Healthy Weight Loss Foods

The assortment of foods we eat are first physically broken down by chewing and then chemically broken down by saliva in the mouth and by stomach juices, till it can be dissolved in the blood stream and transported to and assimilated by the cells. Food is transformed into materials that can build new cells or repair damaged cells and into energy that keeps the whole life maintaining process in action and what isn't needed is either stored as fat or excreted.

Broadly speaking, food consists of Proteins, Dietary Fats, Carbohydrates, Fibre and Micro Nutrients.

Proteins are broken down into amino acids which the body uses to make new cells and repair damaged cells. If there is no immediate need for all of the amino acids, some will be kept circulating in the blood stream ready for emergencies while others will be converted to a type of simple sugar to provide more energy or is converted into fatty acids and then stored in fat cells.

Dietary Fats are broken down into fatty acids and glycerol and transported via the bloodstream and lymphatic system for a variety of uses. Some is used for energy and extras are stored as fat.

Carbohydrates provide us with our major source of energy. Our bodies are able to convert carbohydrates into glucose (body fuel) more easily than from any other substance. This provides us with most of our energy. If we have too much glucose from the carbohydrates, some is converted into glycogen and stored in the muscles or liver ready for emergencies while the rest is stored in fat cells.

If the body needs energy in a hurry it will first convert what glycogen it has into glucose and then starts work on the fat reserves in the fat cells to turn them into energy (although before that happens we tend to have already eaten more carbohydrates which are already turning into glucose so the fat tends to stay put).

Calories aren't a food substance, they are a measure of the amount of energy a certain amount of a certain type of food can give our bodies. The idea is that if you eat more calories than you use up, you will store the rest as fat. Counting calories can help you lose weight but it is not the best way to select healthy weight loss foods.

High glucose levels in your blood stream have bad effects on a number of your bodily functions. The body knows this and so produces insulin to convert the excess partly into glycogen and the rest into fatty acids to be stored in fat cells.

The fact is, if you are eating foods that produce high blood sugar (glucose) beyond your bodies need, you will get fat!

The Glycemic Index (G.I.) measures how quickly carbohydrates turn into glucose. Foods that are high on the Glycemic Index produce a lot of glucose very quickly in the bloodstream (good for an active athlete on the run but not everyone else). The body then has to produce insulin to convert the glucose to glycogen and fatty acids and stores some as fat, then you feel hungry again and want to eat more. Low G.I. foods digest slowly and provide energy over a longer time frame so you don't get hungry and want to eat more and you don't end up storing more fat, but the G.I. is still not the best way to choose the best weight loss foods.

The Glycemic Load (G.L.) uses the G.I. with a more usable eatable size portion. When you apply it to a good variety of foods it is an excellent way to help you choose good healthy weight loss foods that digest slowly. You don't feel hungry, you have enough energy and you are storing less fat.

Foods with a G.L. less than 10 are great and between 10 and 20 are ok (try and avoid greater than 20) and will give you energy and stop you storing fat. Add the right exercise program like P.A.C.E. which burns fat and builds muscle and you are well on the way to a new slim and healthy you.

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