Empty Calories Create Disease

When someone talks about will power, they may not realize that controlling eating habits has a lot less to do with will power than it does with blood sugar. When blood sugar drops, the brain, which depends on glucose for its fuel, signals for ravenous hunger; mental confusion and weakness generally follow. This is why starving all day to make up for the calories to be consumed in the evening is not a smart approach! Rather, the smart approach is to make sure that one’s blood sugar is fairly regularly maintained, to avoid the overcompensation and “pigging out” that ensues after fasting. The following considerations are important in the maintenance of blood sugar levels.

The whites should be eliminated from our diets. These whites include flour, sugar, rice, pasta and potatoes. The problem is that these whites are calorically dense but low on the nutrition scale. For instance white flour has resulted from the processing of a whole grain. This processing removes the fiber and nutrients, then it is bleached which further creates a nutritionally devoid substance that is higher in calories. It puts on weight fast because without its fiber it causes the blood sugar in the body to rise rapidly and insulin responds and stores the overabundance of glucose as fat. To obtain equal amounts of Vitamin E in bread we would have to eat 4-5 slices of white bread to each one slice of whole wheat bread. This would add an additional 300- 350 calories. This is an important issue in our fight against the unbelievable national increase in diabetes.

It is important to have a working knowledge of the glycemic indexes of various foods, especially the ones we tend to enjoy or eat regularly. When the GI of a food is considered it is always in reference to a carbohydrate. It refers to the way carbohydrates are ranked based on the speed of their effect on our blood glucose levels. In general it is a good way to recognize how to avoid blood sugar spikes, which can lead to fatigue and storage of unused glucose as fat. Some benefits of eating a low GI diet include weight loss, increasing the cell membrane sensitivity to insulin, reducing the risk of heart disease, managing hunger and cravings, as well as managing energy levels. There are three different categories of glycemic indexes: low, medium and high. It is best to eat a diet with carbohydrates in the low to medium glycemic categories. The indexes are as follows:

• Low Glycemic foods have a value of 55 or less.
• Medium Glycemic foods range from 56-69.
• High Glycemic foods have values above 70.

Foods that should be eliminated with a high glycemic index include most soft drinks, cakes, pies, candy, granola bars, rice and rice cakes, white potatoes, raisins, and over-ripe bananas. You can get the picture that whole grains are better choices like brown rice as well as seeds, legumes, most vegetables and fruits. In general the more processed the food the higher the glycemic index.

There are times when glycemic indexes may be surprising and enlightening too. What I mean by this is that it is not uncommon to see a woman who wants to lose weight eating a dinner of a bowl of cornflakes or snacking in the afternoon on melba toast. Both of these have very high glycemic indexes. Both will interfere with weight loss.

A couple of things we can do to change the given glycemic index of a food we eat or at least affect the way the body turns the carbohydrate into sugar is by always combining a lean protein with a carb. In addition, we can lower the glycemic index of a meal by adding fresh lemon to our water and drinking it with the meal.

Check out the glycemic index of the carbohydrates that you regularly consume by going to glycemicindex.com or glycemicindexdiet.com.