Pasta is a great dinner, except that it could leave you craving for sweets in the late hours of the night. That’s because certain foods, such as refined carbs, are high on the glycemic index (GI).

GI indicates how slowly or how fast a food causes increase in blood sugar levels. High-GI foods release glucose into your bloodstream and lead to blood sugar spikes. But the spike flattens quickly, and the rise and fall of glucose levels causes energy crashes and intensified sweet cravings.

So dine on low-GI foods, which release glucose slowly and steadily.

• Low GI foods: Green vegetables, most fruits, raw carrots, kidney beans, chickpeas, lentils and bran breakfast cereals.

• Medium GI foods: Sweet corn, bananas, raw pineapple, raisins, oat breakfast cereals, and multigrain, oat bran or rye bread.

• High GI foods: White rice, white bread and potatoes.

Model: Aradhya Riya Sinharoy

Hair & Make-up: Monty Adhikary

Photo: Baban Mukherjee

Information courtesy: www.livestrong.com; www.mayoclinic.org