The Glycemic Index
By Bret Burquest
Whenever you eat, food is
converted to blood sugar, called glucose. This is particularly true when eating
carbohydrates. Blood sugar is the fuel that makes the body go. Every cell in
your body depends on blood sugar for energy to stay alive and perform its
function. Without it, you would go into a coma and soon die.
The pancreas creates insulin which
is released into the blood stream in response to elevated glucose levels.
Without the insulin, blood glucose levels would rise excessively, creating a
condition known as hypoglycemia.
If your insulin production is
defective you may be subject to diabetes. Type-1 diabetes is when your body
doesn't produce enough insulin. Type-2 diabetes occurs when you produce
sufficient amounts of insulin but your cells have developed a resistance to it,
potentially damaging your system (kidneys, eyes, nerves, vital organs).
A diet low in carbohydrates is
helpful for managing glucose levels and losing weight but it isn't that simple.
The key to good health and losing
weight is to avoid spikes in insulin levels.
If you skip meals and compensate
for it with high-carbohydrate snacks, you're putting you body on a blood sugar
roller-coaster ride. The same is true if you eat one or two huge meals per day
and little else in between. Your blood sugar spikes upward, causing your
insulin levels to spike upward.
Twenty-five percent of all the
glucose in your bloodstream goes to your brain. When these levels spike, you
can become sluggish and forgetful. If you eat a lot of the wrong carbohydrates
for breakfast you become lethargic by mid morning. Then you need a donut or
some pastry to give you another temporary quick fix.
Spikes in glucose and insulin
levels turn on the "hunger switch." And everything you eat that is
not burned up as energy is stored as fat. It's a lot easier to control weight
if you're not hungry most of the time.
In 1981, Dr. David Jenkins, a
Professor of Nutrition at the
This discovery led to an
additional method of classifying foods (carbohydrates) called the Glycemic Index.
Foods that digest rapidly, leading
to a rapid release of glucose into the bloodstream, thereby causing spikes in
glucose and insulin levels, are known as high glycemic
index foods. Foods that digest more slowly, releasing glucose more gradually
into the bloodstream, are known as low glycemic index
foods.
In order to stabilize blood
glucose, reduce body fat and boost energy levels, it's important to consider
the types of carbohydrates you eat. Foods that contain low glycemic
levels will minimize the production of insulin. As an added bonus, this will
decrease hunger and increase energy levels, encouraging your body to burn more
fat.
You can get a Glycemic
Index chart on the Internet or in many health books. Generally, almost all
grains (bread, rice, etc.) are high glycemic. Except
for bananas, dates, figs, mangoes, papayas and raisins, most fruit is low glycemic. Except for carrots, corn, squash, parsnips and
potatoes, most vegetables are low glycemic. Since
meat, poultry, seafood, eggs and dairy products are low in carbohydrates they
are also low glycemic.
I am not a nutritionist. Whenever
it comes to your personal health, always check with an expert; then get a
second opinion from another expert. If your health is important to you, this
may be something to explore.
By the way, food is also
psychologically addictive. It's a substitute for love. If you feel empty
inside, you satisfy it by filling up inside. This can only be overcome by
recognizing the problem and getting over it.
I've apparently spent much of my
life substituting for love. To overcome it, I got a new puppy.
* * *
Bret Burquest is an award-winning columns and author of four
novels. Contact bret@centurytel.net
NuPathz Home Back to What If contents
NuPathz.com
– Your affordable source for self improvement and self help books &
materials
Illuminating
the path for personal motivation, growth and development
SUCCESS
= TAKING THE STEPS TO DO THE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO!