Favorite low GI/GL recipes -- appreciate suggestions!

[lhamo]

OK, so I read Gary Taubes' latest article in the NYT, "Is sugar poison" and I am kind of worried. I have always had blood sugar issues -- most likely hypoglycemic, though I have never been officially tested. But it seems to have shifted from the basic issues with blood sugar ups and downs to a more serious problem with my weight, that sounds a lot like the result of metabolic syndrome. Been working out regularly since the beginning of the year, including 2-3 pretty rigourous workouts a week with a trainer, and though I am obviously building muscle my weight is not coming down. I do struggle with carb cravings in the winter, and haven't put on weight as I usually do, but still I am concerned.

So, I am going to make a serious effort to limit my intake of refined carbs and sugars, and shift to a more whole-foods oriented diet. Have done this to a certain extent already, but need to get more serious about it. Looking for everyone's favorite recipes that are low glycemic index/glycemic load. I know there are websites out there, but many of them are not free and I trust you guys more!

I'm thinking of shifting to eating lots of bean salads (and other salads), soups, etc. The hummous has been a big hit and that will play a major role. APpreciate other suggestions. I didn't want to clutter up the no sugar thread with a lot of recipe suggestions, so thought I'd post this here to start a new conversation.

Sorry so long. Helps me to talk through it. Feels like more of a commitment if I explain what I am trying to do and why.

lhamo

[Maxamillion]

I'm interested in this too. I've struggled most of my life with my weight and am having problems now with high blood pressure, cholesterol right on the borderline, and even though my blood sugar usually is normal, it's on the higher end of normal. I'm not sure if that's normal for someone in their early thirties. In the past I've tried eating healthier, but after still being unable to lose weight, a few months ago I just kind of gave up. I do get carb cravings all the time. I've never drank a whole lot of soft drinks but the past few months have started drinking more of them...and craving more of them. Not a habit I want to get into.

[Greg44]

Sign me up. I have been reading a lot on anti-inflammatory foods/diet and sugar is something to avoid.

[domestic goddess]

Are you sure your thyroid isn't the culprit? That can often be the case when weight is hard to impossible to lose. Doctors here seem to do an incomplete thyroid panel, and then make decisions based on that.

[Maxamillion]

Are you sure your thyroid isn't the culprit? That can often be the case when weight is hard to impossible to lose. Doctors here seem to do an incomplete thyroid panel, and then make decisions based on that.

Not sure if you were asking me or the original poster. I've had four thyroid tests done over the years and they've always come back normal (though I think the last one was on the higher edge of normal, I'll have to look at the results again). I don't know if any of them was a complete thyroid panel though.

[lhamo]

It could be related to thyroid issues, but given my history of blood sugar issues I think the refined carbs and sugar are more likely the culprit. I want to experiment a bit with better control of carbs/sugar first and see if that makes a difference.

lhamo

[Rosemary]

If would be easier to suggest recipes if you indicated the types of foods that you're seeking to replace. Sugars as in desserts? Or meals that are grain-focused? Or...?

[lhamo]

Well, had a great start with dinner tonight (lunch was a pizza buffet already paid for, though I did try to avoid eating too much crust and had a lot of salad on the side...). I made a bean salad/salsa kind of thing, a variation on the bean salad recipe in How to Cook Everything. here's what I put in it:

1 tblsp balsamic vinegar
a spash of lemon juice (because I didn't realize until the top come off the bottle and a bunch fell in that the vinegar had gotten all clumpy -- used the lemon juice to dissolve it a bit
1/2 a red onion, diced very small (rummaged from the bottom of the veggie crisper)
1/2 a yellow pepper, diced (also rummaged from the veggie crisper)
two medium tomatoes, diced
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can of corn, drained and rinsed
a bunch of cilanto, chopped fine

MIxed everything together while I waited for masa mix to set. Then made my own corn tortillas to go with.

I also made some devilled eggs to have on the side, and cut up some carrot sticks.

Turned out great and DH/DS loved the bean salad. DD wouldn't try it, but that is typical. We didn't overdo on the torillas, and all got full pretty fast. I have enough leftover for two lunch servings, easy.

