The Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies (50 page)

Apples
should be firm and smooth with no bruises or soft spots.

Asparagus
should be firm and brightly green for nearly the entire length of each stalk.

Bananas
should be yellow with a slight green color. Avoid bananas with black freckles or obvious bruising.

Broccoli
should have a dark green color and be tightly bunched together. Avoid broccoli that's turning yellow.

Cantaloupes
should have a yellow or golden background color, not a green one (green is too underripe for flavor). The stem area is slightly soft when the fruit is ripe.

Nectarines
should have an orange-yellow-red color and feel slightly soft but not too soft. Skip ones with major soft spots or bruising.

Oranges
should be round and uniform in appearance. Pass over any with white mold at the ends.

Salad greens
should be crisp and not overly soft or wilted.

Watermelons
tend to make a sloshing sound when they're overripe, so give the one you're looking at a small shake as a test.

Reading Nutrition Facts Labels

Even though you can't find a food's glycemic index or load on its packaging, the ever-present nutrition facts label is a valuable tool for finding the best low-glycemic choices as well as the best foods for weight loss. Knowing what to look for on the label can make life easier for you as you navigate the grocery store aisles.

If you aren't used to reading a nutrition facts label, deciphering that text may seem like a daunting task. Never fear. In the sections that follow, I give you the information you need to understand nutrition facts labels and cover how to determine whether the foods you're looking at are low-glycemic.

Examining the nutrition facts label

Following a low-glycemic diet for weight loss means you must look at the whole picture of the foods you eat. Determining that a particular food is low-glycemic is only half of the equation. You also need to masure that food is both healthy and low in calories. The nutrition facts label gives you all the info you need to know to make an informed choice. Following are the basics on what a standard nutrition facts label in the United States covers, plus a few tips to help you find the best products:

Portion size:
How many portions are in the package. Portion size is one of the most important things to look at first because it means the rest of the information you find on the label is based on that specific portion size. So if the package says there are two servings and the calorie level is 100, then you'll end up with 200 calories if you eat the whole package.

The information on a nutrition facts label can be very deceiving if you don't pay attention to portion size. I remember being with my sister once when she picked up a couple presumably healthy cookies at the health-food store. We got in the car and each gobbled down a cookie after only glancing at the label. We both felt unusually full afterward and decided to look at the label again. The cookie was 120 calories per serving, and there were eight servings per cookie!