Fitness Zone

THE GLYCEMIC INDEX OF VARIOUS FOODS
RECOMMENDED FOOD FOR FAT LOSS, AND PRE-WORKOUT DIETS

Eat LESS of these		Eat MORE of these
Food	Glycemic Index	Food	Glycemic Index
Sugars
Parsnips	98	Soybeans	15
Carrots	90	Kidney Beans	30
White Potatoes	70	Lentils	25
Mashed Potatoes	80	Sweet Potatoes	48
Broad Beans	75	Yams	45
Fruits
Bananas	65	Apples	36
Raisins	68	Oranges	40
Equatorial Fruits	60-70	Northern Fruits	30-40
Dried Fruits	65-70
Grains & Pasta
White Flour Spaghetti	56	Whole Wheat Spaghetti	40
Cornflakes	85	Oats	48
White Rice	70	Brown Rice	60
White Flour Pancake	66	Buckwheat Pancakes	45
White Bread	76	Whole wheat bread	64

Lean Meats, Fish, Fowl, Milk, Eggs, Dairy

Milk, cheese, yogurt and meats all have glycemic indexes in the 30-40 range. Ensure that these high protein foods are carefully chosen for their low fat content. These are your primary protein sources and they should not be eaten so much for energy as they are for growth and tissue repair.

In order to deal with food allergies, eliminate suspected foods until you find the culprit and avoid it.

Sugars

Simple sugars like the table sugar (sucrose) can cause a drastic rise in blood sugar, followed by a surge of insulin release into your blood. The large amount of insulin release will force blood sugar into your cells and drain your blood of its sugar, End result : - Low blood sugar and low energy levels

Carbohydrates

But when you consume carbohydrates of a low glycemic index, a fluctuation of blood sugar just doesn't happen. Your blood sugar levels stabilize and provide you with long term energy.

When you are highly stressed, it is important for you as an athlete, to check out your diet to make sure it is nutritious. Stress can increase your requirement for quality protein. And if your carbohydrate consumption is overly limited, irritability and tiredness can produce more stress, both mentally and physically. Good nutritional practices are crucial for a healthy body. particularly when you experience high levels of stress.

Cholesterol

High cholesterol is dangerous to your health. Specifically high levels of low density cholesterol (the bad guys) increase your chances of heart attack and stroke. Any limit in blood flow caused from build up of cholesterol in your arteries decreases your endurance capacity significantly. In strength and power athletes, cholesterol buildup can reduce your recuperative processes. Since athletes often remove fat intake from their diets, it is likely that a reduction in high-density cholesterol (the good guys) might be a result of too little intake of unsaturated fats.

Deficiencies

As you can see, deficiencies can result from inadequate eating practices. To protect against deficiencies of any nutritional type, eat healthy, take a multivitamin / mineral every day and supplement your eating with quality nutritional supplements.