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tired, and out of sorts — again. You've just experienced the effects of serotonin levels rising and falling firsthand. Replace those high-glycemic foods with low-glycemic choices, however, and you get a slow, sustained release of insulin that keeps your blood sugar levels even, followed by a gradual rise in serotonin. No rapid rise and no rapid crash of serotonin levels means you have a sunny, even mood all morning.

Can you guess the low-glycemic food?

I'll be honest: Identifying low- and high-glycemic foods just by looking at a list of foods is difficult. Now that you know some of the basics about the glycemic index and how scientists calculate it for different foods, here's a chance to test your knowledge. Remember that a food with a low glycemic index has a value of 55 or less and a food with a high glycemic index has a value of 70 or more.

Directions: Read through the following list of foods and identify which ones are low-glycemic and which are high-glycemic. Check your answers at the end of this sidebar.

1. Baked beans with Bsauce, canned

2. Gatorade

3. Instant hot chocolate mix, made with water

4. Orange juice from concentrate

5. Fresh orange juice

6. Corn tortilla

7. Italian bread

8. Kellogg's All-Bran Fruit 'n Oats

9. Kellogg's All-Bran Flakes

10. Post Grape-Nuts

11. Instant oatmeal, made with water

12. Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting

13. Plain waffle

14. Vanilla ice cream

15. Tapioca pudding

16. Chocolate milk

17. Vitasoy Ricemilk

18. Yoplait No-Fat French Cheesecake Yogurt

19. Banana

20. Pineapple pieces, canned in fruit juice

21. Linguini

22. Gluten-free pasta

23. Uncle Ben's Converted White Rice

24. Uncle Ben's Ready Rice Whole Grain Medley

25. Peanut M&M's

26. Jelly beans

27. Microwave plain popcorn

28. Grape jelly

29. Mashed potato

30. Baked potato

31. Baked sweet potato

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Chapter 2: All Carbs Aren't Created Equal

In This Chapter

Understanding the differences between carbohydrates

Discovering how the glycemic index is measured

Making the best carbohydrate choices

Presenting the dynamic duo weight-loss weapon: low-glycemic/high-fiber foods

Carbohydrates (which are found in foods and aren't a food group of their own) are a big topic in the world of weight loss and health thanks to the low-carb craze and today's numerous modified-carb diets. The problem is not all carbs are created equal, so you can't treat them equally. You've probably heard or read about simple versus complex carbohydrates, fiber content, white versus whole grain, and so on. Throw in the glycemic index and figuring out what you're supposed to focus on for your health gets really confusing!

But it doesn't have to be that way. Yes, when considering carbs, you need to look at many factors, including the glycemic index, nutrients, and fiber. However, simple guidelines are available that can help you make the best choices for your health — and for successful weight loss.

This chapter presents some basics on what makes carbohydrates different and how the glycemic index comes into play so you can make the best choices for a healthy low-glycemic diet.

Distinguishing Friendly Carbs from Foes

To better distinguish carbohydrates that can help your diet from those that can harm it, you should really know a little basic info about carbs in general. Carbohydrates are your body's major fuel source. They all break down into blood glucose, but they react differently in your body depending on their type. Carbs come in two varieties:

Simple carbohydrates, which contain one or two sugar units

Complex carbohydrates, which contain multiple sugar units

In the past, scientists thought that simple carbohydrates raised blood