GI Info (Glycemic Index)

So like I said yesterday, I really dislike thinking about college preparation.
Applications, meetings, visits, essays, tests... it's all very overwhelming.

And as much bubble bath sitting or yoga meditating as I do, I can't seem to get rid of this high school stress.

Stress overload!!

I find that there are usually a lot of healthy ways to relieve my stress. Sometimes all it takes is a good talk with a friend and other times a spoonful of peanut butter will suffice.

But then there are times where my stress is like an unwanted ghost that keeps haunting me. Everywhere I turn, it's there!

It's times like these where I just have to bite the bullet and deal with my problems head first. I need to start actually being productive, actually doing my homework, and I need to actually start preparing for college application deadlines.

With motivation and confidence, I will be able to handle all of this.

And what helps me start this uphill battle of the college process?
Eating right, exercising, and getting enough sleep.
When I do all of these things, I'm focused, driven, and I know what I have to do without procrastinating.

So while I haven't gotten much sleep recently (yeah, I'm going to start working on that!.. :-/   ), I have been eating clean, a major component in my struggle to maintain sanity in high school!!


And now, I want to share with you some foods I've been eating and some research I've done.

Ever heard of the "Glycemic Index"?

I always hear about it on diet commercials and infomercials. Before I knew what it was, it just seemed to me like a  hoax to get people to buy crappy diet pills that don't work. Like some sort of made up system to make people think that the ONLY way they will lose weight will be if they take a magic pill with a low Glycemic Index (GI) rating.

But it turns out Emily is wrong once again. Hey, I can't be perfect all the time, right?! But I am pretty darn close, just as my mommy :)

Haha ok so anyways.
The Glycemic Indiex is real! It is pretty much a scale from 1-100 that ranks foods by how much they raise blood glucose levels.
Usually, if a food can be digested faster into the body, it has a higher GI rating.

If the molecules of a food have tight clumps, it is harder for the body to digest and therefore digests slower. This means a food will be digesting for a longer period of time in your body, making you feel fuller longer and preventing your blood sugar from spiking.

Highly processed foods are digested faster which means they have a higher GI rating. Cornflakes for example, have a GI rating of around 81, whereas rolled oats generally have a GI rating somewhere in the 40's.

Same goes with breads. Unprocessed grains have a lower GI rating because they are not as processed, meaning their molecules are not open and easily digestible. Pumpernickel bread has a rating of 46 and white bread has a rating of 73.

The fat content is also considered in the GI rating scale. Foods with more fat will be lower in rating because it takes longer for fats to be digested, preventing blood glucose levels from spiking immediately.
However, this means that not anything with a low GI rating is healthy. Potato chips are laden with fat and so they only have a rating of 75. (Mind you that's still pretty high, but considering how unhealthy potato chips are, it's actually sort of low.)

So Emily what about fruits? They  have a ton of sugar and are easy to digest, does that mean they are bad for me?

Absolutely not! Fruits are filled with HEALTHY sugars, not high fructose corn syrup.
But have you ever noticed how: if you eat an apple for your midmorning snack, you're hungry again within the next hour?! That happens to me sometimes. That's because since the fruit is made up of mainly carbohydrates and sugars, it can be digested into your body very easily.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. People enjoy eating fruits before a long run because it digests quickly and can be used for energy pretty quickly.
However, if you are eating a fruit as snack, you don't want to be hungry an hour later!
The way to slow down the glycemic response is to mix high sugar foods (high GI foods) with foods that digest more slowly into the body.

Mix your fruits and sugary things with fats and proteins. Fats and proteins are slow to digest and when combined with the sugars, they will keep you fuller longer.

An apple with a little bit of peanut butter is way more satisfying than just a plain apple!
The mixture of fast and slow digesting foods keeps your stomach pumping and controls the speed of your digestion.

So what's so important about eating foods with a low GI? Well eating foods that have a low GI have been known to:

Control glucose levels in the body
Control cholesterol
Control appetite
Help prevent heart disease
Help prevent type 2 diabetes

So what should I be eating and how do I incorporate this newfound knowledge into my diet?

1. Eat when you feel hungry. 3-5 meals a day is what I usually do, depending on my hunger and the size of my portions.
2. Decrease unhealthy fats, and incorporate lots of mono- and unsaturated fats into your diet. They are slow to digest and will keep you feeling full. Mix these fats with high sugar foods like fruits for a delectable, filling snack or meal. 
3. Include high fiber foods and whole grains rather than processed foods and refined grains. The whole grains and natural fibers are slower to digest, giving such food a lower glycemic index and making you feel fuller longer.

Foods to eat:

Nuts

Fruits

Low fat cheeses

Low fat yogurts (I have found that Greek yogurts tend to be the highest in protein and lowest in sugar. Go for a plain yogurt that has lots of protein and little sugar)

Low fat milk

Veggies

Lentils

Quinoa

Whole grain foods (oats and bran)

Whole grain pasta (when cooked al dente, pasta has a a lower GI rating than really soft pasta because when the texture of the pasta is harder, it is slower to digest into the body)

Here are a few of my personal faves!:

PB & Apple... (Basically pb on everything... :) )

Yogurt with flaxseeds

Avocado on toast with tomatoes

Oatmeal with grapes and nuts

Here is also a chart of a bunch of foods and their ratings:

http://www.glycemicindex.ca/glycemicindexfoods.pdf 

If the link doesn't work, try just googling: Glycemic index food chart and about 7 million results will show up.

Hope I helped!

Any questions or comments?

Comment below or email me at foodfitnut@gmail.com 

Love you all,

Emily