulled barley flour, salt and yeast. Mix to combine them.
-Film after flattening by hand. Leave to rest for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
-Arrange the dough in a circle to a thickness of 1 cm on parchment paper.
-Cook for 14 minutes at 170°C with rotating heat.
-Uncircle when the shortbread is warm. Leave to cool.
For the mascarpone whipped cream, you need: 310 grams of full-fat liquid cream, 190 grams of mascarpone, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 20 grams of stevia powder.
For the preparation:
-Whip the cream and mascarpone using an electric mixer after leaving them in the refrigerator for a few hours. When the mixture becomes foamy, add the stevia and continue to whisk until the whipped cream is whipped.
-Assemble the Breton shortbread with Plougastel strawberries and cream according to your inspiration.
-Add some lemon zest to further lower the glycemic index.
