The Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies

The Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies by Meri Raffetto Page B

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Authors: Meri Raffetto
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potential to improve and/or reverse each of these conditions with diet and exercise. Following a low-glycemic diet can even help alleviate some of the symptoms of these conditions (such as moodiness, hunger, and fatigue) by giving you better control of your blood sugar.
    If you have one of these conditions (or if you're currently overweight and have a family member with one of these conditions, putting you at greater risk for developing the same condition), then you can benefit greatly from eating a low-glycemic diet, which helps you manage your blood sugar while losing weight.
    Simply losing 5 to 7 percent of your body weight may be enough to reverse or prevent these health conditions from occurring. A low-glycemic diet can help you lose that weight by regulating your blood sugar and insulin levels.
    Characteristics of insulin resistance
    Wondering whether insulin resistance is behind your inability to lose weight? The only way to know for sure is to get tested. However, you can check your body and medical history for the common characteristics of insulin resistance, which include the following:
    Dark patches of skin on the back of your neck, elbows, knees, knuckles, or armpits

    Skin tags, small raised areas that appear on the skin that may be the color of your skin or darker, like a mole

    Being overweight

    A family history of diabetes, prediabetes, or metabolic syndrome

    Difficulty losing weight on a low-calorie diet with regular exercise

    High cholesterol or high triglycerides

    Fertility problems

    If you have any of these symptoms, your first plan of action is to go to a doctor to get tested. Adopting a low-glycemic diet is the next step to help get your blood sugar under control.
    If you have some symptoms of insulin resistance but come up negative for it when tested, you may still benefit from following a low-glycemic diet. Perhaps you simply experience food cravings and hunger. Getting your blood sugar under control and eating the right balance of foods at the appropriate times can help you control those cravings. There's also good support that a low-glycemic diet helps with hunger throughout the day (see Chapter 3 to find out what I mean). That's all good news for you, my friend!
    How a low-glycemic lifestyle can help
    If you have insulin resistance, don't fret. Help is here! Simply start choosing low-glycemic foods. They have a smaller impact on your blood sugar levels, which means your body has to produce less insulin to process them. Aside from lower blood sugar levels and decreased insulin requirements, opting for low-glycemic foods can help you feel fuller after eating, reduce your food cravings, and lose weight. Put all that together, and it adds up to improved overall health.
    Here are a few basic pointers for using a low-glycemic diet to counteract insulin resistance:
    Select only low-glycemic foods. These foods require much less insulin to process the sugar in the blood, allowing your pancreas (the organ that makes insulin) to catch its breath, so to speak.

    Watch portion sizes. Just because a food is low-glycemic doesn't mean you can eat it in large amounts. Doing that can lead to a high glycemic load, meaning that large amounts of insulin would be required to combat the rising blood sugars (not to mention the additional calories).

    Balance your meals. Lean protein sources and healthy fats help round out a meal and can slow your body's rate of digestion and absorption of food. (Chapter 9 has specific tips on creating balance.)

    Many people battling insulin resistance are also dealing with other health conditions. It may be wise to seek out a local health professional for more personal advice based on your specific health profile.
    Considering a Low-Glycemic Diet if You Have Kids or Are Pregnant
    You may want to begin a low-glycemic lifestyle, but is that lifestyle appropriate for other members of your family? The answer is a resounding yes. A low-glycemic lifestyle benefits everyone, including

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