Can eating high glycemic foods such as bananas, carrots, pasta, baked potatos, orange juice, bread, and cereals really make you fat? That all depends how much of these foods you eat, what you eat them with, and at what time of day you eat them. High glycemic carbs cause blood sugar to rise at a faster rate, and to stay high for longer periods. This signals your body to secrete insulin to lower blood sugar to normal levels. All the excess sugar then gets stored in the fat cells, which in turn prevents fat burning. So any time you eat a large amount of high glycemic carbs in one sitting you are training your body to become a fat storage machine. But there are other factors that affect how quickly your blood sugar rises. Pay close attention to all the following variables and you can still eat these foods and lose weight.

Balance Your Meal
The glycemic index was calculated by feeding test subjects one food at a time but the rate of absorption of a high g.i. carb is drastically slowed down by fat and protein. So the key is to balance the meal by combining it with some fat and protein. This gives you more control over the insulin response and the amount of sugar that gets stored as fat.

Pay Attention to Individual Response
Different individuals have different responses. Some people are able to process excess carbs with no problem and others unfortunately are insulin resistant or diabetic. It is estimated that 25% of the population is insulin resistant. If you are the type of person who gains weight even when you're eating the right foods then moderation and combination are going to be the key to weightloss. Try cutting back on those types of carbs and when you do eat them combine with protein and fat to slow down the rate of absoprtion and prevent an insulin response.

Restrict to Certain Times
Time of day also plays a big role in how food is absorbed. High glycemic meals eaten earlier in the day will produce less of an insulin spike than if eaten later in the day. While eating a low g.i. meal earlier in the day improves your glucose tolerance to subsequent meals. You may want to try eating high glycemic carbs for breakfast and lunch and sticking to lower g.i. foods later in the day.

Take Advantage of Exercise
One study found that "A single bout of exercise improves insulin resistance for a day or so. Exercise depletes liver and muscle glycogen stores and so these tissues more rapidly take up blood sugar after exercise in order to replenish their glycogen stores. When people are sedentary their muscle glycogen stores are so full they resist the action of insulin because they have no use for blood sugar when their glycogen stores are full and they are not moving." Think of exercise as a solution and a way to be able to eat all the foods you love. Plan for 1 hour of exercise 4 times a week or 10 minute bursts of exercise 3 times a day every day of the week. Check out the 2 day a week strength training program that you can do at home.

High Glycemic Carbs:
carrots, golden grahams, bagels, corn chips, watermelon, honey, mashed potatoes, bran flakes, cream of wheat, cheerios, bread stuffing mix, saltines, doughnuts, french fries, grape nuts flakes, jelly beans, frozen waffles, rice cakes, rice krispies, pretzels, baked potato, instant rice, french bread, dates

Moderately High Glycemic Carbs:
brown rice, oatmeal cookies, popcorn, sweet corn, white rice, pita bread, mini shredded wheats, bran muffin, cheese pizza, ice cream, quaker chewy granola bars, macaroni and cheese, raisins, stoned wheat thins, whole wheat bread, melba toast

Low Glycemic Foods:
Low-fat yogurt, artificially sweetened, peanuts, plums, grapefruit, peaches, dried apricots, soy milk, fat-free milk, apples, pears, whole wheat spaghetti, tomato soup, apple juice, all bran cereal, canned chickpeas, oranges, canned pinto beans, lentil soup, long grain rice, parboiled rice, green peas, lowfat ice cream, kiwi, banana, 100% stoneground whole wheat bread

Sample Meal
If you wanted to eat a high g.i. carb like frozen waffles for breakfast the best thing to do would be to combine with turkey bacon which has both fat and protein or you could eat it with a little butter and 2 scrambled eggs. Just remember the word balance at every meal and you'll be setting your body up for continous weightloss.

Recommended Reading: The New Glucose Revolution: The Authoritative Guide to the Glycemic Index--the Dietary Solution for Lifelong Health

• A clear argument for why our bodies need carbohydrates and the benefits of low-GI foods
• Brand-new coverage of the glycemic load and its significance and daily application
• Fifty all-new, delicious, and easy-to-prepare recipes with complete nutritional information
• Comprehensive, up-to-date tables of glycemic index values for almost 800 individual foods—a nearly threefold increase over the first edition—and, completely new to this edition, glycemic load values—material unavailable to readers anywhere else
• Answers to the most frequently asked questions about carbohydrates and the glycemic index