Low Glycemic Food
The Importance of Controlling Your Insulin and Blood Sugar
Low glycemic food consists of carbohydrates that cause a relatively slow rise in your blood sugar level, and thereby limit the amount of excess insulin in your blood. The glycemic index of a type of carbohydrate is a measure of how quickly that carbohydrate is digested and introduced into your blood stream, thereby causing a rise in your blood sugar.
The Dangers of High Insulin Levels
The pancreas secretes insulin in an effort to decrease blood sugar levels, particularly after eating. Insulin helps transport glucose into muscle cells to be used for energy or into fat cells to be stored as fat. Sharp spikes in blood sugar, caused by high glycemic carbohydrates, will cause a dramatic increase in insulin. Since the spike in blood sugar is metabolized more quickly than insulin in the blood, excess insulin remains after the blood sugar spike subsides. Eating low glycemic food causes gradual increases blood sugar, thus preventing creation of excess insulin. Excess insulin:
-
Increases LDL cholesterol and lowers HDL cholesterol
- Excess insulin causes your cells to produce LDL cholesterol, rather than consume cholesterol present in the blood stream, thus elevating LDL cholesterol. Tests show that HDL cholesterol levels of patients with excess insulin levels are reduced.
- Increases blood pressure - High insulin levels cause the kidneys to produce angiotension, which increases blood pressure.
- Leads to breast cancer - High insulin levels lead to higher “free-estrogen” levels in the body, which has been linked to accelerating breast cancer in women.
- Leads to diabetes – Excess insulin is associated with a condition called “insulin resistance”, which leads to the onset of diabetes. While it is debatable whether insulin resistance causes excess insulin or vice versa, the conditions are definitely closely linked.
- Linked to Alzheimer’s disease – According to a study published in August 2005, moderately elevated levels of insulin increase the levels of inflammatory markers that may contribute to Alzheimer's disease.
Strategies for Balancing Insulin
The following strategies can be used effectively to balance insulin levels and minimize excess insulin.
- Rather than eating three large meals daily, eat smaller, more frequent meals, mixing in sufficient protein and low glycemic food.
- Avoid sugars and sweeteners to the extent possible and use
healthy natural sweeteners
where you must.
- Avoid soft drinks and alcohol.
- Be aware of glycemic index and choose low glycemic food.
- Adopt a primarily vegetarian diet high in
natural produce
and
fiber.
- Avoid or limit meat and dairy based
saturated fat.
These increase insulin resistance.
- Maintain an ideal weight for your body height and type.
-
Exercise
for at least 20 – 30 minutes per day to lower insulin and blood glucose levels.
Chart of Low Glycemic Food
You can see why eating low glycemic food is important for more than just weight control.
Glycemic Index Table
provides the glycemic index of popular food. Remember to limit yourself to low and medium glycemic index foods.
Controlling blood sugar by eating low glycemic food is
The Natural Path to good health.
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