How do we Diet Low Carbohydrate? There’s not too many foods without carbs. There’s billions of great foods and meals with a great deal of carbs. We can’t escape carbs so let’s turn our attention to working with them.

Here we’ll look at what carbs do for you, especially if you’re looking to lose weight. We’ll show you ways you can Diet Low Carbohydrate easily.

What carbohydrates do for you?
1. Carbs supply our body with energy.
2. They fuel the central nervous system.
3. Carbs provide the major fuel for exercising muscles

So the fact is that carbohydrates are our bodies primary and most efficient source of fuel or energy.

That’s great but, and it’s a big but (no pun intended), we simply eat too many carbs in our diet. This is only made worse by our sedentary lifestyle where we don’t burn enough of our body’s fuel produced by the carbohydrates.
Mind you, with the amount of carbs in many Western country diets, an Olympic marathon runner couldn’t burn them off.

What Diet Low Carbohydrate does for you?
Less carbs in your diet means your body will start burning fat faster. In other words, once your body has finished using the carbs as fuel it will turn on it’s store of fat for its fuel needs. Great, just what we want when looking to lose weight.

How can I Diet Low Carbohydrate?
There’s no sugar-coating it, reducing your carbs isn’t easy.

The first place to go is the nutritional panel on the back of the food you eat. Make it a habit to really monitor the level of carbs (plus other things like fat and salt). This is especially useful when dieting to lose weight.

GI or glycemic index is something else you’ll need to consider in Diet Low Carbohydrate. Put simply GI is a way of comparing different carbohydrates by ranking their effect on the level of sugar in your blood.
Low GI diet meals, compared to high GI meals, have a slower, gradual and longer lasting energy effect. Most importantly for weight lose is that low GI foods tend to make you feel fuller for longer.
Less hunger should mean less snacking and less eating in general.

Higher GI food and their lower glycemic index alternatives
Rice: basmati is lower than jasmine
Potato: sweet potato is lower than mash potato
Bread: multi grain is lower in GI than white
Soda: orange juice is lower than orange-flavoured sodas
Crackers: rye crisp bread is lower glycemic index than rice carckers

There’s many ways to Diet Low Carbohydrate. But you have to make some changes to your diet. If weight loss is your goal then you’ll lose more by making these changes.

Enjoy!

‘Diet and exercise’ are the only two words, OK three, you need to remember if you’re looking to lose weight or just have better general health.

There’s been much written how the American and Western diet is totally out of balance. Too much bad stuff – like sugars, fat and salt. Even too much good stuff – like carbohydrates. Just too many calories coursing through our bodies.

Also with exercise, our lifestyle generally doesn’t require us to move our bodies much. We sit for long hours at our desks, on the couch, in front of the computer, in the car. You get the picture.

Here we’ll look at Diet And Exercise strategies, such as low GI diet and  that will help you lose pounds and live a healthier, more energetic life.

Diet  – eat to lose weight
We’ve been led to believe that losing weight is all about eating less. It is. And it isn’t.

There’s no better way to lose weight or gain health than by eating. It’s just what you eat that matters. Healthy meals mean healthy you.

No surprises but if you really, really want to lose those pounds then you simply must eat much less sugary, fatty and salty foods. There’s lots of reasons why but take my word for it, foods rich in these are poor for your health. And the leading causes of weight-gain and obesity. An effective diet and exercise plan aims to gradually reduce your sugar and salt and fat intake.

OK but I did promise something about eating when dieting.

The best diet and nutrition idea is to look for foods that fill you up. If I’m less hungry I tend to eat less, especially snacks. If I eat less, I lose weight. No great revelations there.
Low GI foods are the best guide I find for hunger satisfying meals. There’s plenty about the supermarket so start your education next time your there.

There are some foods that you can pretty much eat as much as you like in a diet and exercise plan. It’s vegetables. Green vegetables are especially good but makes sure you get other colors as well.

Exorcise your fat with exercise
Get it out of your body by moving more. There’s two ways to burn calories through exercise. Incidental exercise and planned exercise.

