Low GI Lifestyle

The design of the human body hasn’t changed in 50,000 years, yet our lifestyle has changed a lot. Our ancestors used to store carbs as fat when food was available to survive the lean times. Yet we no longer have lean times like we used to, and we eat too many refined carbs that spike our blood sugar, tax our pancreas leading to conditions such as type 2 diabetes and obesity.

So what’s the solution?

SoLo energy bars aren’t a quick fix. They’re part of an overall shift to becoming more physically active and eating low GI foods. Solo makes it easy for people to live a low GI lifestyle because our bars provide you with nutritional balance, have no empty calories and are amazingly delicious.

Making the shift to a low GI lifestyle is easier when you make small changes to your diet over time. This might mean eating lean meat like skinless chicken or vegan friendly protein sources like tofu, hemp protein or nut butters. Small changes have a big impact on your health, and you’ll notice that you have more energy to do the things that matter most.

At first glance, the Glycemic Index (GI) might seem complicated, but as you learn what foods to avoid and what foods to eat more of, you’ll soon see that making healthy food choices is a great way to increase your energy, manage weight, and contribute to overall good health.

Although selecting foods based on their Glycemic Index (GI) value is only part of the equation. If you choose food based solely on its GI value such as eating carb-rich pasta, then you’ll have an unbalanced diet, high in protein and high in fat. The body needs a variety of nutrients that are found in carbohydrates, proteins and fats. And because the body prefers to fuel up from carbohydrates, the majority of calories should come from this dietary source.

Here’s a list of healthy tips to get you started:

• Aim to eat at least two servings of fruit and five servings of vegetables every day, preferably of three or more different colors. Fill half your dinner plate with veggies.
• If you are a big potato eater, consider replacing half the potato with cannellini beans.
• Choose a low GI bread. Look for a really grainy bread, true sourdough bread or a soy and linseed bread.
• Replace high GI breakfast flakes (real glucose gushers) with low GI alternatives like natural muesli, traditional porridge oats or one of the lower GI processed breakfast cereals.
• Look for lower GI rices such as basmati, Doongara Clever Rice or Moolgiri medium grain rice and choose less processed foods or low GI whole grains such as traditional rolled or steel-cut oats, or quinoa for porridge or pearl barley, buckwheat, bulgur, whole kernel rye, or whole wheat kernels.
• Eat legumes (beans, chickpeas and lentils) often – home cooked or canned.
• Include at least one low GI carb with every meal. You’ll find them in four of the food groups: fruit and vegetables; bread and cereals; legumes; low fat dairy or soy alternatives.
• Choose low GI snacks – fresh fruit, a dried fruit and nut mix, low fat milk or yogurt.
• Vinegar and lemon or lime juices slow stomach emptying and lower your blood glucose response to the carbohydrate with which they are eaten. Get the salad habit and toss it in a vinaigrette dressing.
• Limit refined flour products – cookies, cakes, pastries, pies, crackers, biscuits irrespective of their fat and sugar content.

Source: Glycemic Index Research out of the University of Sydney, Australia (reported, GI News April 2008):