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Glycaemic Index questions

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Mar 22nd, 2017, 17:23 PM  
DarkWolfJTB
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: London, England
Posts: 6

Glycaemic Index questions

Thank you guys for reading, this is a long post. Really sorry about the length, I tried to condense it but my thoughts are all over the place and this is the first time I've thought to reach out to a community for help instead of bottling it up and feeling crappy about it.

The tl;dr is basically that I am prone to anxiety and have been experiencing cravings and hunger recently which are kind of jeopardising my goals, and I think I need to work on changing to foods with a lower glycemic index and load. I have a few questions from my research and I'd appreciate it so much if anyone has any info or advice on them.

Also just generally. I should probably give some info. I'm 6 foot, and weigh 229 lb. I want to get down to 196. I've lost 14 lb so far to get me to 229. No progress for 3 months. I've read stuff, I think, about overweight people's metabolisms having adapted less-than-ideal relationships with things like insulin and how food can affect them, so I'm wondering if there could be other explanations as to why I'm getting cravings and stuff like that. I also don't seem to realise I'm full, or can't stop, but then get overwhelmingly bloated and uncomfortable after meals.

I don't want to do low carb because (as I mentioned about anxiety) the idea just freaks me out. But changing over to as low GI/GL as possible sounds great, eliminating bad carbs.





Hi there, this is my first post here. Been struggling with weight loss for about three years, really desperate to get myself sorted out. I've lost a stone just through calorie counting and healthful eating, making changes I can stick to like only drinking water and switching to whole grains where I can, but recently I've noticed my weight loss has stalled for about three months.

I've realised I often crave things, particularly after meals, craving sweet things, and it seems to me to probably be down to the GI / GL of foods. I think my blood sugar probably goes up a bit and then comes down, leaving me craving things. I've noticed I’ll crave sweet things when I can still feel that I'm full, it's like a second kind of hunger that isn't related to fullness. Horrible.

I suffer with anxiety and find that worrying about blood sugar crashes and hunger levels, getting hungry out of nowhere etc., really makes it harder for me to eat healthily as it makes me worry.

I've had a binging day because I've felt low about it, so I had a massive kebab earlier and despite being really full from it, have just eaten a big bag of chocolate buttons and feel so stuffed. But it was such a craving.

Anyway, turning my attention to the GI / GL of foods is a good idea I think. I've already made a bit of an impact in that way, by only drinking water and mainly only consuming whole grains (I don't eat white bread/rice/pasta anymore and I have granola or porridge for breakfast), obviously with some exceptions.

But I had a few questions after researching the Glycemic stuff and wondered if anyone could help me. I was looking at a Harvard Edu link (I can't post it as this is my first post, so no links) with info on 100s of everyday foods, and have a few questions. Thanks.

The Questions

1. If I'm trying to make blood sugar levels stable, should I avoid all foods above a certain level? For instance potatoes, very filling and nutritious and satisfying, and I'm trying to lose weight so those are good things, but.. a high GI of 82 and high GL of 21, and even sweet potatoes (which I've read are a good replacement) are still high at 70 GI and 22 GL.

2. The data seems to suggest that apple juice (41 GI / 12 GL) spikes blood sugar LESS than brown rice (50 / 16), wtf? How can brown rice have a higher index and load? Apple juice is pure sugar, I have read so many times that fruit juice is one of the worst things for blood sugar 'it's exactly the same as sugar in that form'...

I've also read that white bread causes a big spike but that pasta isn't so bad - but this chart suggests pasta (well, spaghetti) is actually WORSE in terms of actual load by quite a wide margin! (white bread - 75 GI / 11 GL, spaghetti - 46 GI, 22 GL), very surprised by these 2 things.

3. I'm happy to see fruits are so low on the scale. I've been having a breakfast recently of rolled oats cooked with a mashed banana, and was worried it had a huge effect on blood sugar as I know bananas have like 4 teaspoons of sugar in. I'm still a bit unsure though and would like someone to reassure me on this? lol.

4. My final question, I seem to get cravings even with wholemeal bread, so I'm wondering if , with bread, it's not enough of a change switching to brown and really I just need to basically not eat bread? Tortillas seem to be a lot better on the GI/ GL so maybe something like that.

Thanks so much.
 
Mar 28th, 2017, 13:22 PM  
Wobbles
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Join Date: May 2013
Location: Here!
Posts: 5,930

Cravings: Do you drink plenty of water? This really does help. For your current weight I would aim for 3 litres a day ... squeeze some lemon in there too.

Caffeine can curb hunger also. I'm bad for sugar in coffee defeating the purpose and recently have caffeine supplements from www.bodybuilding.com

Another tip I shared on another posts is grapefruit and apple cider vinegar:
Quote:
Grapefruit decreases insulin sensitivity which has a big benefit to energy levels. When insulin is spiked it gives the body the opportunity to store body fat, the higher the levels of insulin that's in the blood, the longer your body has to store body fat (in its most basic form) so insulin just aids in decreasing this spike!

I don't 'diet' I eat healthy, clean and I train. Our coach has advised that grapefruit is to be the first thing that touches our lips and before any treat meal but there is a lot of information out there that suggests it loses fat and it can lose you 10lbs in x many weeks blah blah blah, not how it works like you say.

Apple cider vinegar has benefits too and is known to help you feel fuller which leads to weight loss if you are eating to your goals
CARBS:
I'm the same I struggle without carbs and low carb days but reducing your carb in take will help ... easy no but will have benefits to your goal.

I try an avoid carbs for breakfast if I haven't worked out in the AM & lunch almost always higher fat. Dinner is where I carb, carbs at night can be particularly better for aiding sleep, they make us tired.

2 other tips:
Eat until you are 80% full
Green fill you up more than you think and the benefits of green you can't ignore

Stick to good carbs and whole carbs, pick sweet over white potatoes, wholegrains, berries, apples, add fresh lemon to your water.

**computer is lagging so rebooting to post more**!
 
 
Mar 28th, 2017, 13:43 PM  
Wobbles
Maintainer
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Here!
Posts: 5,930

Ok so from my understanding from my coach (I get nutrional advice and often I take it and don't look much further) .... The levels you talk of aren't the only factors you want to take into consideration when picking food.

For example sweet potatoes have many other nutritional values and are SLOW releasing. Quick release carbs and sugars will send you with the crash and likely have no additional benefits (like Apple juice, defo a no no). Quick releasing food rise the sugar levels quickly increasing the risk of weight gain and linked to diabetes.

Sweet potatoes are a slower release than white which is quick release (same with other white/brown foods).

Any fast releasing food despite the numbers will have a negative effect.

Good carbs and slow releasing without turning to potatoes and grains etc none starchy fruit and veg can fill you up more than you think!
Spinach
Kale
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Asparagus
Tomatoes
All berries
Apples (pink lady apples cold are so nice)

Bananas for brekkie are good! It's my go to

I don't know if any of that helps or I've waffled on but just some of the information I have gained over time. I don't always get it I just trust my coach.

Try and avoid bread. I have i once a week. The changes are a battle but they soon become habit and the norm, it's worth the battle.

Just a little bit of me, I suffer anxiety and had extremely low days. When I took control of my health it improved my anxiety a great deal. I felt in control of something.

Well done on your loss so far. Good luck ... you can do it #repeat
 
 
 
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