12 Tips for Midlife Weight Loss From Guinness Record-Holder
Fix Your Form: Make Over Your Crunches
Whittle your waist with The Sugar Solution
Posted on Jan 15th 2007 7:00AM by Bethany SandersFiled Under: Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements
Even though my blood work has always been perfect, I have reason to suspect that my blood sugar levels are a bit wonky, and I'm always concerned about reigning in the amount of sweets and bad carbs that I eat. Today, I think I found the solution -- The Sugar Solution, in fact. I came across this article today and it's peaked my interest for sure.
A lot of people are afraid of carbs, but as this article points out, not all carbs are created equal. When you bad carbs -- sweets and junk foods -- the carbs are processed much too quickly and your pancreas pumps your body full of insulin to process them. Not only does the insulin damage your heart, but your body stops burning your fat stores for fuel and you quickly start gaining weight. When you eat a balance of foods, however, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and good fats, your body works efficiently.
The Sugar Solution uses foods based on their ranking on the glycemic index. Foods that are high on the index cause blood sugar levels to spike. Foods that are low keep blood sugar levels steady for hours. This keeps your energy level up and helps you fight cravings that the sudden drop in blood sugar from sweets can give you. The Sugar Solution has also been found to burn stubborn belly fat. (I'm not pointing at anyone, but someone here, someone who may be writing this post, has a "bit" of stubborn belly fat she'd like to be free of!)
Page 2 of the article talks about appropriate serving sizes. Often, I think people are surprised when they find out what appropriate serving sizes are and that we aren't all supposed to be eating hamburgers as big as softballs or handfuls of fries. For a sample menu, click here. One of the real gems of the article, though comes at the bottom of the last page. If you have a party or bad day where you end up eating a lot of sugar, there are five good solutions for blunting the sugar coursing through your system. Adding fat, protein, or any low-GI food to a high-GI meal will slow the absorption of sugar. Other great tips? Eat a salad with vinaigrette or top your food with cinnamon -- both have been found to keep blood sugar nice and low.
I'm going to adopt a lot of the ideas in this article and try them for the next week. I'm interested to see if eating low-GI foods helps me keep my energy up and my cravings for all things sweet away. I'll let you know!
A lot of people are afraid of carbs, but as this article points out, not all carbs are created equal. When you bad carbs -- sweets and junk foods -- the carbs are processed much too quickly and your pancreas pumps your body full of insulin to process them. Not only does the insulin damage your heart, but your body stops burning your fat stores for fuel and you quickly start gaining weight. When you eat a balance of foods, however, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and good fats, your body works efficiently.
The Sugar Solution uses foods based on their ranking on the glycemic index. Foods that are high on the index cause blood sugar levels to spike. Foods that are low keep blood sugar levels steady for hours. This keeps your energy level up and helps you fight cravings that the sudden drop in blood sugar from sweets can give you. The Sugar Solution has also been found to burn stubborn belly fat. (I'm not pointing at anyone, but someone here, someone who may be writing this post, has a "bit" of stubborn belly fat she'd like to be free of!)
Page 2 of the article talks about appropriate serving sizes. Often, I think people are surprised when they find out what appropriate serving sizes are and that we aren't all supposed to be eating hamburgers as big as softballs or handfuls of fries. For a sample menu, click here. One of the real gems of the article, though comes at the bottom of the last page. If you have a party or bad day where you end up eating a lot of sugar, there are five good solutions for blunting the sugar coursing through your system. Adding fat, protein, or any low-GI food to a high-GI meal will slow the absorption of sugar. Other great tips? Eat a salad with vinaigrette or top your food with cinnamon -- both have been found to keep blood sugar nice and low.
I'm going to adopt a lot of the ideas in this article and try them for the next week. I'm interested to see if eating low-GI foods helps me keep my energy up and my cravings for all things sweet away. I'll let you know!
