Children Obesity Tips - The GI link
Foods with a higher glycaemic
index (Gl) had a greater impact on blood sugar (by raising it) than
those with a lower Gl. And this is important, because high Gl foods not
only stimulate hunger and cause overeating, but they lead to an increase
in blood sugar that can then only be laid down as fat. They also affect
the way our children's bodies deal with sugar in general. It is for this
reason a high Gl diet has been linked with obesity, cardiovascular
disease and type 2 diabetes. And not even a gram of fat in sight!
So how do you work out the Gl content of food?
The speed at which a food releases its sugar into the bloodstream is given a value from 1 to 100 - 100 being the fastest (pure glucose has a Gl value of 100) and 0 the slowest. The higher a food's number, the faster it releases sugar into the bloodstream and the bigger the impact on blood sugar and, in the long run, weight. You'll notice from the list opposite that there are plenty of healthy foods with medium Gl indexes - and a few in the high category. The secret is to choose as many lower Gl foods as possible and keep the higher ones to a minimum. And there's also another way to balance it. It seems that eating protein (such as nuts, seeds, lean meats, cheese, dairy produce, or eggs, for example) at the same time as you eat higher Gl foods slows down the rate that the sugars are released into the blood. So, in other words, protein can effectively lower the Gl rating of a food. Sound complicated? It's not. If your child has a white bread sandwich with jam, his blood sugar will soar - the reason is that jam and white bread both have very high Gl ratings. But if you give your child a white bread sandwich with chicken and salad, or even cheese, you can slow down the rate at which the sugar in the white bread hits your child's bloodstream.
Generally, a Gl of 70 or more is considered high, a Gl of 56-69 is considered medium and a Gl of 55 or less is thought of as low. Don't worry about sticking solely to the low Gl foods at all times. Be aware of which foods are likely to cause blood sugar to rise and potentially lead to weight problems and ensure your child is not overeating these. And if blood sugar or an overabundance of carbohydrates is likely to be at the root of your child's weight problem, you can now make some small adjustments to ensure that that lower Gl foods form the basis of most snacks and meals and any high Gl foods are accompanied by good-quality protein.
We at Askyourcook.com would like to invite you to Submit your favourite recipes, suggest improvements to our site and your general comments are always Welcomed. Go here
So how do you work out the Gl content of food?
The speed at which a food releases its sugar into the bloodstream is given a value from 1 to 100 - 100 being the fastest (pure glucose has a Gl value of 100) and 0 the slowest. The higher a food's number, the faster it releases sugar into the bloodstream and the bigger the impact on blood sugar and, in the long run, weight. You'll notice from the list opposite that there are plenty of healthy foods with medium Gl indexes - and a few in the high category. The secret is to choose as many lower Gl foods as possible and keep the higher ones to a minimum. And there's also another way to balance it. It seems that eating protein (such as nuts, seeds, lean meats, cheese, dairy produce, or eggs, for example) at the same time as you eat higher Gl foods slows down the rate that the sugars are released into the blood. So, in other words, protein can effectively lower the Gl rating of a food. Sound complicated? It's not. If your child has a white bread sandwich with jam, his blood sugar will soar - the reason is that jam and white bread both have very high Gl ratings. But if you give your child a white bread sandwich with chicken and salad, or even cheese, you can slow down the rate at which the sugar in the white bread hits your child's bloodstream.
Generally, a Gl of 70 or more is considered high, a Gl of 56-69 is considered medium and a Gl of 55 or less is thought of as low. Don't worry about sticking solely to the low Gl foods at all times. Be aware of which foods are likely to cause blood sugar to rise and potentially lead to weight problems and ensure your child is not overeating these. And if blood sugar or an overabundance of carbohydrates is likely to be at the root of your child's weight problem, you can now make some small adjustments to ensure that that lower Gl foods form the basis of most snacks and meals and any high Gl foods are accompanied by good-quality protein.
We at Askyourcook.com would like to invite you to Submit your favourite recipes, suggest improvements to our site and your general comments are always Welcomed. Go here
