The Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies - Meri Raffetto [10]
Australia and Canada continue to be leaders in testing large numbers of foods to help consumers more easily choose low-glycemic foods. Australia started the GI Symbol Program in 2002 to clearly identify proven low-glycemic foods. Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom have approved the GI Symbol for use on food labels, making it easy to find low-glycemic foods in these countries. The United States has adopted a seal from an accredited testing organization; food companies can have their foods tested by the organization and can use the Low Glycemic Seal if their foods pass the test. For more information on this seal program, head to Chapter 10.
How Does the Glycemic Index Work for Weight Loss?
What does every traditional weight-loss diet have in common? Each one promotes its own twist on losing weight, but at the end they all come down to one truth — eat fewer calories. I'm not going to argue with that. Paying attention to the amount of calories you consume and increasing the number of calories you burn each day through exercise and just moving around is crucial for achieving and maintaining a healthy weight.
If counting calories was all you needed to do to lose weight, I could theoretically eat candy bars all day and lose weight as long as I kept under my daily calorie limit. However, there's more to weight loss than just counting calories. Choosing healthier foods that provide energy and promote a strong, fit body is just as important as sticking to a calorie goal.
The glycemic indis a tool you can use as part of your overall weight-control and healthy-eating strategies. Why? Because the glycemic index goes beyond calories; it encourages you to look at the way foods are digested and metabolized in your body and what impact that has on your body weight and how full you feel after eating. If biology and chemistry weren't your strong points in school, don't worry. The glycemic index puts all the science together into a list of foods categorized by their effect on blood sugar and insulin.
Use a glycemic index list as a weight-loss tool by selecting low-glycemic foods or balancing out a high-glycemic food choice with a lower-glycemic one. There's no one right way to do this. Nor is there a black-and-white approach where you're either "on" or "off" the diet. Just use the information in the glycemic index list to add additional healthy benefits to your food choices.
The sections that follow delve into the three factors— blood sugar, carbohydrates, and insulin — that combine to make the glycemic index effective for weight loss. (Note: If weight loss is your primary goal, flip to Chapter 3 for more information on incorporating the glycemic index as a weight-loss strategy.)
Getting the 411 on blood sugar
Why all the fuss about blood sugar? Well, blood sugar is the primary energy source for every cell in the human body, especially brain cells. Blood sugar is the energy that powers your body, just like gasoline is the energy that powers your car. Although many people may falsely believe that any blood sugar is a bad thing, your body actually works hard to maintain even blood sugar levels to promote optimal health. The human body produces insulin to lower blood sugar levels and another hormone, called glucagon, to help raise blood sugar levels. Normally, blood sugar stays in the range of 70 to 140 milligrams of blood sugar per deciliter of blood (abbreviated 70-140mg/dL), no matter how much sugar or carbohydrates you eat — or don't eat.
Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, occurs when blood sugar levels drop below 70mg/dL. Symptoms of hypoglycemia include blurry vision, a shaky feeling, and confusion. At the other end of the spectrum, hyperglycemia, or high levels of blood sugar, happens when the body doesn't produce enough insulin or when insulin isn't working the way it's supposed to. The symptoms of hyperglycemia — increased thirst and increased urination are two of the more common ones — are sometimes tough to spot. Many people have elevated blood sugar levels for months or even years before they're