***Discover the Glycemic Index/Load for Healthy Eating

Healthy eating is the first step in taking control of your health. You can do so much to
control how you look and feel through your food choices and physical activity.

The good news is that you do not need special diet foods. The same food that is good for you is good for the whole family. Healthy eating is the first step in taking control of your health to prevent diseases.  If you are diabetic or have other diet related disease, you can eat foods that do not raise your blood sugar by choosing foods with a low glycemic Index/load, combined with exercise.
This pattern of eating is good for the whole family.

What is the Glycemic Index/Load?

The glycemic index is a precise tool used to evaluate the relative health of a carbohydrate food source of. It measures how much and how quickly a given food can raise blood sugar.
It is a very valuable tool in giving you a snapshot of what happens in the body when we eat certain foods. The glycemic index uses 50-gram carbohydrate portions of food rather than the actual serving sizes. It came under scrutiny because a healthy vegetable such as carrot would require that you eat one pound of carrot to get 50 grams of carbohydrates.
As a result, researchers devised and revised the glycemic index into a new rating system called the glycemic load. The glycemic load offers a better profile of the “effects of food on your body’s biochemistry than either the amount of carbohydrate or the glycemic index alone.”

How the Glycemic Load Works

The researchers used a more realistic portion of food to determine the glycemic load. As an example, using carrots to demonstrate the glycemic load, it would translate into you eating a 2-ounce serving of carrots. The glycemic load of carrots indicate that you would eat 2-ounces is more realistic than eating a full pound under the glycemic index measurement.

There is evidence that eating foods with lower glycemic loads are better for your health.
Eating breakfast with lower glycemic foods can help prevent overeating for the rest of the day. This is an important tool to compare and use for choosing your foods, especially carbohydrates. However, you should not plan your whole diet around the glycemic load.
You have to weigh the nutrient content of a food delivery, particularly carbohydrate-rich food, than just its impact on blood sugar. For example, fruits and vegetables offer fiber, vitamins, minerals, and many active phytochemicals. This is also true for intact minimally slightly processed grains.

If you are on a low carbohydrate diet be sure to include these vital nutritious foods into your meals and snacks. Choose the right kinds of carbs in the right quantities and portion size. Complex carbohydrates supply an abundance of important vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and fiber. All have a modest effect on blood sugar and insulin. Complex carbohydrates also maintain blood sugar and insulin at relatively stable levels. Another added benefit when you consume these carbs in moderation these foods promote fat burning and energy production.

 How to Do It!

• Eat a wide variety of foods everyday. Try new foods as much as possible.
• Eat high fiber foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans.
• Use less added fat, sugar, and salt as well as eliminating hydrogenated fat foods, which was (recently banned.)
• Be physically active every day.

What to Eat at a Glance?
Let’s look at some foods that you should have in your meal plans:

Beans: are rich in protein and a premier source of complex carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and soluble fiber.

Berries: these are packed with antioxidants, berries – include, blueberries, blackberries, boysenberries, cherries, cranberries, currants, raspberries and strawberries. These help to prevent diseases and may slow the aging process. Eat one of them daily especially when they are in season and you can buy them frozen, dried and eaten as a snack or include in salads and recipes.

Broccoli:  belong to the class of cruciferous vegetables. It is a nutrient dense complex carbohydrate. It supplies calcium to build strong bones and teeth and provide many other vitamins and minerals to support the body’s fighting and energy- enhancing processes.

Cantaloupe: this is a magnificent source of vitamins A & C, with some soluble fiber but relatively few calories and hardly any fat. If you don’t like cantaloupe, peaches and plums are also terrific choices.

Garlic and Onions: You maybe rolling your eyes reading these but although they have potent flavors, garlic and onions contain substances that not only help burn fat, they also lower blood cholesterol. They add flavor to any entrée, side dish and salads.

Oats and other whole grains: whole grains are an excellent source of fiber, plus healthy fats and a host of vitamins and minerals. You have a wide variety of whole grain choices including whole wheat, rye, buckwheat, and quinoa.

Oats have a healthy profile. It has a beneficial effect on blood sugar and insulin, which can keep metabolism in fat burning mode. Oats provide good sources of the trace mineral selenium, which is vital to hormone balance.

This let us know that the quality of our food choices is important in meeting our nutritional needs. When we choose foods that meet the glycemic load standards, we must eat to be healthy in supporting our heart, provides energy, keep cancer and other diseases at bay. It is for all these reasons we should choose our foods that give variety with fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes.