Hunger Control : Why you should love beans and lentils

Following my post from yesterday I brushed up on Glycemic Index and why it matters to diabetics / beating diabetes and managing weight. The whole concept is based, at a deep level, to manage the glucose in your body. Foods with High Glycemic Index dissolve quickly. Glucose = 100 GI, and table sugar = 69 GI.
Now compare these :
White Rice = 89 GI
Wheat bread (white or whole) = 71 GI
Black Beans = 30 GI
Chickpeas = 10 GI
(source : Harvard Medical School)
Wheat and Rice dissolve faster in your blood than sugar. This gives your body a sugar RUSH followed by a sugar CRASH. For a diabetic already struggling to manage sugar levels this is a nightmare for his body. For both diabetics and weight loss patients; the sugar crash will leave you wanting to eat more food. Eat same no. of calories with low GI foods and you will need to eat again after longer time periods. Amazing !
So, for lunch, don't just have a salad, have a chickpea salad; it will fill you up more and it will last in your tummy longer. Make a chickpea tikki or creative lentil dishes to find ways to eat more of these and less wheat and rice. Try and make it tasty. I don't want you to feel bad for eating new foods, it should be awesome and do something that will excite your taste buds. Boiled chickpeas are a good substitute for potato. Also add to salads or veg kabab's. So much you can do, but start eating them 2x/day (or more) to really increase your calories intake proportion from low GI foods :)