Glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load: scientific terms that simply describe how rapidly glucose is absorbed from your foods.
Fast absorption is bad—it causes insulin spikes, which, over time, contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes.
Slow absorption is much better—no insulin spikes! 😀
Most whole plant foods (fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains) are low GI.
Most refined and ultra-processed foods (white flour, cakes, cookies, sugary cereals) are high GI..
Takeaway: For blood sugar and overall health ♥️, focus on whole plant foods and limit ultra-processed junk.
A Delicious Trick
Wanna learn a trick to decrease the glycemic index of foods even further?
Use a little acid. No, not that kind.
By acid, I mean lemon juice, lime juice, and vinegar.
Adding these to foods or consuming them shortly beforehand will slow stomach emptying and the activity of an enzyme that breaks down starches, both of which will help prevent sugar spikes.
A few tasty examples:
Balsamic vinegar on your salad.
A little fresh lemon or lime juice squeezed into your water.
Potatoes with pickled veggies.
Rice dishes with rice vinegar or lemon juice.
Toast drizzled with balsamic.
Grain bowls sprinkled with apple cider vinegar
Now, please exercise good judgment here. In other words, don’t think that you can make candy bars and cookies healthy by pouring vinegar on them.
Quick Word of Caution:
Too much vinegar (straight shots, >2 Tbsp) may irritate the stomach, throat, or tooth enamel. Always dilute it or mix it with food.
Enjoy!
If you’re interested in bringing this type of message to a wider audience, I speak regularly on topics related to health and wellness. You can learn more about my talks at https://stevepiriano.life/speaking/
I also explore similar topics more deeply in my books, which you can find at https://stevepiriano.life/books/ if you’d like to dive in.
STRUGGLING WITH CRAVINGS OR HUNGER WHILE TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT?
Do you ever feel that you can’t control your cravings?
You know you’re overeating, but can’t stop because you still feel hungry? It’s as though your appetite has a mind of its own.
Or maybe you’ve been working hard to lose weight, but the scale isn’t budging, and you wonder if there’s anything besides drugs or surgery that can actually help you feel full?
If this sounds familiar, then you’re in the right place.
Let’s chat about fiber. Yes, fiber—not exactly the sexiest nutrient out there, but the one that might just be your secret weapon when it comes to controlling hunger and supporting weight loss.
FIBER IS MORE POWERFUL THAN YOU THINK
You may have heard that fiber “keeps you full,” but the science behind it is actually fascinating.
Here’s how it works:
When you eat fiber-rich foods, they cause stomach distension and slow gastric emptying (how fast food leaves your stomach). This helps you feel full sooner and stay full longer.
But wait—there’s more. Once the fiber reaches your colon, your gut bacteria ferment it and create short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). One of the many things these amazing little molecules do is trigger the release of a natural hormone called GLP-1.
In case you’re wondering, this is the same GLP-1 molecule found in popular weight loss drugs. But here’s the key difference between the two:
The GLP-1 your body produces naturally only lasts for a few minutes.
The injected version is designed to stick around for about a week.
Clear advantage for the drug, right?
Not so fast.
When you eat a fiber-containing meal and your gut makes GLP-1, it doesn’t act alone. It stimulates your brain to release even more GLP-1, keeping your appetite in check for a few hours.
No, it doesn’t last a week. But here’s the deeper truth.
Take a minute to think about this. Your body has developed and fine-tuned this appetite-control system over millions of years. It was meant to function this way. Doesn’t it make sense that if we were designed with a system composed of chemicals that work in specific ways with particular durations of action, then that is how our bodies were meant to function in their most optimal state? Isn’t it possible that working with your biology, instead of trying to override it, might be the healthier, more sustainable path?
HOW TO ACTIVATE THIS POWERFUL SYSTEM
If you want to put this system to work for your already perfectly designed body, here’s the critical point:
You need to fuel your body the way it was designed to be fueled—with whole, fiber-rich plant foods like:
Fruits
Vegetables
Whole Grains
Legumes
Nuts and Seeds
These foods (especially legumes and whole grains) are naturally satisfying, nutrient-dense, and incredibly effective at taming cravings.
A FEW IMPORTANT NOTES:
1️. Animal foods contain ZERO fiber. Meat, dairy, poultry, fish, and eggs don’t activate this natural appetite-regulating system.
