How Eating Low Glycemic Can Reduce Your Stress

Eating low glycemic is the #1 thing that has reduced my stress, both physically and psychologically. It's also increased my energy.

Watch this video to discover how eating low glycemic can reduce your stress too.

I'm excited for you to experience these benefits...it's a game changer!

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More about low glycemic foods:

An excerpt from Jenny's book The Resiliency rEvolution:

https://www.jennyevans.com/products/

Why eat low glycemic foods?

A food’s glycemic index is a measure of how quickly it is broken down into glucose and released into the bloodstream. All foods are categorized as high, moderate, or low glycemic. A high-glycemic food causes a rapid flood of glucose to be released all at once, whereas a low-glycemic food is broken down into glucose and released more slowly over time. A moderate-glycemic food falls right in the middle. Using the glycemic index for snacks is a useful tool for minimizing stress. It helps us choose foods that keep blood glucose levels balanced. This 

also makes us feel fuller for longer, so the calories we consume go farther.

 What makes a food low glycemic?

Three components of a food make it low glycemic: fiber, protein, and fat. The more fiber, protein, and fat a food has in it, the lower its glycemic index value. The majority of naturally occurring low-glycemic foods are some of the most nutritious in that they’re loaded with fiber, vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and other disease-fighting compounds.

Fiber

Much of what Sneaky Pete ate was minimally processed and had more fiber, with large amounts of it coming from fresh fruits and vegetables. Today, much of our meager fiber intake comes from cereal grains that have been processed to remove the bran and endosperm. What’s left of the grain is a poor source of fiber. Many of us also do not meet the minimum suggested intake of fresh fruits and vegetables each day.

There are two types of fiber: soluble and insoluble. Most natural foods contain both. Soluble fiber delays the emptying of our stomachs, which slows the release of glucose and increases insulin sensitivity, in addition to making us feel fuller for longer. Foods high in soluble fiber are fruits, vegetables, oats, lentils, nuts, seeds, beans, and peas. Insoluble fiber does not absorb water, so it passes through the digestive system mainly intact, creating bulk and speeding the passage of food and waste through the gut. Examples of foods that contain more insoluble fiber are whole wheat, whole grains, barley, couscous, brown rice, dark leafy greens, some fruits, and root vegetable skins.

We should be consuming 25 to 38 grams of fiber each day; however, the average American consumes only about 15 grams. A good strategy for finding foods high in fiber is to eat things as close to their whole, natural state as possible and to minimize the intake of anything processed. When deciding on what to eat for a snack, we’re better off seeking types of food that Sneaky Pete would have had access to. The less humans have messed with it, changed it, processed it, or boxed it, the better. It’s fairly safe to assume the more processed a food is, the higher its glycemic index will be.

With processed foods, it can be very difficult to tell how much fiber they have just by looking at them. Many have been colored to look dark and fiber filled in addition to having things like oats and seeds sprinkled on top, but the actual fiber content is very low to nonexistent. Some food manufacturers may add fiber supplements, such as inulin, but the only way to truly know how much fiber is in a processed food is to read the product label.

Protein

Protein has very little effect on increasing blood glucose levels. Why this happens is not completely understood. Some working theories include the following: a very slow conversion rate of protein to glucose, less protein being converted into glucose, glucose from protein synthesis being stored as glycogen, or glucogenesis from protein occurring over the course of several hours with ample time for the body to utilize it.

Protein can be found in anything an animal produces (meat, milk, eggs, etc.) as well as in many plants and grains, such as quinoa, beans, lentils, legumes, tofu and other soy products, nuts, seeds, tempeh, peas, and many leafy greens. If you’re deciding on meat for protein, choose those that are low in saturated fat, such as poultry, fish, and pork.

Fat

Fat slows the rate of stomach emptying, which slows the release of glucose into the bloodstream. Choose unsaturated fats instead of saturated, as they are the healthier type we need. Unsaturated fats can be found in foods such as nuts, seeds, avocado, and olive oil, and in fish such as salmon.