Wednesday, February 4, 2009

How To Lower Your Glycemic Index: 5 Simple Ways

By Gwen Ann Wilson

In todays fast-paced lifestyle, it has become more important than ever to take care of ones health. People are going for various healthy diet plans to reduce weight and to stay fit. One such method is to eat low glycemic index diet.

Glycemic index ranks carbohydrate containing foods from 1 to 100, where foods with glycemic index value lower than 55 are considered low GI foods, foods with GI 56"69 are medium GI foods, and those with a value higher than 70 are high GI foods.

Any person who is suffering from diabetes and heart disease should avoid high glycemic index foods. Low glycemic index foods lower the blood glucose level and help in maintaining good health. Included here in the article the 5 ways to lower glycemic index and lose weight.

1. A Healthy Breakfast: Breakfast kick starts your metabolic system for the day. A breakfast with low glycemic index value foods will help you curb hunger pangs and will energized you throughout the day. Eating a cereal based breakfast with oats, barley and bran bread is a good start. You can also add low fat yoghurt and low fat milk to your diet for a wholesome breakfast.

2. Cooking Methods: Overcooked food produces much higher glycemic index value compared to not overcooked, researchers have already proved this. If you want to try a low GI diet plan, cooking your food in a optimum heat and avoiding to overcooking is the best way to cook it because overcooking cause the GI value of the food to raise high. A perfect example is when your cooking a pasta. Overcooked pasta has higher GI value compared to pasta cooked in a proper way.

3. Eat Good Carbs: When you are aiming for a low carb-low glycemic index diet, it is important to understand that low carbs dont mean less carbs. You could be eating fewer carbohydrates, but if those are high in GI value then it doesnt serve the purpose of the diet. The solution is to eat foods that have good carbs rather than reducing the amount of carbohydrates intake. Limit the intake of carb rich foods like rice and pasta to give your diet a balanced proportion.

4. Eat Fruits: Almost all fruits except dates and watermelon have a low glycemic index value. You can eat low GI fruits like apples, bananas, plums and mangoes in your low GI diet to get the benefits of a balanced diet. Having fruits is more beneficial than fruit juice as you get fiber from eating fruits.

5. Eating at Regular Intervals: Contrary to what other might think about dieting, diet does not mean that you have to starve yourself. Small meals eaten at at regular intervals help keep your body's glucose stable. Combining low GI foods with high GI is one way of getting balanced diet. You will surely feel energetic all day. - 15343

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