Incidental exercise is moving around in your daily life. Walking to the station. Climbing stairs to the cinema. Cleaning the house. If your mindful of this type of exercise and do more of it you can burn 10% to 15% of your daily calorie intake. Without even really trying. See, diet and exercise doesn’t have to be rocket science.
Just do a little more of this incidental movement  – get off the bus or train one stop early. Do some weeding in the garden. Walk to the shops. Just take a nice walk with family or friends.

You might find adding more low GI foods and high protein foods will help give you the sustained energy to exercise more.

Planned exercise. To really trim down and change your body shape you’ve got to make exercising a part of your week.
I recommend you take it gradually. First few weeks just half an hour jog/walk and a few push-ups and sit-ups.
It won’t take long before you start really looking forward to your exercise. It’s then you’ll get creative with the exercises and maybe target parts of your body that you really want to change.

With anything related to diet and exercise you’ve just got to get started. Start small and keep it going. Before long you’ll notice changes to your energy levels and your body shape. It’s these changes that will keep your diet and exercise on track.

Enjoy!

How do we Diet Low Carbohydrate? There’s not too many foods without carbs. There’s billions of great foods and meals with a great deal of carbs. We can’t escape carbs so let’s turn our attention to working with them.

Here we’ll look at what carbs do for you, especially if you’re looking to lose weight. We’ll show you ways you can Diet Low Carbohydrate easily.

What carbohydrates do for you?
1. Carbs supply our body with energy.
2. They fuel the central nervous system.
3. Carbs provide the major fuel for exercising muscles

So the fact is that carbohydrates are our bodies primary and most efficient source of fuel or energy.

That’s great but, and it’s a big but (no pun intended), we simply eat too many carbs in our diet. This is only made worse by our sedentary lifestyle where we don’t burn enough of our body’s fuel produced by the carbohydrates.
Mind you, with the amount of carbs in many Western country diets, an Olympic marathon runner couldn’t burn them off.

What Diet Low Carbohydrate does for you?
Less carbs in your diet means your body will start burning fat faster. In other words, once your body has finished using the carbs as fuel it will turn on it’s store of fat for its fuel needs. Great, just what we want when looking to lose weight.

How can I Diet Low Carbohydrate?
There’s no sugar-coating it, reducing your carbs isn’t easy.

The first place to go is the nutritional panel on the back of the food you eat. Make it a habit to really monitor the level of carbs (plus other things like fat and salt). This is especially useful when dieting to lose weight.

GI or glycemic index is something else you’ll need to consider in Diet Low Carbohydrate. Put simply GI is a way of comparing different carbohydrates by ranking their effect on the level of sugar in your blood.
Low GI diet meals, compared to high GI meals, have a slower, gradual and longer lasting energy effect. Most importantly for weight lose is that low GI foods tend to make you feel fuller for longer.
Less hunger should mean less snacking and less eating in general.

Higher GI food and their lower glycemic index alternatives
Rice: basmati is lower than jasmine
Potato: sweet potato is lower than mash potato
Bread: multi grain is lower in GI than white
Soda: orange juice is lower than orange-flavoured sodas
Crackers: rye crisp bread is lower glycemic index than rice crackers

There’s also high protein foods. These have the effect of filling you up so the hunger cravings are kept a bay longer.

High protein foods can be found not only in meat and eggs. There’s baked beans (many beans like white beans are good for protein), lentils, cottage cheese, yoghurt. Some cereals are surprisingly high protein. Check the nutritional panel.

There’s many ways to Diet Low Carbohydrate. But you have to make some changes to your diet. If weight loss is your goal then you’ll lose more by making these changes.

Enjoy!

Let’s take the last question first: “ trit-ah-kay-lee”.

As for what it is, triticale is a food developed by scientists.  It is closely related to durum and common wheat and is the result of pollinating durum wheat with rye pollen, taking the best qualities of both to end up with properties better than both grains.

For a grain it fits when you are looking for high protein foods or you’re on a high protein diet.

Why is it good for you?

