High Fiber Foods: Delicious Grains and Legumes

Eating high fiber foods is one of the most significant food choices you can make to have optimum health and stay slender. It is good for your digestion and good for weight management. Fiber rich foods lower cholesterol and stabilize blood sugar. They help prevent colon cancer, constipation, hemorrhoids and other disorders. Fiber helps to remove toxic metals from the body. It is because of the modern refining process of foods that removes most of the natural fiber, that most Americans do not get enough in their diets. This is one of the primary reasons for diseases related to obesity...eating too many highly processed, refined foods.

What are all the high fiber foods that belong on a low glycemic food list?

Any whole grain will have a lower glycemic index than highly refined grains. Nuts and seeds, sprouted grains, all beans and legumes, and of course fresh fruits and vegetables.

Although brown rice is one of the high fiber foods it is high glycemic. When eaten with vegetables and meat, eggs or fish, the glycemic index is reduced. Texture matters so be sure not to overcook it. Eating no more than 1/2 cup in the morning or for your mid day meal should not be a problem.

However, white rice, especially when it's sticky should not be eaten on a low glycemic plan. The only exception would be rice with high amylose content. Amylose is not listed on the label but when rice is chilled it has amylose content. Quinoa, a high protein, South American grain, is always low glycemic and a better choice. Grains and legumes are a wonderful substitute for red meat as well because combined they make a complete protein.

There are many interesting, flavorful ways to serve these high fiber foods like a black bean salad with olive oil, chopped cilantro, tomatoes, minced garlic, chopped chives, a little salt and some low glycemic quinoa. When you add another raw vegetable or green leafy salad with feta cheese you have a complete meal. Beans are not only high in fiber they are high in protein and contain folate, iron, zinc and vitamin B1. They are low in fat and contain no cholesterol. Beans add nutrition to your diet and they are filling. They are a perfect food to add to your low glycemic eating plan to maintain fat loss.

Legumes

Legumes are fiber rich foods and are a good source of choline which is important for cardiovascular health. Lecithin is a fatty acid, a type of lipid, and it is derived from soybeans. It is composed mostly of the B vitamin choline and contains linoleic acid and inositol. I mention it here because it helps in the digestion of fats and the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins. It enables fats, such as cholesterol to be removed from the body. You can buy lecithin in granular form as a whole food supplement in the refrigerator of your natural foods market. Since it helps clean your arteries and it supports your nerves and brain function, it is a healthy way to boost the nutrition of your cereal in the morning! Try a tablespoon of lecithin along with your flaxseed meal.

Lentils are high fiber foods and a good source of folate, manganese, protein, vitamin B1 and potassium. According to Dr. La Puma, lentils have the second highest amount of any plant protein except soybeans and they reduce the risk of prostate cancer. They are incredibly delicious if they are cooked properly.

High Fiber Low Glycemic Whole Grains

Resistant Starch

Most commercial rice is high glycemic, especially the white rice available here in the U.S. that is usually industrially refined and lacking in essential nutrients. Asians who eat rice as a staple and have low body fat also eat their rice with protein (which reduces the high glycemic response) and lots of low glycemic vegetables.

Most rice is high glycemic due to the type of starch found in the grain. Parboiled high amylose rice has the lowest glycemic index. This is what Dr. La Puma says about amylose: "Resistant starch is called resistant because like dietary fiber it 'resists' digestion in the small intestine. It stays there longer and you feel fuller. It's made up of the amylose molecule. Amylose is digested in the colon, farther downstream -not in the stomach or the small intestine. It actually helps protect the colon, once it is digested. Resistant starch has barely 1 calorie per gram, not four, like regular starch."

This is a very important way you can make sure the rice you are eating is low glycemic. Apparently, when it is chilled, just like in potatoes, the cooling creates resistant starch which does not raise blood sugar levels. In Chef MD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine it says that researchers in Japan discovered that adding vinegar to sushi rice also decreases the glycemic index of rice by 20 - 35%. So, eating sushi or rice rolls are another way to enjoy this versatile, nutritious grain.

Brown Rice Recipe

When consuming high fiber foods, as I said before limit your consumption of brown rice to 1/2 cup a day and serve with low glycemic vegetables and a little meat of your choice. Brown rice takes about 45 min. to cook. You need 1 1/2 cups of water to a cup of rice. Bring the water to a boil, add the rice, put the lid on and turn it down to a simmer. To reduce the glycemic response of cooked rice, make sure it's not clumped and "sticky." Cooked rice should be dry with the grains separate and not refined. Check the rice often and better yet, use a rice cooker. A rice cooker will ensure that your rice has a lower glycemic index.

Glycemic Index List of Foods

The glycemic index list of foods includes foods that lower blood sugar and help you to lose fat!

Controlling Food Cravings

Controlling food cravings means that you need to avoid the high glycemic foods on these lists! High glycemic sugars in foods stimulate the appetite and lead to food cravings.

List of Raw Foods

This list of raw foods contains fruits and vegetables that are a powerhouse of nutrients and they are low glycemic, meaning you can eat as much of them as you desire!

Omega 3 Sources in Healthy Salads

Low Glycemic Foods: Super Healthy Whole Grains

Eating lots of super healthy low glycemic foods means that you are once and for all replacing the fat storing high glycemic carbs in your diet with the low glycemic complex carbohydrates....

Low Carb Pastas and Cereals

Great news for pasta lovers....you don't need low carb pasta because pasta is low glycemic!

Good Fats

Calcium Rich Foods

Taking a look at dairy products and just how these calcium rich foods affect the glycemic index chart...

Sugar Free Desserts and the Good Sugars

Sugar free desserts that taste good? Is a sugar free dessert a low glycemic recipe? Yes!

Soups, Oriental Cuisine, Protein Foods

Glycemic Load

Too much of a good thing can be a glycemic load and definitely high glycemic foods are a glycemic load.

Acidic Foods and High Glycemic Sweeteners

Any list of acidic foods will have sodas at the top of the list. These drinks are high glycemic and fat storing drinks!

High Glycemic Foods

Here are more high glycemic foods that need to be avoided most of the time in order to maintain your fat loss.

Reading Food Labels

Find out where the fat traps are hidden! This is what leads to obesity and insulin resistance....

Food Lovers Diet

Food lovers can celebrate good food and manage their weight at the same time!