I figure the whole bean salad cost under $3 for 5 servings. Tortillas probably about $1 for five + servings (I used about 1/3 of the bag of masa mix, which I paid around $3 for). Maybe another $1 for the devilled eggs, 4 servings. So roughly $1/serving and that's going the easy route with canned beans and corn -- would be cheaper with fresh or frozen corn and beans prepared from dried. And much lower carb than our typical weekend (or anyday, really) fare.

I think bean salads are going to be a mainstay of the summer for all of us.... The How to Cook Everything recipe is really good -- like many of his recipes it gives you a very basic version, followed by many suggestions of ways to vary it with different ingredients/to different tastes.

Still looking forward to other ideas -- thanks in advance!

lhamo

[catherine]

Here's a great, easy, soup.

Olive oil
8 oz container of white, ****aki, or baby portabello mushrooms (or a mixture of all three)
2 cloves garlic
1 medium onion
half a teaspoon of fresh ginger, minced, or a dash of powdered ginger
Two tablespoons light miso paste
32 oz of stock--vegetable or chicken or beef--whatever. Low sodium preferably
Three or four "shakes" of tamari
Kale or spinach
Optional: 1 cup of Tofu, drained and cubed
Ground pepper

Heat oil (if you want to throw in a little Earth Balance or even butter--go ahead) in a dutch oven or stockpot of some kind. Saute onion and garlic 5 min. Add mushrooms and ginger and saute 5 min. If using fresh spinach or kale, add that just until wilted. If frozen wait. Add stock and tamari and ground pepper. Add about a half a cup of water to the miso, wisk, and then add to the soup. Add tofu (if desired). Simmer for about 20 minutes. Add frozen spinach or kale, cook another 10 minutes.

Done! So easy and so good and good for you. This is kind of my own recipe, so if you need to adjust, by all means, do!

haha: the program caught a "naughty" word--I think you know what kind of mushroom I'm referring to~

[SRP]

lhamo - I'll bet you'll find it pretty easy to make these changes. I think it's pretty easy to avoid refined carbs and sugars. I dearly love bean-based soups and eat a lot of them. Also roasted veggies, cooked whole grain cereals, and homemade bread. When I bake breads, I don't use any of the typical refined white flour, by the way. The biggest key is to buy whole foods, not processed or pre-packaged. Keep that in mind, and it'll be easy sailing. I can't really give you any recipes because I have a notorious habit of just winging it in the kitchen. Sometimes it comes out great, but other times.... sigh. :^)

Good luck, and I sure hope you get your health concerns all straightened out.

[Amaranth]

The info in the Eat to Live book would be a big help. See if you can get the latest edition which is 2010 or 2011 for the most up to date info. There is a yahoo group where people often post good related recipes. For the most complete set of recipes you would need a subscription to Furhman's website. And you would then get the most current medical updates as well.

[RCWRTR]

So, I am going to make a serious effort to limit my intake of refined carbs and sugars, and shift to a more whole-foods oriented diet. Have done this to a certain extent already, but need to get more serious about it. Looking for everyone's favorite recipes that are low glycemic index/glycemic load. I know there are websites out there, but many of them are not free and I trust you guys more!

lhamo

Thanks for starting this thread! I'm trying to eat more whole foods, less refined carbs and sugars, more beans, more veggies, less dairy, etc.

[lhamo]

Thanks for all the support and encouragement, everybody. Had some good days and bad days this week. Need to get some brown rice so that I can cook up a batch of that for myself to eat every week instead of white rice.

Yesterday visited a new bookstore that just opened here in Beijing and splurged on a copy of The Complete Idiot's Glycemic INdex Cookbook. I flipped through it at the store and it has a lot of easy, low GI/GL recipes so I thought it was worth the investment. It was about $25, more than it would cost in the US, but I figure if it helps improve our diet/overall health that is a small investment. ANd it will make it easier to plan in advance if I can master a good basic set of recipes.

Planning to cook up a pot of chickpeas tonight, to make salad, curry and hummous with tomorrow.

lhamo

[Rosemary]

If you're looking to reduce GI, brown rice isn't that far from white rice. If you're looking to reduce refined foods, it meets that goal.

http://rosemaryevergreen.blogspot.com/search?q=glycemic+index

Although it can be difficult to locate data on different types of rice, the long-grain rices seem to have the lowest GI.

