Here comes Ron with some fancy science lingo.....
To elaborate, as promised, on a previous blog about "No Carb Diets", lets take a more in depth look at the Glycemic Index.
For starters, it is the foundation of the Transitions Lifestyle! The objective of the Glycemic Index (GI for now) is to provide a guide to always direct your decisions about food to the "complex" or fiber-ous end of the carbohydrate spectrum. I know you're thinking about "cardboard," but trust me, there are some amazingly delicious meals out there that get fiber into your body!!
As you may know, a food that contains the "simple" carbohydrates like sugar and white flour, causes the blood sugar levels to spike which leads you to a fat-storage-mode (read posting "10,000 yrs ago"). So for now, suffice to say that if you eat junky carbs, your body will attempt to store food consumed soon before or after those carbs as fat. Even if it's broccoli. Yep, you read that correctly! Eat junky carbs = cue your body to store the energy from broccoli as body fat. Weird, huh? Imagine for moment that I'm right, and that what I'm telling you is honoring the science of the body. Would it then be possible to understand how so many are overweight/obese?
The GI serves as our guide for getting through all of the meals, lunches, muffins, desserts, pastas and breads of the world. Any food that contains carbohydrates has a ranking on the GI. At the bottom end (Low GI foods) you have insoluble fiber, most veggies, and foods containing solid and hearty complex carbohydrate foods. On the high end of the GI (High GI foods) you have the evilness of High-Fructose Corn Syrup, table sugar, white flour among others (you get the idea).
As I mentioned, all foods that contain carbohydrates fall somewhere on that spectrum as they relate to the impact that eating that food has on your body's blood sugar level. The lower the GI, the less impact on your blood sugar; and the higher the GI, the higher your blood sugar (think room full of 5-year olds on birthday cake). After consuming a high GI food, your body releases insulin. We've all heard about it, and fortunately for you, a degree in Endocrinology is not necessary to understand the function of insulin.
High GI carbs in your mouth? Your insulin goes up.
Insulin takes sugar out of the blood and puts it into muscle.
This leads to sugar levels going too low. (Ahhhh the beloved sugar crash; followed immediately by an insatiable desire to consume even MORE of said sugary sugar sugar suuuggaarrrrr!!!)
See the beginning of a cycle?
Remember from reading post "10,000 years ago"?! When blood sugar goes too low, you STORE FAT!!
TAKE HOME: Eat HIGH GI foods all day, enter into a cycle of fat storage. Eat LOW GI foods, keep your body in fat burn mode. Simple enough?
Stay tuned for our upcoming WEBINARS and posts as we will get into how you can approximate the GI ranking of a food by looking at the label. It's quick and easy! Remember, this is the foundation of the Transitions Lifestyle system. It is a course in making the best decisions about food, and whether you are looking to lose a few pounds, or you're looking to fuel your body for competitive sport, you will benefit from living the Transitions Lifestyle!
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