What is Eating Below the Glycemic Index?
Below the Glycemic Index
You may have heard of high and low glycemic index foods and that you should eat as many low glycemic foods as you can if you want to keep your blood sugar low or if you are diabetic, but you may not have heard of the concept of Eating Below the Glycemic Index.
A typical glycemic index chart looks something like this:
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Click to Enlarge Chart
What you should notice about this chart, or any glycemic index chart, is that there are a number of foods that are missing. The reason why these missing foods are not on the chart is that they don’t have any effect on your blood sugar at all. But just because these foods are not on the glycemic index doesn’t mean they are not important, in fact the opposite is true.
Below the Glycemic Index Foods:
Here are the foods that are below the glycemic index. You can safely eat as much as you want of them and they will have no impact on your blood sugar:
- Onions and garlic
- Cruciferous vegetables: Broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, chard, kale, and cabbage
- Lettuce of all kinds: red leaf, green leaf, iceberg…
- Mixed greens: spinach, arugula, endive, dandelion greens, escarole, radicchio, red mustard and various lettuces: red leaf, green leaf, romaine
- Avocados
- Meats: fish, chicken, beef, pork, wild game
- Eggs
- Mushrooms: Shitake, Maitake, Reishi and others
What is amazing about all these foods is that they are not only low on the glycemic index, but many of them are what I call Disease Busing Power Foods because they pack that additional nutritional punch that makes them not only good for you, but can actually prevent (and maybe even treat) many common diseases (such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and others).
By choosing foods from below the glycemic index, you are picking the very best nutrition you can find. You are not only keeping your blood sugar low, but you are also giving your body that extra boost it needs to navigate our stressed-out over-processed and sometimes toxic world.
Cannot Live on “Below” Alone?
You may look at the Below the Glycemic Index foods and think that you cannot live on those foods alone. Fair enough. The next best place to choose your foods from is the low glycemic index foods, the best of these include:
- Nuts: peanuts, cashews, almonds, walnuts…
- Fruits: apples, kiwi, cherries, berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries…)
- Beans: pinto, chickpea, butter beans, lima bean, black beans, lentils…
- Grains: while I’m not a big fan of grains, if you want to include them in your diet try to prepare them as most people make rice: boil and eat them. The whole grain with the lowest glycemic index is barley. You should also choose the whole-grain versions and not the “white” versions. If you simply must have your grains ground and processed, choose pasta as it generally is very low on the glycemic index.
Below or Low
As you can see, the best way to eat is to choose foods low or below the glycemic index. While it can be difficult at times, these foods are what your body need to thrive.
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I’ve found some really good tasting recipes at http://www.lowglycemicrecipes.net They have breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. And they’re always adding new ones. They list carb amount, calories, fat, fiber content, Glycemic Index (GI), Glyco Load (GL). I haven’t seen any other sites that offer the GI and GL together in their recipes. Good site if you’re looking for new ideas and good info.
I’m confused, is it ok to eat cooked vegetables or should they always be raw? Also things like carrotts and brussel sprouts have sugar in them on the label so why are they ok to eat?
Charity,
I think you should balance your cooked vegetables with as many raw vegetables as possible. Carrots and Brussels sprouts do contain sugars (as do most fruits and vegetables), but they are okay to eat (unless you are talking about packaged carrots that have added sugars).
Dr. Olson-
I did see that packed carrots have sugar as well as frozen brussel sprouts. So in order to follow the diet as closely as possible all vegetables should be purchased raw in their original form (no baby carrots that are pre-packaged) and then cooked if you want them cooked, correct. Also what about zuchinni and yellow squash are they ok?
Charity
Charity,
Yes, you got it right. Zuchinni and squash are ok as well.
Good luck!
What do u think about the Atkins Diet?
Atkins is a step in the right direction (less carbs), but misses the boat when you end up eating too much protein and fat. Our bodies thrive on vegetable and fruits and any diet that restricts those essential nutrients because of some artificial level of carbohydrates you are supposed to have every day can only lead to illness in the future.