In Part 3, we learned about the different types of foods and their carbohydrate effects on their place on the Glycemic Index scale.
Foods that are low on the scale typically considered healthy and those high on the scale are generally considered unhealthy.
But this is not the case.
You have to take into account the food's overall contribution to your nutritional intake and how different foods interact with each other when they are digested and affect your blood sugar levels.
So, why all this attention to a food's effect on blood sugar levels? What really happens when we eat a lot of high GI foods? It all comes down to a little hormone the body releases in response to changes in blood sugar levels.
This hormone is called insulin.
Whenever you eat any foods, a portion of these foods are converted to glucose during the process of digestion.
Glucose stimulates the pancreas to release insulin into the blood stream.
Insulin's job is to bond with the glucose molecules and 'deliver' them into your body's cells where the glucose is used as fuel and is burned to produce energy.
If there is already enough glucose available to the cells to meet current energy requirements, the cells store the excess as fat.
The important part of this process is the insulin level in your blood.
When blood sugar rises, so do insulin levels.
When you consume high GI foods, your insulin levels spike upwardly.
When this occurs often, researchers say that this may increase your risk of getting diabetes, heart disease and even some cancers.
By moderating your diet so that when you 1) consume less high GI foods and 2) combine your carbohydrates with lean proteins and healthy fats, plus get a reasonable amount of exercise, you prepare your body to rid itself of excess fat - weight loss.
The tactics discussed in this series give you the background of why this happens and how to manage food interactions in your weight management program.
By putting more unrefined carbohydrates into your diet and combining food types, you will get the best possible dietary contribution to your fat reduction plan: more fiber intake, more nutrients, better balance of vitamins and minerals each day and a slower absorption of carbohydrates throughout the day.
It is this process by which your body will get the energy it needs over time.
Slow absorption means no loss of energy or food cravings due to rapid rises and drops in your blood sugar levels.
As a result, your cravings for more of the bad foods will drop and as time goes by, you will not even miss these foods in your diet.
Foods that are low on the scale typically considered healthy and those high on the scale are generally considered unhealthy.
But this is not the case.
You have to take into account the food's overall contribution to your nutritional intake and how different foods interact with each other when they are digested and affect your blood sugar levels.
So, why all this attention to a food's effect on blood sugar levels? What really happens when we eat a lot of high GI foods? It all comes down to a little hormone the body releases in response to changes in blood sugar levels.
This hormone is called insulin.
Whenever you eat any foods, a portion of these foods are converted to glucose during the process of digestion.
Glucose stimulates the pancreas to release insulin into the blood stream.
Insulin's job is to bond with the glucose molecules and 'deliver' them into your body's cells where the glucose is used as fuel and is burned to produce energy.
If there is already enough glucose available to the cells to meet current energy requirements, the cells store the excess as fat.
The important part of this process is the insulin level in your blood.
When blood sugar rises, so do insulin levels.
When you consume high GI foods, your insulin levels spike upwardly.
When this occurs often, researchers say that this may increase your risk of getting diabetes, heart disease and even some cancers.
By moderating your diet so that when you 1) consume less high GI foods and 2) combine your carbohydrates with lean proteins and healthy fats, plus get a reasonable amount of exercise, you prepare your body to rid itself of excess fat - weight loss.
The tactics discussed in this series give you the background of why this happens and how to manage food interactions in your weight management program.
By putting more unrefined carbohydrates into your diet and combining food types, you will get the best possible dietary contribution to your fat reduction plan: more fiber intake, more nutrients, better balance of vitamins and minerals each day and a slower absorption of carbohydrates throughout the day.
It is this process by which your body will get the energy it needs over time.
Slow absorption means no loss of energy or food cravings due to rapid rises and drops in your blood sugar levels.
As a result, your cravings for more of the bad foods will drop and as time goes by, you will not even miss these foods in your diet.