Dining Out on a Low Sugar Glycemic Index Diet

If you are on a low sugar glycemic index plan, dining out clearly provide some hurdles and challenges.  However, rest assured, as there are ways to work around these problems.  It would be nice if we could cook every meal and home and know exactly what is going into our food. However, there are times that we must dine out due to business travel or unexpected circumstances.  Yet, there are strategies that you can use to reduce some of the worry that comes with eating out that will still allow you to maintain your low sugar glycemic index goals.


Many of us are natural born procrastinators and planning ahead may prove to be a challenge.  That stated, however, a little planning ahead makes it possible to dine out and still eat low GI foods.  One way to do so is learn in advance what restaurants serve meals that meet your low sugar glycemic index requirements.  Much of this work can be done by simply visiting the websites of restaurants in advance and studying their menus.  Once you know what restaurants and what meals are safe, you have won half the battle.  By doing this “homework” in advance, you will have a pretty good approximate idea of what foods you can and cannot eat.

Sugar and white flour are junk food that will cause your glucose levels to rise.  Unfortunately, these are two very widely used ingredients in both fast food restaurants and other restaurants.  Combating this fact can be tricky as it means that deciphering the sugar glycemic index of a given dish on a menu might devolve into guesswork.  One way to combat this factor is to select foods that have less potential for hidden ingredients.  For example, you could pick a vegetable stir-fry but ask for sauce on the side.  There would be a low chance that high sugar glycemic index ingredients could hide in just vegetables.

Some aspects of dining out can clearly be tricky.  But one of the best moves you can make toward staying low on the GI is to avoid the obvious pitfalls.  For example, sugary desserts are clearly going to impact one’s glucose level.  Unless a piece of cake is clearly labeled “sugar-free,” the odds are extremely good that your desert will have white sugar and be a high sugar glycemic index choice.


A good overall strategy for dining out is to be very proactive in your dining choices and decisions.  Part of being able to take this proactive posture is to have a decent rough knowledge of the foods you can eat on a low sugar glycemic index diet.  By doing so, you will know what foods on a menu look to be problematic.  Armed with this information, one can go a long way toward avoiding high GI foods.

Also don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions and also don’t be shy about telling a restaurant that you are trying to eat low sugar glycemic index foods due to your blood sugar levels.  If you ask for help, the odds are great that you will be given a good deal of information about your food and a straight answer about its ingredients.  This strategies along with avoiding major red flags like white flour and sugar should greatly increase your odds of avoiding high sugar glycemic index foods while dining out.

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