Search:

Starches, Glycemic Index, and "White Foods" - Friend or Foe for a Lean-Body?

Consequences Carbohydrates

Most of health and fitness professionals bad mouth carbohydrates - in particular potatos and starches. Ocassionally, the opinions go so far as to bad mouth all "white" carbs.

I concur that white bread and refined white sugar are some of the worst foods we can ingest, I do not agree with avoiding any and all "white carbs".

Certainly all of the hype lately has been on colorful foods. In particular the protective antioxidants that colorful foods provide. They tell you to focus on colors and stay away from white. It's true that colorful foods are excellent. However, it is an error to specifically avoid white foods!

The reason is that many white foods provide nutrients that are hard to find in any other food. Here are some examples...

Onions & Garlic

Onions and garlic are white. Both contain protective phytonutrients, vitamins, and trace minerals that aren't found anywhere else. (At least in a normal diet.) Some examples of these nutrients are allicin, quercetin, chromium, and other unique anti-inflammatories.

Cauliflower

Another example of a good white food is cauliflower. Cauliflower is generally considered good for your health. Nutrients in cauliflower include vitamin C, fiber, and minerals. Cauliflower also possesses special compounds glucosinolates and thiocyanates. These special compounds are especially abundant in cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage.

Little known fact: Compounds in cruciferous vegetables help combat estrogenic compounds in our food supply and environment. And they can help prevent excess belly fat.

Potatos

A high glycemic index makes many health professionals to state that potatos are a bad carbohydrate. However, the book at the conclusion of this article will explain why glycemic index isn't always the most important variable in your choice of carbohydrates.

Usually, foods with a low glycemic index will help you lose body fat faster than high glycemic index foods. However, it is not that simple. There are many factors. The other foods you eat with your high glycemic index foods can have a noticeable effect on how the "bad carb" is digested.

For Example: A high glycemic index food that will not make you gain weight

Using glycemic load as the only decision factor in diet choices would lead you to avoid watermelon. Watermelon has a high glycemic index. However, the glycemic load of a normal serving of watermelon is far too low for you to begin gaining body fat. You would have to ingest such a gigantic serving of watermelon just to ingest enough grams of carbohydrates to have any negative glycemic impact, that it is just non-sensical.

Combinations of Foods

Food combinations are vital to how your body processes the carbs. Also, food combinations are vital to the resulting blood sugar and insulin response you get. For example, combining a high glycemic index carbohydrate with an extra source of fiber, healthy fats, or even certain proteins can impede the blood sugar and glycemic response. The slow down can be considerable depending on how the food is combined. Again, this is discussed in detail in the free eBook linked to this article.

Keep in mind that potatos, eaten with the skin, contain so many vitamins and minerals that the list is just too long to provide here. Also, the skins provide a adequate source of fiber.

Article Source: http://www.bodyformind.com/db

If you enjoyed this article today, feel free to copy/paste this link and email to your friends and family that would be interested.

Nutritional Strategies to Slash Body Fat

Please Rate this Article

Not yet Rated

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Nutrition Articles Via RSS!

Additional Articles From - Home | Nutrition

	Print This Article
	Post Comment
	Add To Favorites
	Email to Friends
	Ezine Ready

Submit Articles
Member Login
Top Authors
Most Popular Articles
Submission Guidelines
Ezine Notifications
Article RSS Feeds

About Us
Link to Us
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service