Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Blood Glucose Pt II-Days Nine and Ten

*Singing*

I can see clearly now the rain is gone....(I'm rockin' my spectacles!).

(although the rain has transformed into flurries) booooooo!!!

Peace people!!

Ok as promised, I have some information on foods that will help control blood glucose levels.

Due to the economy sucking so bad, I opted to keep this list as simple as possible (ie no fancy supplements or expensive foods).

The Glycemic Index

It's important to reference the Glycemic Index (GI) because this is what I've based my general information off of. The keyword here is 'general' because everyone is different and there are many variables (activity level, age, insulin level, etc) that must be accounted for too.

The Glycemic Index in each food is scored on how your body's sugar level reacts to it. The scale is 0-100. Foods higher on the GI enter your bloodstream quickly and cause your pancreas to pump out insulin in order to assist with digestion. This causes your sugar levels to skyrocket. Not Good. Of course foods that are lower on the scale take longer to enter your bloodstream and digest.

A majority of refined and processed foods will screw you over in the long run.

Medium/High Glycemic Foods:
  • Cereals (corn flakes, rice krispies, etc)
  • Potato Chips
  • Potatoes
  • Parsnips ('wtf is a parsnip?' haha)
  • Dates
  • Rice cakes
  • Doughnuts
  • Waffles
  • Ice cream
  • Soda
  • White breads and baked goods
  • Rice
  • Mangoes (nooooooooooo)
  • Pineapples (double nooooooooo)
  • Popcorn

Low Glycemic Foods [to Embrace]:
  • Beans
  • Tomatoes
  • Zucchini
  • Spinach
  • Peppers
  • Broccoli
  • Cucumber
  • Eggplant
  • Green Beans
  • Lettuce (all varieties)
  • Peanuts
  • Carrots
  • Yam
  • Sweet Potatoes
  • Cherries
  • Grapefruit
  • Apples
  • Oranges
  • Multi-Grain Bread
  • Soymilk

Ok so you get the idea. It's not all the foods I found, but this should give you a foundation on where to begin. Keep in mind too, that exercise and drinking a lot of water (putting it in Kool-Aid or Tang does not count) will help to keep your body in balance. I know it's cold but hit up the mall for some window shopping or see how many laps you can walk around the old people gettin' their strut on early in the morning before the stores open. (lol)

Peace!!!

1 comment:

Bootzey said...

I refuse to live without mangoes!