The glycemic index, or GI, is a tool that was developed in the early 1980s at the University of Toronto to help diabetics better predict to what degree carbohydrate-containing foods could raise their blood sugar levels. Now the GI is the tool of choice to help you choose the healthiest carbohydrates and avoid the less healthy ones. High GI foods are the ones to avoid because they cause your blood sugar levels to peak and then crash within a few hours, while low GI foods are the ones you should eat more of to smoothen your blood sugar levels throughout the whole day.
Low Glycemic Foods
The glycemic index range from zero to 100 and foods with a GI value of 55 or below are considered to be low on the GI scale. All non-starchy vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, tomato, mushrooms, asparagus, onions, carrots and zucchini, have a low GI. Regarding grains, your best options are steel-cut oats or old-fashioned oatmeal, barley, quinoa, Basmati rice, whole-grain pasta, sourdough bread and breads made from stone-ground whole-grain flour. Legumes, such as beans and lentils, as well as winter squash, sweet potatoes, whole fruits, milk and yogurt also have low GI values.
Include One Low Glycemic Food Per Meal
Choosing at least one low glycemic food at each of your meal is a good first step to lower your overall dietary glycemic index, according to Dummies.com. For example, you can add fresh fruits to your morning bowl of breakfast cereals. At lunch, if you usually have a bowl of vegetable soup with crackers and cheese for lunch, try adding a low GI food like lentils, beans or barley to your soup. At dinner, serve a generous servings of non-starchy vegetables, such as green beans, bok choy or red bell pepper, with your meal.
Swap High Glycemic Foods for Low Glycemic Foods
If you want to further improve your dietary glycemic index, you can try adding more low GI foods into your diet or swapping high GI foods with lower GI options. High GI foods that could be replaced by lower GI alternatives include most breakfast cereals, white rice, mashed potatoes, french fries, white and whole wheat bread, bagels, scones and donuts. If you want to make your diet healthier, replace your morning breakfast cereals with steel-cut oats, the whole wheat bread for your sandwich at lunch with sourdough bread, the rice in your stir-fry with Basmati rice and white potatoes with sweet potatoes or winter squash.
Health Benefits
Including low GI carbohydrates at each of your meals and replacing most of your high GI foods with low GI alternatives will help you stabilize your blood sugar levels throughout the whole day. The benefits of not having your blood sugar levels go sky high and then crash, as happens when eating a high glycemic index diet, is that your energy levels will be more even during the entire day. Moreover, because you won't feel as hungry or have irresistible cravings between meals, it will be easier for you to eat healthy and reach your healthy body weight. In addition, a low GI diet is associated with lower blood cholesterol levels as well as a decreased risk of developing cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes. If you already have diabetes, choosing low GI foods will help you better manage your blood sugar levels.
Member Comments