[JaneV2.0]

I doubt anyone with metabolic syndrome will lose weight eating beans and rice and corn and whole grains--which is why the Food Pyramid is often wryly referred to as "the feedlot diet." Gary Taubes' latest book Why We Get Fat is a good resource for anyone wanting to learn about insulin and its role in weight gain.

[ApatheticNoMore]

The stuffing ourselves to the gills with whole grains just seems intuitively wrong and not just for anti-carb reasons.

Are there any cultures on earth currently that actually do it? There's cultures with a grain staple to be sure. There's rice in Asia, but even they mostly eat white rice, right? There's pasta and other wheat based dishes in Italy, but they eat white pasta (semolina and the like, yea the stuff imported from Europe probably is somewhat higher quality, but it's still not whole wheat) .... Now I guess they maybe used to eat whole wheat pasta before flour could be refined to white flour, but how much health evidence do we even have from those days (as opposed to modern cross country epidemiological studies where at least *some* evidence exists)?

[RCWRTR]

Here's some information about the effect of a low GI/GL diet on various health conditions. I eat an average of 2 cups of brown rice per day plus other whole grains (bread, pasta, cereals, etc.) at least several times per week. I eat this way to ensure I get plenty of fiber from vegetable and grain sources and to save money, as grains are inexpensive.

My friend Rosalyn is a big believer in eating like one's ancestors -- not our recent ancestors, necessarily, but our ancestors from hundreds or thousands of years ago. She believes we have evolved genetically over centuries to best process the type of foods available in our countries of genetic origin and thinks this genetic history should be considered when selecting our diets today. According to this, I should be consuming large amounts of wine, cheese, bread, fish, fowl and vegetables -- not brown rice.

[ApatheticNoMore]

The genetic origin thing seems to make sense, until you realize this is America, and people with mixed origins probably outnumber those with clearer cut ethnicity. So how would most people even apply the advice?

[RCWRTR]

I would think that one could research one's geneaology or do a human genome mouth swab project type genetic test to determine this information, but it's not likely something many would be inclined to do. I know my geneaological history to the 1400s on my father's side and to the 1700s on my mother's side, so that's a start.

[reader99]

For managing borderline blood sugar and food cravings, I have had tremendous success with the eating plan in Kathleen DesMaisons' "Potatoes Not Prozac". It's more sensible than the title may sound. Low glycemic impact foods and the timing and amount of foods is important too. www.radiantrecovery.com (http://www.radiantrecovery.com)

[Kestrel]

For me ... I had allergy testing and found I'm very sensitive to egg whites and dairy, and to to a lesser degree gluten and soy. Also sugar (we use a stevia/xylitol/erithritol blend). So I have eliminated them 90% from my diet and have lost 70 pounds. The reason they aren't 100% gone is that we have no overt reactions to these foods -- no rashes, no stuffy noses, etc. -- so once in a while is OK. Or so my allergist says.

I too have SAD issues, and haven't lost anything this winter and have bounced five pounds up and down for several months. But haven't gained any! I can't wait for real spring and summer!

Saw "The Amen Solution" on PBS recently during their pledge drive, and it sounds really interesting. I've ordered his books. You might check that out online. ("Amen" doesn't have anything to do with religion -- it's his name.) He recommends allergy testing too.

[JaneV2.0]

I recommend Dana Carpender's low-carb cookbooks for low-GI ideas.

Some dishes I like (sorry, no recipes) include cauliflower-cheese bake with or without bacon, jalapeno poppers with cream cheese and bacon, coconut crusted chicken strips with dipping sauce, Asian-inspired lettuce wraps with chicken, ground beef chili with black soy beans (or no beans at all), ground-beef stuffed peppers, meat loaf with ground vegetables, chicken gumbo soup (hold the rice), turkey burgers with garlic, chili seeds, and cranberries, faux pho with shirataki noodles, Cobb salad, deviled eggs, sugar-free cheesecake, and ricotta with berries and cream.

[pamlstano]

From where you have got this books?? I am really curious to know more about it. Hope you disclose it as soon as possible.

[leslieann]

I googled and found her on Amazon, of course, but also at CarbSmart, which is apparently where her books were initially available when they were self-published. I am going to check the library first, though, because I have not followed my New Year's plan to avoid buying books as well as I hoped I would!