Friday, February 27, 2009

Lower Your Glycemic Index Through These 5 Simple Ways

By Gwen Ann Wilson

Today's lifestyle requires us to be more careful about our health. A lot of people are trying many diet plans to fit their needs, lose weight and to stay fit. Low glycemic index diet is one method.

Glycemic Index ranks carbohydrates from 1 to 100. Foods that have a lower GI value is in 55 level foods with medium GI are 56-59 while foods with the value higher than 70 are food with high GI.

To those people who are suffering from diabetes and heart disease, high glycemic index foods are not recommended. Taking low glycemic index foods will lower your blood glucose level and will surely contribute greatly on your over all health. Here are the 5 ways lo lose weight and lower your glycemic index.

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. Good Carbs Eating: one of the goals of low glycemic index diet plans is learning to eat good carbs rather than eating lesser carbs. There is no use if you eat lesser carbs with high GI value, so eating good carbs instead is being suggests. Limiting the intake of rice and pasta can be a good start for these carbs have high GI value on them.

4. Fruit Eating: Eating almost all kinds of fruits, except dates and watermelons, are suitable if you are into low glycemic index diet plan. Fruits such as bananas, plums, apples, mangoes and apples are perfect with low GI diet. And also, getting a lot of fiber from these fruits are good also.

5. Eating at Regular Intervals is Important: Dieting does not mean that you have to totally starve yourself to get the benefits. Eating small meals at regular interval is useful to maintain your body glucose. The best way is combining low GI foods with high GI foods to get a balance diet. This will give you more energy throughout the day. - 15995

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