Great Habit of Eating Low Glycemic Foods

by Mehra
(India)

Low GI was taught to me by my beloved mother

My low GI diet helps me look younger than my age. I owe this to my mother who brought me up in such a way that I was able to see the difference between good and junk food.

I have a natural liking for a traditional, balanced diet now and can rarely be satisfied with junk food- burgers looking too white and artificial, restaurant food generally being too greasy etc.

When I lived with my family I was obliged to eat the healthy meals that tasted great too. Born and brought up in a village in a big, joint family set-up, the value of good food was taught to my mother by her mother, aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpas.

It was inculcated in her, that using fresh and healthy ingredients would make you fit, so that you would have the energy to help the elderly, as well as to do your work properly. Her way of thinking did not change even when she had to settle in a modern town with her husband and two children, me and my sister. She made it a routine to cook us healthy and balanced meals, with all the essential ingredients to provide us with enough energy, nutrition and immunity towards illnesses.

Chana dal, rajma, peanuts, milk, black beans, vermicelli, tomatoes, barley, curd, spinach and leafy greens, cabbage, radish, eggplant, onions, cauliflower etc. were found in our weekly menu. She used to cook with much less oil than others and basmati rice was used once per week.

Looking back now, I wonder how she knew about the glycemic index, it was weird for a village woman with not much school education to use low GI ingredients most of the time.

Our way of eating was certainly very different to the way people ate in my in-laws house which I moved in after getting married. They did not know the value of healthy food and they went only for oily food, which they considered tasty. For me, oily and sugary food has been unpalatable since my childhood. I changed their habits slowly and they cook much healthier foods now, I don’t know how I would be feeling if I continued eating what they used to eat.

It is interesting how you lose your tolerance level towards bad foods after a while. It is all a matter of teaching yourself, step by step and in a short time it becomes a habit, a great habit actually.