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Low GI Foods & Glycemic Index for Healthy Living

Low GI Snacks

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Low GI SnacksLow GI Snacks for in-between times when you’re not quite ready for your next low gi meal. They’re a great low glycemic diet aid to have on hand in-between meal times to prevent your blood sugar levels falling too low. However, do keep in mind that snacking can be the quickest way to undo all of your health, or weight related, efforts. A “snack” should always be a small snack! Definitely not another meal!

It’s also important to keep in mind that a late evening or midnight snack is not a good habit.  Remember too, that it’s best not to skip meals or allow yourself to feel overly hungry, as you’d be undoing your health-related and weight loss goals in the process. It only causes more spiking and plummeting of blood sugar levels, whereas we really need to be keeping those blood sugar levels steady.

When snacking, usually a small handful is sufficient to keep you going. Stay on track by making some healthy, low glycemic diet choices when you get the munchies.

Try these smart Low GI Foods as Snacks:
 •    A small handful of mixed nuts
•    A small bowl of freshly popped popcorn
•    A few mixed grain crackers topped with ricotta cheese
•    Celery or a banana topped with natural peanut butter
•    Wholegrain pita chips topped with hummous
•    Baked corn chips with fresh salsa
•    Fresh or dried fruit
•    A hardboiled egg
•    Fresh cut vegetables
•    An oat bran muffin
•    Lentil dip with fresh carrot sticks, celery and cauliflower
•    Yoghurt topped with muesli
•    Banana smoothie
•    Trail mix made with dried fruit, nuts and seeds

Foods to avoid:
 •    Sweets and lollies
•    Potato chips
•    Salted, roasted peanuts and other nuts
•    Pastries and cakes
•    Icecream
•    Biscuits and crackers

Just remember to keep some at the ready in your pantry, desk drawer, or handbag, so that you won’t be tempted by other less healthy options. And enjoy making up new options for healthy low gi snacks!

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Low GI Diet Tips #2

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Following a Low GI Diet doesn’t have to be complicated! And, there’s no need to forever consult low gi food lists, once you come to understand that it’s really just about eating foods as close as possible to their original state in nature, with minimal processing.

Here are a few additional tips to help with a low gi diet lifestyle –

Reduce (or eliminate!) sugary foods!

Do we really need all of those refined sugar laden sweets, soft drinks, fruit drinks, desserts, cakes and biscuits? Probably not! There are many great alternatives so make a conscious effort to make more natural low gi diet choices. Check out the great low gi dessert and low gi snack suggestion on this website, or perhaps you could even invest in a great low gi cookbook.

However, you also need to mindful of all the hidden sugars in foods. Once you start reading more and more product labels, you’ll find refined sugar in just about everything on the supermarket shelves – from canned vegetables, flavoured tuna, savoury biscuits, baked beans … and the list goes on! And if we’re not careful, our daily sugar intake can climb rapidly without even being aware.

Eat small, regular meals

Missing meals is never a good idea! … Your blood sugar levels will fall too low causing fatique, mental … And it definitely won’t help with your weight loss goals either! Your low glycemic diet should start each day with a healthy low gi breakfast for sustained energy. Allow yourself a midmorning low gi snack, a good lunch, a low glycemic mid afternoon snack, and finally a balanced evening meal. It’s better to graze on smaller meals and healthy, low glycemic snacks than to eat three large meals a day. Also avoid the temptation for late evening nibbles that can also be disruptive to sleep.

Go for at least two low glycemic meals each day

Ideally it would be best if all of our meals were low GI, but with our busy lifestyles, together and the availability fast foods and takeaways, causes us to occasionally stray off course with our low gi diet. If we can strive for at least two solid low gi meals each day, we’re at least able to sustain relatively steady blood sugar levels for the most part, and can improve from there. A lifestyle of low gi eating becomes a habit with practice. Begin with a good breakfast and have lots of pre-prepared snacks on hand, and you’re half way there!

A  low gi diet is really very simple, but it does take time to make it a way of life. You’ll feel better, more alive, and more full of energy, making it all worthwhile!

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Low GI Diet Tips #1

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Low GI Diet Tips #1

In order to promote a healthy body from the inside and out, these low glycemic tips and strategies can help you follow the path of a low gi diet lifestyle. They’ll help to increase your intake of healthy carbohydrates, manage your weight and reduce your likelihood of falling prey to ill health.

Eat more fruit and vegetables – 7 serves a day!

Research shows time and time again that a low gi diet, high in fruits and vegetables, will significantly reduce the risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, many cancers and other degenerative diseases – as well as weight loss. Be sure to eat a wide variety of differently coloured fruits and vegetables, so that you’re getting a broad spectrum of nutrients and antioxidants to promote good health. Remember though, to eat the whole fruit, not just the juice! Also, if you have a small amount of protein, like nuts, seeds, yoghurt, etc at the same time as having a piece of fruit, you’ll feel full longer, and reduce the overall glycemic index load of your snack.

Eat more nuts!

Because nuts and seeds are largely protein, they’re also a very low glycemic diet snack. They’re an excellent source of essential fatty acids (EFA’s), which are “essential” for our overall health – everything from diabetes to heart disease, brain function, skin health, hormonal issues … and the list goes on. EFA’s can’t be manufactured by our bodies, so they need to come from our diet. Sadly, many people trying to lose weight have avoided eating nuts because of their high fat content and, in so doing, have missed out on important nutrients that can actually support healthy weight maintenance.

A few nuts daily is all you need. Choose a wide variety of favourites and make sure they’re unroasted, as high temperatures will destroy the essential fatty acids. Add them to salads, breakfasts, enjoy them with fruit, or as a simple snack.

Eat more beans!

Many of us in western countries, don’t eat as many beans and pulses in our diet as our Eastern counterparts. Beans, peas and lentils are low glycemic, nutrient dense, high in protein, and rich in nutrients. Being low gi, add them to soups, stews and salads, or puree them into tasty dips to have with fresh vegetables as a tasty snack.

Eat whole grains instead!

Forget about the super soft, white, fluffy, high glycemic index bread on supermarket shelves. Look for the heavier whole grain varieties, with visible grain and seeds and a low gi. Instead of mashed potatoes, choose brown or basmati rice, and experiment with quinoa, freekah, wild rice – or other ancient grains. There are so many nutrient rich foods that nature provides, that it seems a shame to limit our diets to only a handful of foods to which we’ve become accustomed. The more we look for better choices, the more we’ll find – and enjoy! After all, a low glycemic diet is meant to be easy!

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