The Glycemic Index, Explained

Do you know the difference between high glycemic foods and low glycemic foods?

If you’ve ever felt light-headed or shaky (and very hungry) a few hours after eating certain foods, then you’ve experienced the “roller-coaster ride” of high glycemic foods.   You’ve probably noticed that all foods don’t have this effect on you, and those that don’t are most likely low glycemic foods.

The Glycemic Index or GI is a scale that ranks high-carbohydrate foods according to how much they raise your blood glucose levels after eating. The GI ranges from 0 to 100. Foods with a high GI are digested quickly and cause a significant spike in our blood sugar levels. This increase in blood sugar causes a corresponding increase in insulin to bring those sugar levels back down.

Low glycemic foods have less of an impact on your body because they are digested and absorbed more slowly, so you need less insulin to control your blood sugar levels. When sugar and insulin aren’t spiking, you won’t get that light-headed or weak feeling. You just feel normal.

There are many more advantages to choosing a low glycemic diet. Low glycemic foods are beneficial to our health because controlling blood sugar and insulin levels is one of the keys to reducing our risk of heart disease and diabetes. Low GI diets are also useful for controlling our appetite and aiding in weight loss.

When our blood sugar levels are maintained relatively stable, our bodies perform better. A study from the Harvard School of Public Health demonstrated that high GI diets are strongly linked to an increase in the risk of Type II diabetes and heart disease. The World Health Organization recommends that people in developed countries eat as many low-GI foods as possible, to prevent heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.

A hundred years ago, our foods simply took longer to digest. They came straight from the farm to our table, in its natural state, containing the original fiber and other natural components they were grown with. Modern food processing practices have stripped our food of many of its natural properties, making it easy to package and store, and extremely quick to digest. And the faster we digest the food, the quicker we get hungry again.

This is the “roller coaster” that happens when we consume too many high GI foods.

High glycemic index foods may give you a burst of energy, but this is followed by a “crash” as the insulin takes the blood sugar back down and you feel hungry again. To make things worse, these insulin spikes turn all that excess blood sugar into fat, which is usually stored right around the abdomen.

On the other hand, when we consume low glycemic foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains, the rise in blood sugar is slower and more sustained over time. That means you feel fuller longer and are less tempted to eat again so soon. Our energy levels are maintained throughout the day, which not only provides health benefits but also makes us feel better, because we’re not on that up and down cycle from morning to night.

If you would like to increase your consumption of low glycemic foods, here are some suggestions.

Eat less of the following:

• Avoid sugary snacks, especially those made with refined sugar. Not only are they high GI foods, they are mostly empty calories.
  
• Many salad dressings are very high GI foods.
  
• While potatoes are nutritious, especially with their skins intact, they are also very high GI foods.

Eat more of the following:

• Fruits and vegetables in their natural state, preferably organic. Many commercially grown fruits and vegetables have a higher sugar content than organic. Commercially grown foods also have added chemicals and pesticides.
  
• Eat foods with lots of fiber, which tends to lower the glycemic index of everything you eat.
• Choose breakfast cereals with whole grain barley, bran, and oats.
  

Interestingly, the cooking method can affect the GI rating of a food. For example, boiled potatoes are rated an 81 on the glycemic index, while baked potatoes rate as 119 and mashed potatoes 104.

However, rather than obsess about individual GI food ratings, remember that the most important goal is to have a low glycemic diet overall. Eating the occasional high GI food is OK, especially if you also eat a low glycemic food along with it.

Try to focus on eating a healthy, balanced diet including a wide variety of whole, natural, and fresh foods. By doing so, you won’t even have to consult the GI scale, because you’ll be eating a relatively low glycemic diet and gaining all the benefits described here.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Can Chiropractors Help With Your Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), named from the carpal bones in the wrist that form a tunnel around the nerve leading to the hand, is an injury usually caused by repetitive and forceful movements that result in swelling around the tendons and pinching of the median nerve, causing painful tingling, lack of muscle strength and control in the hand, and pain shooting from the hand up to the shoulder.

CTS is a risk to most workers, such as those who work on the computer and also store and assembly line workers, who receive micro-traumas to their hands and wrists on a daily basis due to awkward positioning, forceful and repetitive movements, and stressful activity. [1,2]

The usual treatment for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can extend to heavy medication and surgery, however there are alternative methods of treatment that can alleviate the symptoms and effects arising from CTS. Chiropractic treatment for CTS has been studied against conventional non-surgical medical treatment by Davis et al. [1] and was found to be effective. This offers an alternative to sufferers who are intolerant to ibuprofen, or those who simply wish to avoid treating with medication. 

The median nerve in the wrist, which when trapped causes Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, connects to the spinal cord through the openings in the bones in the areas around the lower neck. If these bones in the spinal cord lose their ordinary position or motion, this can cause problems in the wrists or fingers.

Through chiropractic treatment, these bones can be reset to the correct position and can help to treat CTS.

If Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is detected early, then surgery can be avoided, and chiropractic treatment is the leading method of non-surgical treatment.

Chiropractic treatment usually involves various methods [3], with a combination of rest, ice, ultrasound, and electrical stimulation, including:

• By chiropractic manipulation therapy of the elbow and upper spine, where the joint’s soft tissue undergoes manipulation [4];
   
• Nutritional supplements in the diet such as B6, a vitamin that has had long-term promotion in its treatment of CTS;
   
• Electro-acupuncture treatment; bracing, a technique that has had extensive success, by limiting extension and flexion in the hand, and with compression on the median nerve may encourage recovery and ease the swelling in the tendons;
   
• Exercises for the wrist and hand designed to encourage recovery;
   
• Reassessing the ergonomics of the work place to minimize stress the best way as possible.

Recent studies, such as that by J. Burke et al (2007)[5], concluded that using manual therapy intervention such as soft tissue mobilization (STM) has been found to help improve the signs and symptoms of CTS, with improvements to nerve conduction latencies, wrist strength and motion.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can become a serious health problem, and if left too long may require surgery. If it’s caught early, then chiropractic treatment is an effective, drug-free method to ease the symptoms and pains caused by CTS, and provide long-term relief from CTS. 

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References
 
[1] P.T. Davis et al., J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 1998 (Jun);21 (5): 317-326 (1998)
 
[2] R.Valente and H. Gibson, J Manipulative Physiol Ther 1994;17(4):246–9 (1994)
 
[3] R. Perez de Leon & S. Auyong, J Chiropr Med. 2002 Spring; 1(2): 75–78. (2002)
 
[4] P.T. Davis and J.R. Hulbert, J Manipulative Physiol Ther 1998;21(5):356–62 (1998)
 
[5] J. Burke et al., J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2007 Jan;30(1):50-61. (2007)