Triticale is a healthy, wholegrain food and so provides essential nutrients in our diet such as protein, fibre and vitamins.  It also contains vital antioxidants and phytonutrients.  So it’s ideal for a high protein diet as it adds a wealth of other benefits.

It is a well-known fact that you will find a much higher percentage of all these healthy properties in a whole grain product rather than a more refined version.  It helps to bear this in mind when you are choosing your bread items, your rice, pasta etc.  In a high protein diet, or any diet for that matter, you should seek out whole grains to get the most out of your meals.

Triticale also has a lower gluten content than other wheats and can be used in place of wheat flour in many recipes.  It is also an ingredient is good low GI cereals and overall Triticale works well in a low GI diet.

Scientists are still working on the development of Triticale and we may well see an even more improved product evolve in the future. We’ll keep you posted on Triticale and other developments in high protein diet and high protein foods.

Author:  Jill Ashby, co-owner of The Metabolic Food Company, makers of SuperStart and owner of EatSlim Herb and Spice Blends (they make healthy food taste wicked).  Jill has a passion for healthy eating and premium quality food products.  She is not a dietician or nutritionist but enjoys discussing the merits of a healthy diet and passing useful information on to interested parties.  Anyone wishing to send her their own nuggets of useful dietary information can do

So what is a low GI Diet anyway?

It’s a diet rich in low GI foods, has a moderate level of medium GI foods and one that avoids high GI foods like the plague.

GI, or Glycemic Index, is the rate of carbohydrate energy release into your bloodstream.

Glucose is your body’s premium fuel and almost all of it is sourced from dietary carbohydrate. However, although all carbs supply glucose, the rate they are digested and then release that glucose into the bloodstream, where it is absorbed, varies a lot.

In short, the higher the GI level, the faster the glucose is released and burned. Not good. For me it explains the old ‘sugar rush’ sensation and that feeling of hunger and craving I get not longer after eating something with a high GI like most breakfast cereals or a chocolate bar.

On the other hand, foods with a low GI level like hazelnuts, pasta, oats, beans, milk and low fat yoghurt, slowly release releasing their carbohydrates. That means they produce only a gentle rise in blood sugar (and a small insulin response), making it easier for your body to maintain it’s optimal blood glucose levels.

OK. Why is a Low GI Diet good for weight loss?

In my humble opinion a low GI diet is the most effective weight loss strategy. That’s because low GI foods are plentiful, good for you and, most of all, keep your hunger satisfied for longer.

A major benefit of a low GI diet slow releasing carbs is, for a given calorie/kilojoule consumed, blood glucose levels are sustained in the ideal range for longer than quick release carbohydrates, high GI are eaten. This delays the pangs of hunger (useful when weight control is your goal).

Where do I start on my low GI diet?

Think fresh food. Think unprocessed food. Think flavour. Think under 55 (any food with a GI level below 55 is consider low GI).

Don’t think snack. Don’t think sugar.

Go for:

Sweet corn 55
Sweet potato 54
Kiwi fruit 53
Carrots 51
Oat bran 50
Mixed grain 49
Peas 48
Grapes 48
Baked beans (tinned) 46
Porridge 46
Pineapple juice 46
Orange 44
Apple juice (clear) 44
Spaghetti (white) 43
Peach 42
Pinto beans 40
Spaghetti (wholemeal) 39
Apple 37
Pear 36
Chickpeas 33
Hazelnuts 33
Yoghurt (low-fat, sweetened) 33
Strawberry 32
Milk (skimmed) 32
Plums 32
Apricot (dried) 30
Banana (unripe) 30
Peanut butter 29
Kidney beans 28
Milk (full fat) 27
Cashews 22
Cherries 22
Peanuts 22
Soya beans 20
Yoghurt (low-fat, unsweetened) 14

And enjoy!

About the author

Justin Smidmore is the owner of The Metabolic Food Company, makers of SuperStart breakfast blend. He likes to give people commonsense information regarding weight loss, weight management and healthy eating. He is quick to add he is not a dietician (he’s not even sure how to spell it) or nutritionist.

