Anyone who has considered dieting has come across low carbohydrate diets.  These diets, although not 100% good for you, have educated many people on the Glycemic Index.  The increased awareness of the Glycemic Index IS good for you.  Knowing what foods are rated low, medium, and high can make a big difference in regulating ones energy levels, alertness, general feeling of healthiness, contolling annoying maladies such as headaches, gastro-intestinal distress and more. 

The Glycemic Index ranks carbohydrates by their effect on blood sugar levels.

Low GI foods such as All-Bran breakfast cereal, oatmeal, beans, sweet potato, banana, yogurt will cause small fluctuations in blood sugar levels because they take a longer time to digest.  These small fluctuations are key in maintaining a healthy weight and feeling your best. 

High GI foods such as white bread, cornflakes, instant rice, white potato, cookies will cause sudden spikes in blood sugar only to leave you feeling lethargic and may even give you a headache after ingestion. 

Although sometimes high glycemic foods are necessary, for example after intense exercise for rapid refueling of expended carbohydrates, a constant balance among the food rankings is best to fend off heart disease and diabetes.

Try to become familiar with low, medium, and high glycemic foods.  Make mental notes on how you feel after eating them.  With low glycemic foods, you may not notice anything for approximately 4 hours.  The high glycemic foods may give you a sudden rush of energy within an hour only to leave you feeling down and depressed after a couple of hours.  It is important to be aware of how your body reacts to different foods in order to feel at your best throughout the day and to sleep better at night.

The following recipe is called "Crab Rotini" and it uses Glycemic Health 8 Whole Grain Pasta

You can purchase healthy pastas from local stores such as Hannafords or natural foods stores such as Peters Cornucopia.

Crab Rotini  - Serves 6 – 8 *Based upon a recipe in Cookingclub.com

• 12 oz (1 box) Racconto Pasta
• 1/4 cup + 1 TBS Olive oil
• 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, chopped
• 1/3 cup sliced black olives
• 3 – 4 sun dried tomatoes, packed in oil - chopped
• 1 TBS Italian Seasoning
• 2 TBS fresh chopped basil
• 12 oz Premium Crab meat
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 4 to 6 0z Feta Cheese – crumbled

Cook the pasta according to the box directions, drain and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large pan and, when hot, add the tomatoes, olives, sun dried tomatoes, seasoning, and basil.  Cook for about 5 minutes over medium high heat.

Add the crab meat, lemon, salt and pepper and cook on SIMMER (reduce the heat) until hot.  This will take about  2 minutes. 

Put pasta into a serving bowl and pour the crab mixture with all the juices over the top. Top with the crumbled feta.