Health Benefits Of Eating Low Glycemic Foods And Diets

All the above factors are direct causes of many serious diseases, such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer.

Low glycemic diets and low glycemic foods are friendlier on the body

On the other hand, most carbohydrates found in natural whole foods, such as fruits, grains, legumes and vegetables, are complex in nature and take longer to break down into glucose. This accounts for their low glycemic values and promotes a more moderate rise in blood glucose level which is sustained over a longer period of time.

Besides helping with weight control, low glycemic diets and low glycemic foods are also gentler on the pancreas.

A low glycemic diet containing mainly low glycemic foods would control the release of glucose into our bloodstreams at a steady and sustained rate, keeping our body’s metabolic processes and energy levels balanced.

We would thus feel fuller for longer periods of time after eating, and our bodies would also be subject to less stress and extreme variations in conditions.

Health benefits of low glycemic diets and low glycemic food

All in all, low glycemic diets and low glycemic foods, backed by scientific evidence, are said to have the following health benefits:

• Appetite control – low GI foods help to keep you full for more prolonged periods of time.

• Cancer – decreased risk; a study in Australia showed that consumption of white bread and cereals high in sugar for breakfast over a sustained period of time increases the risk of cancer; it is also well-known that cancer cells feed on sugar.

• Cholesterol – helps to lower and control ‘bad’ cholesterol levels.

• Diabetes, Type 2 – lowers risk; those who followed a diet of low GI foods for several years had significantly lower risk of getting type 2 diabetes; for those already suffering from diabetes, it can help control the condition.

• Endurance – improves physical endurance, as blood glucose levels are kept at a moderate level (instead of dipping drastically due to sudden insulin production) for a more sustained period of time.

• Glucose levels in the blood – helps to control.

• Heart disease – lowers risk; those who followed a diet of low glycemic index foods for several years had significantly lower risk of getting coronary heart disease.

• Insulin sensitivity – while high-GI foods lower the body’s sensitivity to insulin in the long run, low-GI foods help to maintain and even increase it.

• Triglyceride / lipid levels in the blood – helps to lower and control.

• Weight – helps with weight loss and maintenance of healthy weight.

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