Meri Reffetto

Following a low-glycemic diet for weight loss isn't about deprivation; it's about making better choices and swapping high-glycemic foods for ones that have a lower glycemic index or glycemic load. Once you get the hang of figuring out which foods are the best choices, you can easily shop, cook, and snack the low-glycemic way.

The glycemic index and glycemic load are all about choosing carbohydrate-containing foods wisely and putting them to work for you. These recipes are a good start to eating the low-glycemic way, which results in weight loss, more energy, and better health!Lemon Chicken Salad©Brent Hofacker/Shutterstock.com Chicken salad is a great low-glycemic lunch or dinner that you can pair with a tossed green salad, a slice of sourdough bread or some rye crackers.

Selecting low-glycemic foods rather than high-glycemic ones is always a good tactic for weight loss. As you begin to make some changes it can feel overwhelming, but your best bet is to take just a few steps forward by making small changes.Eat rice wisely.Choose the types of rice that offer a lower-glycemic load like brown rice, Uncle Ben’s converted white rice, or (if you can find it) Bangladesh rice.

Plenty of myths are floating around about the glycemic index these days. It seems like just about everyone knows something about it and is happy to tell you which foods to eat as well as which high-glycemic foods to avoid. The truth is that measuring the glycemic effect of foods is a highly precise and scientific process that requires specific testing.

Snacking can be an important strategy for regulating blood sugar levels. Just make sure the snacks you choose are healthy and have a low-glycemic load. Keep several of these low-glycemic snacks on hand and you won't find yourself munching on popcorn or crackers. Low-fat yogurt with a sprinkle of chopped nuts

Planning out healthy snacks is a solution to mindless grazing and waiting too long to eat. You may read this advice as a simple suggestion you've seen before, but it's a very important strategy and means the difference between staying stuck at a weight you don't like and seeing the results you're looking for. Carefully choosing your snacks will help you stick with your low-glycemic plan and save you hundreds of calories.

Eating a low-glycemic diet can help in the fight against heart disease. Heart disease takes many different forms, all of which affect the heart in different ways. The one common thread? If serious enough, any form of heart disease can interfere with your heart's life-sustaining pumping. One example of how the low-glycemic approach can help heart health relates to triglycerides.

Carbohydrates are a big topic in the world of weight loss and a glycemic index diet. Numerous diets call for modifying your carbohydrate intake in some way. The problem is, not all carbs are created equal, so you can't treat them equally. You've probably heard or read about simple versus complex carbohydrates, fiber content, white versus whole grain, and so on.

If you're not familiar with the class of foods known as legumes (which includes beans, lentils, and peas), you're missing out. The all-star legumes, beans, really have it all. Beans are low-glycemic, high-fiber, high-protein, and packed with important vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. These little foods are also very convenient to cook or add to a meal.