All About the Glycemic Index Diet
Obesity has become a prominent health concern in today's society, posing a challenge to the many food lovers out there.
As people became increasingly prone to weight gain, so did weight loss strategies, becoming more refined and diverse, catering to different weight loss needs and conditions.
Several diets have popped in the market, each centering on a different mechanism for losing the extra fat.
One such diet is the GI, or glycemic index diet.
The glycemic index is a measure of the impact of carbohydrate intake on blood sugar levels.
Foods rich in easily digestible carbohydrates cause the rapid release of sugar into the blood circulation.
These foods have high glycemic indices.
In the same manner, foods which are harder to break down cause sugar to be released much slowly, giving them low glycemic indices.
The GI or glycemic index diet bases food intake on a person's blood sugar levels.
Foods are classified according to their glycemic index, encouraging one to avoid certain types of carbohydrates such as potatoes, refined rice or bread, and pasta.
In this manner, it doesn't require smaller portions of food or low-carbohydrate foods, but instead focuses on the quality of food you eat.
The diet works because foods with high GI cause a sudden increase in available energy in the blood stream, making the body utilize this blood sugar first before using body fat stores.
This energy rush is also temporary, leading to starvation soon after and urging one to eat.
By avoiding high GI foods, one can prevent these problems from occurring.
In the same manner, food cravings are lessened because the energy is released gradually from the food.
The glycemic index diet is also believed to help prevent certain health conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension, from occurring by stabilizing blood sugar levels and preventing insulin resistance.
In the glycemic index diet, carbohydrate-containing foods are rated on a scale of 0 to 100.
There is a wide array of rankings of common foods in online and published references.
The scoring system is as follows:
However, results from studies are mixed, with some claiming that it is more effective in weight loss than traditional diets while some claim that there is no difference between the two.
Nevertheless, GI diet remains as one of the most popular and easiest dieting strategies which can very easily be integrated into the long-term.
As people became increasingly prone to weight gain, so did weight loss strategies, becoming more refined and diverse, catering to different weight loss needs and conditions.
Several diets have popped in the market, each centering on a different mechanism for losing the extra fat.
One such diet is the GI, or glycemic index diet.
The glycemic index is a measure of the impact of carbohydrate intake on blood sugar levels.
Foods rich in easily digestible carbohydrates cause the rapid release of sugar into the blood circulation.
These foods have high glycemic indices.
In the same manner, foods which are harder to break down cause sugar to be released much slowly, giving them low glycemic indices.
The GI or glycemic index diet bases food intake on a person's blood sugar levels.
Foods are classified according to their glycemic index, encouraging one to avoid certain types of carbohydrates such as potatoes, refined rice or bread, and pasta.
In this manner, it doesn't require smaller portions of food or low-carbohydrate foods, but instead focuses on the quality of food you eat.
The diet works because foods with high GI cause a sudden increase in available energy in the blood stream, making the body utilize this blood sugar first before using body fat stores.
This energy rush is also temporary, leading to starvation soon after and urging one to eat.
By avoiding high GI foods, one can prevent these problems from occurring.
In the same manner, food cravings are lessened because the energy is released gradually from the food.
The glycemic index diet is also believed to help prevent certain health conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension, from occurring by stabilizing blood sugar levels and preventing insulin resistance.
In the glycemic index diet, carbohydrate-containing foods are rated on a scale of 0 to 100.
There is a wide array of rankings of common foods in online and published references.
The scoring system is as follows:
- High GI (70 and above) - include refined rice, white bread, and potatoes
- Medium GI (56 to 69) - include corn, bananas, pineapple
- Low GI (55 and below) - include raw fruits such as apple and grapefruit, beans
However, results from studies are mixed, with some claiming that it is more effective in weight loss than traditional diets while some claim that there is no difference between the two.
Nevertheless, GI diet remains as one of the most popular and easiest dieting strategies which can very easily be integrated into the long-term.
