Low Glycemic Food List

Many people looking to lose weight go online looking for a simple low Glycemic food list, hoping to get the kind of eat-this, not-that kind of comparison we easily find about fatty foods. Unfortunately, with so many different brands and local variations you can't get a reliable at-a-glance chart that covers everything. One brand of rough bread may be all fiber and have super-low GI value, while a similar brand is mostly white flour (but looks as rough as the first) yet has a GI value twice as high. Fortunately, there are a few general guidelines you can use to make educated guesses.

First, let's just quickly review what the Glycemic index is. In a nutshell, the Glycemic index gives a pointer to how quickly a food is digested and turned into blood sugar. A high GI value (80 or more) means the food enters the blood fast, creating a sudden surge.

This in turn forces the body to release insulin, which counters the sugar spike (since this is harmful), but the insulin also makes the body stop burning fat and instead makes it inclined to STORE fat.

As a dieter, you want to avoid this insulin response, and thus you want to avoid the high GI foods that sets the whole thing in motion. On the flip side, low GI value (under 50) is generally good, since it means the food digests slowly and doesn't create much of a blood sugar spike at all.

Here are some main food groups to consider:

Veggies are healthy pretty much across the board. Since they are full of fiber, they tend to have very low GI values. Some of the best are:

• Onions (GI value 10)
• Peppers (10)
• Broccoli (11)

Fruit is also healthy, but some come packed with a surprising amount of sugar (dates especially). Others are great for low GI:

• Cherries (22)
• Grapefruit (24)
• Apples (38)

Like vegetables, legumes are notoriously low on the GI scale thanks to the high fiber content. Good examples from the legume family:

• Kidney beans (29)
• Lentils (30)
• Yellow split peas (34)

Some of these are really great, others pretty bad (instant white rice, plain white jasmine rice). Here is what to aim for:

• Barley (29)
• Barboiled rice (43)
• Basmati rice (58)

All white, easy to chew bread is almost always higher GI than darker, rougher options. Avoid the traditional sandwich rolls in favor of the kinds below:

• Pumpernickel (40)
• 100% Whole wheat (49)
• Sourdough bread (57)

This is an area where things can get very confusing in a hurry. Fat content decreases the GI value. Thus, a decidedly unhealthy Ben & Jerry's ice cream may seem like a better choice than a lean fruit yogurt. Likewise, it is common to add wildly varying amounts of sugar to dairy products, be it chocolate milk, ice cream or what have you. Therefore, it's better to check the Glycemic index website for the specific brand you're considering than attempt to get a general low Glycemic food list in place.

Tracking GI values on various foods can be a pain, especially since most of what we eat isn't JUST broccoli or JUST kidney beans. In reality, you're likely eating the former as part of a fried veggie mix and the latter in a salad, for example. Further complicating things many processed foods muck around with the GI value by adding fat (lowering GI) or adding sugar (hiking GI).

Still, by having a basic idea of the lay of the land can help you make more educated guesses on the fly, plus you know what to look for when you have time to research foods while planning your next grocery trip, for example. The Glycemic index can be a dull tool, but it's definitely better than nothing.

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