Cut the Sugar Challenge : Day 20

Hi everyone! I can’t believe we’re on Day 20 of the Cut the Sugar Challenge!

I hope you’re learning so much about sugar and cravings and that it’s not all about your weakness to sweets and poor willpower! It’s much more than this…

When you feed yourself it’s not just about putting something in your mouth that you want or crave – proper nourishment is much more than this – it’s being conscious about great food decisions that will benefit your wellbeing, give you energy, help you stay focused and support your emotional (hormonal) health. Everything is affected when we eat great healthy food!

Today is a great topic : We’re talking about low-glycemic foods and how they will help you cut sugar cravings!

But first if you’re thinking what the heck are glycemic foods, let me first explain… :)

What is the glycemic index and why is it important when cutting out sugar :

The glycemic index measures the effects of carbohydrates on your blood sugar after you eat a meal. Foods that are high on the glycemic index (GI) can cause your blood sugar to spike. This can lead to sugar spikes and drops. This can also cause your insulin levels to soar in a short period of time which could lead to diabetes.

 

High-Glycemic foods : (bad for you)

Foods like soft-drinks, juice, sugary foods, potato chips, french fries, white rice, white bagels etc. are in the category of high-glycemic.

These foods spike the blood sugar way high, a lot of these foods are high-fructose foods, and they also strain the pancreas and liver more. Also these foods contribute to blood sugar spikes and crashes.

 

Low-Glycemic foods : (good for you)

Foods like brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat, wild rice, dense whole-grain bread, sweet potatoes and sweeteners like coconut palm sugar are categorized as low-glycemic.

Low-glycemic foods digest slowly and keep our blood sugar stable, thus not spiking your blood sugar high. You also feel satiated, fuller longer, avoiding a low blood sugar crash.

Vegetables :  non-starchy vegetables are mostly all low-glycemic – eat those without restrictions! Starchy vegetables can be high glycemic especially white potatoes but otherwise carrots and other root vegetables are really healthy so I don’t think you should restrict yourself* with these nourishing foods. 
*unless you are Diabetic then yes you need to consider and be accountable for all carbohydrates.

Fruit : some fruit ranks low some ranks high on the glycemic index scale for examples green apples and watermelon are low-glycemic where as cherries are high-glycemic but I don’t think eating fruit should be really restricted. You get lots of vitamins and nourishment in fruit so it’s important to eat them on a regular basis and not feel restricted too much with fruit. One or two servings at a time is great and good for you!

 

Benefits of eating low-glycemic foods :

• control your blood glucose level
• control your cholesterol level
• control appetite
• lower risk of developing heart disease
• lower risk of developing Type II Diabetes

 

 

That’s why it’s important to be mindful of the Glycemic Index when addressing your sugar cravings and wanting to eat healthier overall.

If this is still a little confusing, know that all carbohydrates already have a GI established.  You can google for specific foods if you’re not sure if they are low or high. But usually refined white flour foods are high and hearty grains like quinoa and buckwheat are low – so when you start paying attention to these you’ll quickly start to differentiate and choose the healthier low-glycemic foods.

There’s also more to GI and saying that eating low-glycemic foods is your ticket to great health isn’t everything. There’s also the glycemic load to consider which means how the carbohydrate you eat affects your overall blood sugar when you combine it with other foods. But that’s a lot to handle and I don’t even practice perfect low-glycemic eating ~ when you worry too much about what you eat and start counting things and become too obsessive you enjoy food less and that is truly terrible! So just simply aim for healthier grains – I think we all know the difference between quinoa and white rice and coke and lemon water and which options are healthier…. So just do the best you can and choose healthier grains and other carbohydrates but you don’t have to check the GI number for everything you eat. ;)

My personal diet is about 90% low-glycemic – I thrive on a diet like this and although I don’t really get into the specific GI of the carbohydrates I eat, it’s part of my diet to choose healthier grains like buckwheat, quinoa, brown or wild rice etc. over white bread or rice or white sugar and juice.

For today’s challenge, look at the carbs you eat today? What glycemic index do they fall into? Could you choose a healthier low-glycemic food instead?

ps. I just checked and the Cut the Sugar book is at a crazy $15.04 today (that’s 40% off) on Amazon.com so if you still don’t have a copy, you should definitely get one and probably get one for your mom or sister or bff :) I don’t set these prices nor does my publisher it’s all in Amazon’s hands and so far they’re giving you guys a great deal!! Yay! :) ps. thanks in advance if you do get one! xox