2️. If you’re new to fiber-rich eating, START LOW AND GO SLOW. Increasing your fiber intake too quickly can lead to abdominal pain, bloating, gas, or even nausea and diarrhea.
FINAL THOUGHT
If you’re tired of feeling hungry all the time or battling constant cravings, know this: Your body already has a powerful, built-in system to help you feel full and satisfied—and you can take advantage of it by eating the foods it was created to run on.
If you’re interested in bringing this type of message to a wider audience, I speak regularly on topics related to health and wellness. You can learn more about my talks at https://stevepiriano.life/speaking/
I also explore similar topics more deeply in my books, which you can find at https://stevepiriano.life/books/ if you’d like to dive in.
I often hear people say that carbs are bad. I’ve heard conversations where people say they are cutting out carbs to lose weight.
It seems as though there are countless conflicting opinions on carbs.
So, are carbs (carbohydrates) good or are they bad?
The real, true, and accurate answer is that it depends.
As you may have surmised, all carbs are NOT created equally.
Black beans and candy bars are both loaded with carbs. However, I’m sure you’ll agree that they have vastly different effects on health.
Some Physiology Made Easy
Let’s take a step back for a moment and talk about the foundational knowledge you must have for a better understanding regarding the healthfulness of carbs. Your body needs carbs, as does mine. In fact, everyone needs carbs. The human body was designed to utilize carbohydrates as its primary fuel source. This is why our bodies make the hormone insulin, which is the key that allows glucose (a carbohydrate) to enter our cells. Our bodies make insulin so that our cells can utilize the glucose in our bloodstream (obtained from eating carbs) as their preferred energy source.
Let me repeat that. Our bodies make insulin so that our cells can utilize the glucose obtained from eating carbs as their primary and preferred energy source. Think about that for a minute. Why would the human body waste time and energy to make insulin if it did not use glucose as its main energy source? Looking at this from another perspective, people with diabetes, whose bodies are either unable to produce insulin or are resistant to their insulin, have such profound abnormalities of their physiology that they often end up developing many devastating complications.
Although this was a very general overview, I hope it is clear that insulin is a critical component of our health and that glucose (a carbohydrate) is the principal energy source of our cells. OUR BODIES NEED CARBS TO FUNCTION NORMALLY.
Back to the Question
Knowing this, all carbs must be good, right? Not exactly. As I said, not all carbs are created equally. Some carbs, such as those from black beans, are naturally combined with vitamins, minerals, and, most importantly, fiber, which prevents those carbs from being absorbed too quickly. Other carbs, such as those in candy bars and other ultra-processed foods, are just sugars added into the mix of a food product that is devoid of nutrients and fiber. The carbs in these foods are absorbed by our bodies quickly. It is this rapid absorption that leads to a host of metabolic derangements that can eventually lead to diseases such as type 2 diabetes. This is in stark contrast to the slow absorption of carbs in foods such as black beans, which provides the body with the glucose it needs while avoiding all these problems.
To summarize, ultra-processed foods are exceedingly unhealthy, and you now know one reason why. Foods such as black beans, which are whole, plant-based foods, are exceedingly healthy, and you now know one reason why. All whole, plant-based foods are also tremendously healthy for the same reasons.
What are whole, plant-based foods? Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds.
Practical Application
Following the reasoning outlined in this piece:
Our bodies expend the energy to make insulin so that carbohydrates can be utilized as the primary fuel source for our cells. Since healthy carbohydrates are found in abundance in whole plant foods, these are the types of foods that our bodies were designed to eat the most of.
Need more convincing?
There was a study called the BROAD study (click here for link to article). This study looked at the effects on body weight of allowing people to eat AS MUCH as they wanted of a whole food, plant-based diet. Yes, you read that correctly. The study participants were allowed to eat as much as they wanted—calories were not restricted. And even when eating as many whole, plant foods as they wanted, they still had significant weight loss. This is remarkably empowering knowledge.
So, please enjoy your good carbs, the ones from whole plant foods, and rest easy knowing that they are truly good for your health and your weight.
If you’re interested in bringing this type of message to a wider audience, I speak regularly on topics related to health and wellness. You can learn more about my talks at https://stevepiriano.life/speaking/
I also explore similar topics more deeply in my books, which you can find at https://stevepiriano.life/books/ if you’d like to dive in.
