Several years ago the Atkins and South Beach diets were all the rage. Food processors jumped on the low carb/no carb bandwagon by offering all manner of low carb foods, most of which were available for only a few months. Along with the popularity of low carb diets came an avalance of information, some of it pro, some not. Chances are you know someone, perhaps even yourself, who embarked on a low carb, high protein diet, lost lots of weight, but put most, if not all of it, back on when 'normal' eating habits were resumed. And our 'normal' eating habits are killing us. We're chowing down in record numbers on carbohydrate and fat laden fast foods that are playing havoc with our waistlines, our arteries and our hearts.
Having said that, carbohydrates are a necessary part of one's daily food intake. They provide our bodies with energy. But that's not to say that all carbohydrates are created equally. Generally speaking, the less refined a carbohydrate is and the less processing it undergoes before consumption, the better it is for you. Additionally, the lower the Glycemic Index (GI) value of the carbohydrate, the easier the carbohydrate is on your blood sugar level.
The Glycemic Index, commonly referred to as the GI, is a scale of 1 to 100 that ranks carbohydrates based on their effect on your blood sugar (glucose) level. The faster a carbohydrate is converted to glucose and absorbed into your blood, the higher the GI. Carbohydrates with a low GI are digested much more slowly, so they have a much less of an impact on blood sugar and insulin levels than high GI foods.
For example; let's say you had a burger with fries and a soda for lunch. Initially you'll feel stuffed because that's quite a bit of food. All three of these foods contain refined carbohydrates; the bun that covers the burger has processed flour, the fries are made from potatoes and there's so much sugar in that soda it would make the tooth fairy weep. The GI of all three is very high. Your blood sugar will rise very rapidly which causes your pancreas to release too much insulin to deal with the blood sugar. Once the insulin has done its job, your blood sugar will drop just as quickly as it rose, sending signals to your brain just hours later that you're hungry again, even though you ate just a few hours ago.
The cycle is a vicious one with serious health implications. It's causing record levels of obesity in North America and the rest of the world, not to mention diabetes and heart disease. The rate of diabetes among children, which used to be rare, is skyrocketing! And it's basically because a lot of us overeat and even if we don't overeat, we eat the wrong kinds of foods.
To keep you on the right track, choose whole grains over refined flours. Whole grain flours contain the whole grain, including the bran and the germ of the grain. They're high in fiber so you'll feel fuller longer. Bread, pasta and noodles made of whole grains are easily available and in most cases, don't cost much more than those made with refined flour.
Most fruits and vegetables are on the low to medium end of the GI scale, are low in calories and packed full of vitamins, minerals and fiber.
I'm not advocating that you give up all refined carbs. I like chocolate and chips as much as anyone and an occasional bit of either won't do you any harm. But consuming regular helpings of chips, fries, white bread, candy and soda won't give your body the nutrition it requires. The only thing it will do is ensure that you gain weight, or at the very least make it difficult to shed your excess pounds.
