Whelehans pharmacys aisling murray foods that keep you fuller for longer

Healthy Eating with Aisling Murray from Whelehans Pharmacy

Foods that keep you fuller for longer

How your blood sugar levels affect you

When you go for a long period without eating, your blood sugar levels can drop, causing you to feel potentially shaky, weak and nauseous. Low blood sugar levels will affect your concentration, energy levels and mood. Apart from stopping you from functioning at your best in the short-term, sharp fluctuations in blood sugar levels can affect your long-term health. Research shows that people who eat a lot of sugary foods have a greater risk of developing type 2 Diabetes and heart disease.

Carbohydrates such as sugars and starch help determine your blood sugar levels. The effect of sugars from sweets, biscuits and chocolate is unhelpful because they are quickly absorbed into the bloodstream and cause a rapid rise in your blood sugar levels followed by a rapid drop. The effect of starch from bread, pasta, rice, cereals, beans and lentils is more helpful. These take longer to break down and are more steadily absorbed by your body. This means they are better for keeping your blood sugar levels stable over a longer period.

Glycaemic Index

GI stands for Glycemic Index and is a measure of the impact of food on your blood sugar. Foods with a high GI will raise your body's blood sugar levels quickly; by contrast foods with a low GI will raise them more slowly and over a longer period.

Eating lots of high GI foods has two disadvantages:

1)      The rush of energy given by high GI foods does not last and is soon followed by an energy lull. So you get hungry and want to eat more.

2)      After eating high GI foods you will have a lot of readily available energy in your blood. Your body will use this energy first rather then other stores of energy like body fat. This makes it harder to loose weight.

Aim for foods that have a low or moderate GI count, such as oats, pulses and wholemeal varieties of bread and rice.

To be continued…next week I will discuss more on low GI food and how they keep you fuller for longer and help keep weight down

Whelehans Nutrition Service

Whelehans nutritional service is a private one to one advice service with our nutritionist Aisling Murray. Aisling’s areas of interest include weight loss management, nutrition education and food intolerance. Our nutrition service offers you the chance to change your life in a positive way by focusing on your overall wellbeing as well as the chance to follow up on your progress.

 

Aisling Murray has a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and offers a one to one specialist nutrition service at Whelehans Pharmacy. Call Whelehans at 04493 34591 for an appointment