Look both ways as you approach this green light!

Most dairy products have a low GI — including yogurt, some puddings, and even ice cream.  They contain both protein and  fat, which slow down digestion so that you don’t have the big sugar dump and insulin flood.  Beware, though, that they do contain more calories and can move pretty quickly from low to high glycemic by eating too much.  One dip of ice cream, for example, is low glycemic. Two dips moves it into high.

So should you eat ice cream?  Sometimes.  Suppose you are at a birthday party and your hosts are serving (what else?) ice cream and cake.  If you pass on the cake and take just one dip of ice cream you have successfully navigated the party. If, however, you are feeling depressed and eat half a carton of double chocolate chip, you have just given yourself a set-back.

A cheese stick can be a good snack to keep blood sugar from bottoming out and energy levels up.  A couple of ounces of cheese on your lunch salad will be filling and make your salad feel more like a meal.  A grilled cheese sandwich, however, won’t have the same effect!

Most dairy products, including:

Milk

Butter

Yogurt

Cheese

Ice Cream (one scoop)

Instant pudding (1/8  of a package, prepared)