Get off your Diet

If you have ever been on a diet, then you understand all too well that weight loss and keeping the weight off is a complicated matter. Most diets consist of counting calories, carbs and fats with the hope of finding that thinner you.  If you really want to maintain health and wellness through a lifestyle change then you should consider the glycemic index (GI).  This is essentially a measure of how quickly foods are digested.

A recent study from the Journal of the American Medical Association compared the low-carb, low-fat and low-glycemic diets to see which one burned the most calories.  The low-carb diet won by a landslide and the low-fat diet was the clear loser. When asked which diet was the most realistic and easier to stick to for the long term it was the diet in the middle, the low-glycemic method.  In addition, many of the health complications, associated with the low-carb diet were not of concern. Keep in mind that your body needs carbs and your brain runs on glucose. Not eating carbs may take the weight off, but at the risk of a potential inflammation response and becoming irritable from the lack of glucose. Diets that suggest an excessive restriction of calories can also cause irritability much like low carb diets.

High glycemic foods cause a chain reaction in your body’s chemistry starting with a spike in blood sugar, poor insulin production and a release of hormones that stimulate hunger.  According to David Ludwig of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center at Boston Children’s Hospital, high glycemic foods actually lower metabolism making weight loss extremely difficult.   Ludwig says “As the body loses weight, it becomes more efficient and requires fewer calories,” making continuous dieting a downward spiral leading to failure.  Some estimate that as much as 90% of dieters gain the weight back.

Low glycemic foods have a large fiber content, taking longer to digest than their high GI counterparts. The additional fiber has a time release effect on sugar, which burns more calories and stops an insulin spike.  It’s important to understand that many of the minerals needed in insulin production are not produced within the body.  If the quality of your insulin is poor, it will be unable to escort sugar to working muscle.  If the muscle cannot accept the sugar, then it must turn to fat regardless of the number of calories your eating.

Examples of High Glycemic Foods.

·         White rice                                                          

·         White bread

·         Gatorade

·         Soda

·         Most crackers

·         Other packaged items

Examples of Low Glycemic Foods.

·         Beans

·         Nuts

·         Whole grain pasta

·         Steel cut oats

·         Yams

·         Most vegetables

Low fat and low carb diets may work in the short term, but research suggests there are numerous health concerns associated with these methods. Adopting the well rounded approach of the low-gylcemic diet does require some effort and understanding about food combinations, but it’s the only course that’s based on real science that promotes optimal health.  Maintaining true health and stopping the country’s trend of obesity is the priority.