Virtually all foods have a
"druglike" effect on our bodies - foods can either improve your health or destroy it.
I think most of us know which foods we should eat BUT do you know the reasons why you shouldn't eat junk food?
- Its it as simply as "I"ll put on weight" ?
- Do you fully understand what sugar and saturated fats is doing to your body longterm?
So what is the best "diet" to follow?
- Should I eat more protein?
- Should I avoid carbohydrates?
- Should I do the soup diet because my friend said so?
Diet in a sense is a bad choice of word - the word, diet conjuges up for alot of people something that implies its a short quick fix to losing some weight. Rather than thinking the word, diet could simply describe the foods we should eat everyday to ensure good health and assist steady weight management for the rest of our lives.
So how does one eat to achieve good health, to gain energy and maintain a sensible and healthy weight?
- without complicated rules
- without using diet shakes and pills
- without eating foods you don't enjoy
- without breaking the budget
In a nutshell - follow a
low GI Diet.
GI stands for
Glycaemic Index - a medical term used to measure the speed at which carbohydrates are broken down in the digestive system to form glucose (sugar). This is our body's source of energy to function each and every day. Quite simply this is the fuel that feeds your brain, muscles and all our organs.
So what does low GI mean?
Sugar is set at 100 and all foods are indexed against that number. This means that foods that are digested quickly have a high GI and those digested slowly have a low GI.
So what does this mean?
When you eat high GI foods, your body rapidly converts the food into glucose which dissolves into your bloodstream and spikes your body- sugar level, giving you that familiar sugar high. This sugar rush is short lived due to a critical enzyme - Insulin - who's role is to take sugar from the bloodstream and store it for immediate use by our muscles. Where does it store this energy - as fat around our waists, hips and thighs.
Remember this, the higher the sugar spike, the more insulin released and the quicker the sugar is drained from your bloodstream, leaving you with a sugar low. Umm guess what - you then start looking for your next sugar fix.
A diet made up of high GI foods makes you feel hungry more often - so you are more likely to eat more.
Now are you getting the picture - low GI foods deliver a steady stream of glucose becasue they break down more slowly and therefore don't trigger a sugar spike or a flood of insulin..
Getting the benefits of low GI foods is easy! It just means making a few easy substitutions-
- instead of white flour - wholemeal flour
- instead of white bread - ensure the first ingredient is wholemeal flour then pick what ever wholemeal, multi-grain or seed bread you'd prefer
- instead of refined commercial breakfast cereals - have porridge (though not with quick oats) or make your own muesli - Colleen's recipe will be published this week
- Add fibre - bran, oat bran, wheatgerm, flaxseeds to your baking
- potatoe - sweet potatoe, new potatoes, sweet corn
- white pasta - wholemeal pasta
- white rice - brown or basmati rice
- add more fibre to your diet with beans, legumes, whole grains and fresh whole food
Tip of the week - Eat smaller meals. Try to divide your meals into several smaller meals rather than a few big ones. This will help stabilize your blood sugar levels and ensure a continuous flow of nutrients for your body. So view morning tea and afternoon tea as small meals, rather than as a time for a quick and often naughty snack - make these breaks count nutritionally.
Suggestions - tin of tuna/salmon, small tin of mixed beans (washed), few shredded spinach leaves and some chopped tomato - flavour with seasoning or a dollop of a good quality mayonaise - check the label for sugar content - MUST be under 5g of sugar per 100g to consider the product a good choice.
Or yohurt, frozen blueberries and a teaspoon of cinnamon
