(This is Part 13 of a series. Go back to Part 12.)
2. Eat foods low in GI.
The glycemic index (GI) is an indicator constructed by scientists to measure how rapidly a given food's sugars enter the bloodstream.
A low-GI food releases its sugars into the bloodstream slowly, providing a steady supply of bloodsugar for hours. This is important because most bingeing, snacking and overeating occurs when bloodsugar has become erratic.
On the other hand, a high-GI food releases its sugars quickly, spiking bloodsugar upward. Well, what's wrong with that? The trouble is that when bloodsugar spikes upward it causes the body to release large amounts of insulin, when then drive the bloodsugar down below where it was before.
When bloodsugar is low we can feel irritable, depressed, "low energy", etc. And we become very susceptible to high caloric-density foods: This is when we snack on chips, binge on ice cream and overeat at the next meal.
Because animal foods are low in GI, diet books often recommend that animal foods be eaten for a stable blood sugar. But as we have seen, animal foods are devoid of vital fiber and are extremely strongly correlated with all the modern degenerative diseases—cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, etc. This is not a good way to go.
Among plant foods, those that are high in GI tend to be refined. For example, candy, donuts, honey, croissants, bagels, sugar, sodas and so on are all high-GI foods and will tend to cause a spike in bloodsugar—followed, of course, by a crash.
This is very similar to "bubbles" in the financial world. When a market—stocks, credit, bonds, real estate, etc.—spikes upward into a bubble it must crash afterwards. The crash is not caused by the immediate "trigger" that pops the bubble; that's just incidental. Rather, the crash results from the parabolic "blowoff" that preceded it.
Since everything in this universe is self-correcting, when anything goes to an extreme it creates the very conditions by which it will be reversed and propelled to the other extreme.
So when high-GI foods are eaten our bloodsugar tends to spike and then crash. This sets off a stress reaction in the body. The hormones cortisol and epinephrine pour into the bloodstream in order to raise the bloodsugar higher again. A see-saw effect is set off as bloodsugar rises and falls erratically.
Low-GI foods help to create an atmosphere of stability and equilibrium within the body. Not least this shows up as a very stable and reliable supply of "personal" energy, without the extremes of mania and fatigue. It tends to reduce depression and irritability if they are present. And as mentioned before, it also greatly reduces the tendency to snack, binge or overeat.
Almost all high-fiber foods are low in GI as well. For example, almost all fruits are low-GI even though they taste sweet; their high natural fiber makes them low-GI. (The exceptions are pineapples and watermelon.)
Almost all vegetables are low-GI with the exception of baking potatoes. If we're fond of potatoes it's best to eat new potatoes, sweet potatoes or yams. All beans and legumes without exception are low-GI.
The grains form a special case; some grains are low-GI and others are not. Surprisingly, wheat bread, whether whole-grain or white, is a high-GI food. If we're fond of bread it turns out that rye and pumpernickel are the best; both create rocksteady bloodsugars. And brown rice is low-GI while white rice is not.
As for breakfast, wheat cereals are high-GI whether hot or cold. The best breakfast grain, it turns out, is oats. Tests have shown that Swiss muesli (among cold cereals) and non-instant oatmeal (among cooked cereals) both create a very steady bloodsugar for hours at a time.
If we're a fruitarian, even better. With the two exceptions noted above, all fruits, nuts, seeds and leafy greens have a low GI. Such a diet will facilitate a detoxification process, however, which is not always steady or pleasant. But as that process proceeds, the body may begin to experience a vitality and well-being reminiscent of its youthful days.
(This is the end of Part 13. Go to Part 14.)
—jim sloman, 9.28.04 for Oct 21
|