The purpose of this article is to state the reasons why a Low GI Diet should be considered for you and your family. I should point out that I’m not a GI zealot. Or a zealot of any nutritional point of view. I hope that this shows.

The main reason I support a Low GI Diet is that it is largely supported by most knowledgeable nutritional and diet experts. It also stands up to everyday practicality.

The Case For A Low GI Diet…in no particular order.

1. Low GI, healthy foods release their energy slower and steadier than moderate and high GI foods. Actually Low GI unhealthy foods do as well but we’ll get onto why Low GI doesn’t always mean a healthy option.
   • You’ll notice less slumps, especially the infamous mid-morning and mid afternoon ones.
2. Low GI diet can keep you feeling fuller for longer. The main benefits of this are:
   • less snacking
   • less cravings
3. Low GI Diet products and foods are everywhere. It just takes a little awareness and suddenly the supermarket or grocery aisle becomes full of options. Not all low GI foods are marked as such. A short selection is below. The idea is to demonstrate just how ‘everyday’ a low GI diet is.

Low GI Diet must-haves

• Low GI breakfast with nuts, seeds and grains
• Oats e.g. porridge or natural muesli
• Multi-grain bread
• Pasta
• Low-fat milk and yoghurt
• Most fruit
• Sweet corn
• Sweet potato
• Legumes

Not all Low GI diet foods are created equal.

And not all low GI foods are healthy foods. At first I thought low GI diet also meant low or no sugar. Wrong. In fact, there are some low GI products with loads of sugar. So be wary of these and check the nutritional panel and ingredient list.

Enjoy!

Burn energy too quickly?

Here’s some healthy foods and ideas to put together your own breakfast menu for sustained energy.

A short bit about longer lasting energy.

All foods release their energy into your bloodstream at different rates. One measure of this is called the Glycemic Index (GI). The higher the food indexes the faster it releases its energy. And the faster the energy is spent.

• High GI index above 70.
• Moderate GI foods index between 56 to 69.
• Low GI is anything indexing 55 and under.

So on this breakfast menu we’re going to concentrate on a low GI diet. A number of healthy breakfast ideas that will keep you going until lunch.

Low GI breakfast menus

1. The Box Seat – get in the best position for the day with a low GI breakfast cereal and full fat milk. Why full fat milk? Most of the benefits of milk are in the fats, which contain CLA (fat burning and omega 3′s).
2. Cafe breakfast – don’t you just drool over the breakfast menu at your favourite cafe? What they can do with eggs is amazing. The good news is that a ‘traditional’ breakfast high in protein and good fats is good news for your body. They fill you up and release their goodness over a longer period of time. Just make sure the food is cooked as healthily as possible…and with fatty sauces like Hollandaise.
3. A king’s breakfast – like the cafe breakfast above, just lots of it. The old adage “eat like a king at breakfast, a prince at lunch and a pauper at dinner’ makes a lot of nutritional and energy sense. Poached eggs, whole grain toast, avocado, tomato, low GI muesli with full fat milk, black tea. Just don’t forget to get off your throne by dinner time.

Enjoy!

It’s not a time for my best breakfast ideas. Or any ideas for that matter.

That’s why I go for the same old, same old breakfast. Usually something with a mule-like sugar kick and loads of carbs. Delicious, don’t get me wrong, I love the sugary, carby cereals. Fortunately (or is that unfortunately?) there’s lots of breakfast cereal brands out there to fill the gap.

It’s now 7.48pm on a Monday night…

…Perfect breakfast ideas time.

So here’s some of my favourites:

1. Liquid Breakfast – blend a banana, low fat milk or soy milk, soy, linseed and almond meal, low GI cereal and go, go, go. Actually make it a fruit salad smoothie. Throw in whatever fruit you have, even the slightly overripe stuff.
2. Eggs-cellent breakfast idea – eggs on whole grain toast are a great under-rated way to start the day.
3. Low GI diet breakfast – sounds complicated but low GI foods and cereal products are easy to find. And well worth the effort. Start the day with a slow-release food and avoid the m-id-morning ‘sugar low’.
4. Oats with grated green apple – simple, delicious, cheap and nutritious. A great combination.
5. Healthy Breakfast – low GI cereal, whole grain toast, fresh juice and a green tea. This is not only super healthy, a low GI diet helps keep your hunger away for longer than higher GI foods.

