How to Reduce Your Glycemic Index (GI) and Lose Weight

Food consumption is very important for keeping the body running during our daily activities. In fact, even though consuming food is extremely important for the proper function of the body, not all foods are great for the health. There are some foods that contain more sugars than others, and other foods that disturb the balance of chemicals in the body. Due to these reasons you need to be able to understand the glycemic index (GI) in order to make better choices when it comes to the foods.

Here are some more details in regards to GI:

This glycemic index has been developed at the University of Sydney and has purpose of creating a database of foods’ GI values. They have divided the results in three groups of carbs:

1. Starches
2. Fiber
3. Sugars

When consumed food rich with fiber it just passes through the body without leaving caloric imprint, whereas sugars and starches are broken down into glucose in order to allow the body to use it. The carbohydrates are rated with GI index depending on the increase of the blood sugar levels it causes.

This GI system compares the sugars and starches from foods with pure glucose, and gives the correct GI number. When one food is given GI of 15 it means that the food is affecting the blood sugar levels in the body 15% as much as glucose. Such food with GI of 15 is considered as low GI and healthy food, and food with GI of 100 means that the food is not healthy at all.

You always need to consume foods with low GI and avoid the foods with high GI number. Following these instructions can definitely help you lose and control weight, as well as regulate the diabetes. Also consuming foods with low GI can help you reduce the risks of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, stroke, and depression.

Here are the GI values

The foods are divided in three categories:
Low GI: 1-55 – fruits, beans, nuts, and vegetables
Medium GI: 56-69 – white rice, breakfast cereals, and potatoes
High GI – 70 and up – bagels, packed breakfast cereals, white bread, and cakes

GI and glycemic load

The founders of glycemic index set some limitations of the GI value. For some foods, especially those low on carbs, consuming 50 grams of digestible carbohydrates amounts to eating an unrealistically big portion. For example watermelon has been given GI of 80, but in fact it is extremely healthy and this index might mislead you. The reason behind this is due to the fact that consuming 50 grams of watermelon carbs require eating extremely huge amount of this fruit, which is hard to do.

Due to this reason scientists have come with alternative system of ranking foods – glycemic load GL. The GL number is actually showing the change in blood glucose levels after you eat certain food. This is considered to be more realistic measurement because watermelon’s GL for 120 grams serving is 5. This confirms that watermelon is healthy food.

Here are more details about GI diet

The GI diet is based on the GI index of foods. This is due to the fact that the diet is based on foods that don’t cause sugar spikes and sugar crashes.
You will need to avoid foods with high GI index, and instead to consume foods with low GI such as beans, whole grains, and vegetables. So in order to lose weight and regulate your diabetes you will need to consume foods with low GI.

The benefits of GI diet are:

– Losing weight or maintaining healthy weight
– Control of the blood sugar levels
– Prevent chronic diseases

These basic guidelines will help you consume foods with low GI and lose weight fast:

1. Make sure that you reduce the consumption of refined grains, and try to consume foods that are not refined such as pasta and brown rice.
2. You will need to consume foods that are rich with fiber. When consuming fruits you should avoid peeling it. Also in the morning try to consume cereal that is rich with fiber. Vegetables should be lightly steamed in order to maintain their nutrients.
3. Never buy overly ripe fruits because they contain more sugars, and try to prefer berries in your choice.
4. Try to mix your carbohydrate meal with protein in order to decrease the GI. For instance, you can add chicken in your pasta or peanut butter on your toast in order to ease the process of digestion. For breakfast it is best to consume hardboiled egg with your cereal.
5. You can reduce the glycemic impact by adding healthy oil in your meal or salad. It is best to use olive or coconut oil.
6. Apple cider vinegar, tomato juice, and lemon juice can help you reduce the meal’s GI
7. If you love chocolate make sure that you consume only dark chocolate
8. When you eat pizza make sure that you consume whole wheat thin crust pizza with tomato sauce

source http://www.healthyandnaturalworld.com