Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Give Your Fried Chicken a Date

We have learned about Deadly Whites and questionable food choices.  Today, let's look at what good food choices would be.

First, let's look at a measurement called the Glycemic Index (GI), a techinical term for how fast a food will raise your blood sugar.  Our bodies have to maintain our blood sugar between 70 and 140.  If it rises above 140 it can damage the brain and nervous system.  Of course, our bodies don't want that to happen, so the pancreas produces insulin to bring the sugar level back down.  Insulin removes the sugar from the blood and stores it as FAT.  

That means our goal in controlling body weight must be to control insulin production.  If we control insulin production, then we control fat production.  To do that, we need to avoid foods that spike blood sugar, which brings us back to the GI.

The GI rates foods against a standard food that is given the value of 100, and that food is pure glucose.  Baked white potatoes have an index of 111, higher than glucose.  Yes, white potatoes spikes your blood sugar faster than pure glucose does!  So if you are like most Americans and the Deadly Whites predominate your diet, then potatoes are first to go.

White rice has an index of 89 and though lower than glucose it is higher than sugar.  It needs to be limited to the 20% side of the 80/20 rule.

Not on the list of Deadly Whites but equally bad is High Fructose Corn Syrup, or Corn Sugar, which is a term used in an attempt to separate their product from the bad press that it's deservedly getting.  It is made from genetically modified corn, what I call a Franken-food.  It has an index of 87 and that is higher than table sugar.  

White flour, which is made from wheat, has an index of 80.  If you are trying to control weight, then white flour and "wheat flour", which is white flour with food coloring and "dietary fiber" added, are things that need to go.


Next on the list would be sugar with its index of 80.  Of course, this means that doughnuts are definitely off the list for our daily breakfast!

What CAN we eat?

This chart can show you what's ideal


I have AWESOME news!  Pasta is a LOW GLYCEMIC FOOD!!!  Substitute potatoes and rice with pasta, but no more than one serving per day.

Next week we will discuss

Have a Normal and Healthy Date Night

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Go Ahead, You CAN Eat That Fried Chicken

Last week I wrote that avoiding grains, rice, sugar and potatoes is one of the keys to healthy eating. These foods are what I call the Deadly Whites.

So, am I saying that you should restrict yourself exclusively to grilled meat and vegetables?  Not really.  I recommend the 80/20 rule, which means that if you make good food choices 80% of the time your body should be able to handle bad food choices the other 20% of the time.  So, if you eat three times per day then you will eat 21 times in a week.  If in that week you eat 17 good meals, your body can handle 4 questionable meals.

Now, that does not mean that you can eat chocolate sandwiches with mashed potatoes 4 times a week!  But using the above information to your benefit, you can have comfort food.  Don't eat all four of the Deadly Whites at the same time or even on the same day.  That rules out pancakes, syrup, hash browns and Rice Krispies for Saturday breakfast, but you can have the pancakes and syrup! And Sunday afternoon, you can have fried chicken and mashed potatoes!  Then mid-week you could have some ice cream or eat Chinese food and enjoy the rice.


You might say, "Wait, Doc.  Did you say fried chicken?  What about all that grease?"  I'm so glad you asked.  You see, if properly prepared it will not have that much grease infiltrating the meat.  If the oil is hot when the chicken is dropped into it, the heat will immediately sear the breading and seal out the oil.  As the meat heats, the water in it begins to boil and the meat is steamed in its own juices.  The meat must be removed from the oil within 60 seconds of when the steam stops rising from the oil or the oil will infiltrate the meat.  So, if you eat chicken that is dried out and greasy, put it down, walk out the door and never go back!

So, come back next week and learn

How to Get Control of Your Western Appetite