Sometimes the best idea is to prepare a little before bed the night before.

Also, a healthy breakfast sets you up for a virtuous day. You just feel better about yourself safe in the knowledge you’ve started the day healthily.

Enjoy!

There’s other things as well but sugar is a major factor in so many negative health issues, especially weight gain and obesity.

Sugar is so pervasive in our diet we hardly notice it any more.

When’s a diet food not a diet food?

When it’s full of sugar. So many so-called ‘diet’ foods are laden with sugar. That’s how they make it palatable. It’s certainly not how they make it a healthy food.

When you’re next scouring the supermarket aisle for diet food, say “no sugar, thanks”. The answer is on the nutritional panel.

When’s a healthy breakfast cereal not a healthy breakfast cereal?

When it has dried fruit in it. Dried fruit is a sneaky way to add the flavour of sugar without actually adding sugar in the ingredient list. But it’s there. Again, the answer is on the nutritional panel.

By the way, a sugary breakfast cereal can make the ‘most important meal of the day’ far less important. Sure the sugar gives you a burst of insulin and energy but it’s short-lived. Plus there’s the bust of a mid-morning energy slump.

Would you like a meal with your sugar?

Alternatives to sugar

• Try products with no sugar added. Give them three days to change your palate from sweet to neutral.
• Stevia. It’s an all-natural sweetener ‘no sugar sugar’ I’ve been using for years. I actually tried a dried Stevia leaf the other week and you can tell where it gets it’s sweetness from.
• Low Glycemic Index (Low GI) foods. Not a guarantee of no sugar but at least a low GI diet will even out your body’s burning of carbs.
• Honey. Still a sugar but in a far more natural, unprocessed form. Use sparingly.
• Fresh fruit. Again, still lots of sugar in them but you get added nutrients and all important fibre.

You must be loopy to serve this for breakfast

I’ll start this article with a lament. How can we have our kids eating good, healthly meals when there’s so much temptation (and advertising) for the fatty, sugary and, admittedly, delicious alternatives?

Well, there are healthy breakfast cereals in a box and some you can create.

It’ll take time to break the breakfast sugar fix. The rewards will be leaner, healthier, energetic. focused and less sick kids.

Pester power

If we parents haven’t heard of this saying, we’ve certainly experienced and relented to it.

It’s the ability of kids to nag us for a treat (usually one of the fatty, sugary kind).

The ‘power’ part is so accurate as there’s no other way we’d allow these foods in the house let alone in our kids mouths. (Mind you, we probably loved them as kids ourselves).

So that’s what we’re up against.

A good start  – mix it up

Rome wasn’t built in a day. A child’s eating habits have also been built up over time. Going cold turkey on sugary, processed cereals will only result in a morning argument. Not a good start to a busy day!

What I’ve been doing is adding some crushed nuts (linseed, almond and meal is healthy, tasty and hard to detect) to their cereal. Adding more and more over a few weeks. Break them of the sugar hit – at least a little.

Next I throw in some wholegrain cereals to increase the healthy ratio.

Adding some fresh fruit is a big but beautiful step in the right direction. Well worth the effort. Most fruits go well with cereal so just try your kids favourite (or least hated) kind.

You get the idea.

A better start – Low GI cereal

A low GI cereal will release it’s energy over a longer period of time than higher GI foods. That means your kid will have less ‘fuzzy’ moments and more energy throughout the morning.

The low GI diet also means your kid will feel fuller for longer. Hopefully, less of those mid-morning snack attacks.

Please note. Not all low GI foods are created equal. Some may still be high in sugar. Keep your eyes open for products with less processed, more natural ingredients.

Enjoy!