Why Grains Aren’t All That Good for You

We always hear “eat your grains!,” “grains help prevent disease,” “grains are healthy.” Those statements are not necessarily true. To start, there are high glycemic foods and low glycemic foods.

The glycemic index is an index of how high your blood glucose goes up after eating those foods.

Medium-High glycemic foods include:

Most breads, oats, rice, corn, chips, crackers, sodas, potatoes, breakfast cereals (yes, even cheerios), sweet potatoes, rice cakes, pancakes and waffles, candies, fries, pretzels, sugary drinks, doughnuts, and some fruits such as watermelon, grapes, and bananas, etc

Low glycemic foods include:

Spinach, kale, asparagus, peppers, nuts and legumes, whole milk, tomatoes, broccoli, cherries, hummus, all-bran, whole-grain pumpernickel, green beans, apples, strawberries, oranges, etc

Dark leafy greens are your friend!

Foods higher on the glycemic index release glucose rapidly, which causes a rapid change in blood sugar levels, but low glycemic foods tend to release glucose more slowly. In order to deal with the rapid increase of high blood sugar levels, the pancreas produces a large amount of insulin, which will convert the glucose in the blood to other forms for storage. You will sometimes feel hungry after just eating because of the large amounts of insulin in your body, which causes glucose levels in your blood to boom.. crash! That is why you get the feeling of hunger after just eating sometimes. Having TOO many high glycemic foods can overwork your pancreas, cause damage to the heart, cancer, weight gain, decrease your bodies sensitivity to insulin, and diabetes.

Every time you eat, your body creates insulin. If you’re eating 6-10 times a day, you’re causing 10 insulin spikes a day. That includes sugar drinks, a few chips here and there, etc.

In cavemen days, we only ate proteins such as meats, animal fats, and vegetables.

Our bodies were NOT designed for highly processed foods. They contain LESS nutritional value and typically raise the glycemic impact of those foods.

Cavemen never had the chronic health problems and obese problems like we have today.

Also, the best way to get your vitamins is through foods. Dark leafy greens have a lot of water soluble vitamins and healthy fats have fat soluble vitamins- such as animal fats.

I usually give people some easy tips!

• 1.Watch out for sugars. Not just how many grams on the label, but what is in the ingredients as well
• 2.Stick to lower glycemic foods
• 3.Avoid processed foods as best as you can
• 4.Stick to healthy fats such avocados, cheese, fatty fish, nuts, seeds, olive oils, and protein such as eggs, chicken, tuna, and eat LOTS of veggies such as dark leafy greens

I love Rivalus proteins because it is a HIGH quality source of protein, they aren’t filled with sugars, and they taste great!