Nutrition and the Glycemic Index
Not all carbohydrates are equal. Slow carbohydrates are now seen as the key to losing weight and stabilizing blood sugar.
Slow carbohydrates:
In the past nutritionists recommended high fiber and wholegrain foods such as bran, cereals, brown rice and potato, and baked beans to help fill you up and keep blood sugar levels steady for people with diabetes. Now there is a more scientific approach, based on how slowly carbohydrate foods are digested and absorbed. This is known as the Glycemic index (GI). Low glycemic foods are not only useful for people with diabetes, but also for people who wish to lose weight, control heart disease and boost their energy levels.
Low carbohydrate diets:
If you are trying to loose those extra pounds, cutting out all carbohydrates is not the solution. The body requires some carbohydrate to fuel the brain, nervous system and red blood cells. Eliminating all carbohydrates means that these diets often leave you feeling irritable and low in energy. Carbohydrate foods such as grainy breads, pasta, starchy vegetables such as pumpkin and kumara also legumes provide fiber and important vitamins that our body needs.
Carbohydrates: which one should you choose?
The aim for long term weight loss is:
1. Modestly reduce your intake of carbohydrates. The easiest way to do this is to stop eating junk food such as lollies, chocolate, cakes, biscuits, hot chips, potato chips and soft drink.
2. Choose slow carbohydrate foods with low Glycemic Index. These are the carbohydrates that take longer to digest and therefore keep you feeling fuller for a longer period of time. E.g. low fat yogurt, toasted fruit bread, low fat vanilla ice cream, small banana, grainy breads.
How GI can help your weight.
Our lifestyles have become less active and our diets have become more highly processed. These are the two main factors why we have a major weight problem. Originally cutting out fats was believed to be the easiest way to lose weight. Now it is believed, it is all in the carbohydrates and low GI food that you choose. Low GI foods can help suppress your appetite.
One of the biggest challenges most dieters face is the \"feeling\" of hunger. Foods with low GI are amongst the most filling of all foods and delay hunger pains for longer. Switching some carbohydrates from high to low-GI is one strategy to make your diet more satisfying and filling you up without eating more food. For example a potato has around the same carbohydrate as pasta, but pasta takes longer to be digested by the body and therefore delays the return of hunger before the next meal. In the past standard diet advice would be you could exchange one medium potato for half a cup of cooked pasta but we now know that they are not treated the same by the body and the pasta would be the much better choice.
20 Low GI snacks:
1. 1 tub low fat yogurt
2. 20 cherries
3. banana smoothie
4. 5 to 6 dried apricots
5. slice of grainy toast
6. small carton low-fat chocolate milk
7. bowl of cereal e.g. All bran, muesli with low fat milk
8. green apple
9. large peach/pear
10. pear snack pack in natural juice
11. a juicy orange
12. apple muffin
13. slice of raisin toast or fruit bread
14. instant noodles
15. small can baked beans
16. 1 scoop of low fat ice cream
17. small banana
18. corn on the cob
19. handful of sultanas
20. pita bread
Best Low GI Diets
Look for the blue GI symbol on food packs when you are shopping. This will let you know whether the food is low, medium or high in GI.
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