Using the Glycemic Index to Balance Hormones
The next Hormone Weight Loss Principle I’d like to discuss is Eat Right. More specifically, how we can use the glycemic index to balance our hormones.
The speed in which carbohydrates are converted into blood sugar is one of the determinants for whether or not a food promotes hormone balance or imbalance and whether the food increases or decreases the risk for disease. The glycemic index is a system of measuring the conversion speed of individual carbohydrate foods and the rate at which they increase your blood sugar.
The more rapidly a food is absorbed and converts to glucose, the faster and higher it raises the level of blood glucose. Foods ranking low on the GI index do the best job of keeping blood sugar level stable, but that doesn’t mean you can never eat foods with a higher GI ranking. You can lessen the impact of eating a high GI food, like pasta, by combining it with low GI foods like vegetables, protein, fat and fiber, since those all slow down the body’s absorption of the sugar from the pasta.
Here is a list of some popular foods and where they fall on the GI Index:
• Most vegetables are almost 0 GI
• Root vegetables, except potatoes, are usually low to medium GI
• Potatoes generally have high GI
• Fruits from northern and Mediterranean climates are low GI
• Fruits from tropical climates tend to be medium GI
• White and whole wheat breads are both high GI in any form
• Sourdough breads have a low GI because acidity slows down digestion
• Dense breads made with whole grains other than wheat and dough made with spelt flour have a low or medium GI
• Acidic ingredients, such as balsamic vinegar used to dip bread, will reduce the GI
• Nuts and seeds are low GI
• Brown and white rice are high GI
• Basmati rice is medium GI
• Quinoa and pearled barley are low GI
• Sweetened sodas and sugary drinks are high GI
• Beans and legumes, such as lentils and peas, are very low GI