The Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies - Meri Raffetto [149]
Hypoglycemia
In short, hypoglycemia is a condition that results when your blood sugar gets too low. Many people feel they have hypoglycemia, but an actual clinical diagnosis is rare and is most commonly seen in diabetics as a result of medications.
Even without a clinical diagnosis, you may be one of many individuals who's sensitive to the highs and lows of your daily blood sugar. The symptoms of low blood sugar include
Hunger
Trembling
Light-headedness
Sweating
Irritability or anxious feelings
Eating a low-glycemic diet counteracts hypoglycemia by maintaining an even level of blood sugar your body throughout the day because you're not overindulging in high-glycemic foods. Following a low-glycemic diet also helps control a situation called rebound hypoglycemia, which occurs when you eat a high-glycemic food that causes you to first experience a high blood sugar spike and then come crashing down quickly. (This description holds true even if you don't have a clinical diagnosis of hypoglycemia but do feel some similar symptoms of low blood sugar.)
Avoiding the highs and lows of blood sugar can certainly make a big difference for people with hypoglycemia (or anyone who's just plain sensitive to her blood sugar levels). Following are some tips for incorporating low-glycemic eating habits to help reduce blood sugar sensitivity:
Eat frequent meals and snacks every three to four hours.
Incorporate low-glycemic carbohydrates with protein and/or fat.
If you're diabetic, monitor your blood sugar regularly to catch times when it's dropping. (Your physician can help you determine whether you need a change in your medication.)
Wellness and Disease Prevention
Many diseases can be prevented through lifestyle changes, starting with embracing a low-glycemic diet. This is another one of those messages that's heard so much it somehow loses its value. You may think you have to make drastic changes in your diet and exercise to see a positive effect on your health, but the reality is that very small changes can make a big impact.
Perhaps the best change you can make is to increase your daily consumption of fruits and vegetables. Plant-based foods are powerful and can affect your health in many ways. I strongly encourage you to do two things: Work toward eating five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables each day and add beans, lentils, and whole grains to your daily menu. If you haven't noticed the trend yet, the answer to weight loss, disease prevention, and managing existing diseases is increasing your intake of these plant-based foods, all of which are low in calories. Better yet, most are also low-glycemic and provide a significant source of fiber. So if you change up your plate to include more plant-based foods and fewer meats and starches, you'll find the key to permanent weight loss and living your healthiest life.
In the following sections, I explain some of the ways in which the small dietary changes that come with a low-glycemic diet strengthen your body's overall wellness and disease-prevention abilities.
Lowering your risk of chronic diseases
Did you know you don't have to hit your goal weight to gain health benefits? You don't need to eat a perfect diet to lower your risk of disease either. Research shows you can improve your overall health just by incorporating simple dietary and exercise changes. I don't know about you, but this information increases my motivation because it means I don't have to be perfect to optimize my health outcomes.
A low-glycemic diet works well for most people because it focuses on eating high-nutrient, plant-based foods. Guess what. Eating those same foods is also the key to weight loss, disease prevention, and wellness.
Following are some research statistics that show how