We need to know not all carbohydrates foods are created equally, and they behave differently in our body. That is why glycemic index is introduced as it is a scale that measures how fast carbohydrate foods we take are broken down into glucose or sugar. You need to understand this weight loss concept if you want to success in any healthy weight loss program.
Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load
Glycemic index is a numerical way of describing how carbohydrates in foods affect blood sugar levels. The index measures how quickly a 50 gm serving of a particular food converts to glucose or sugar. Normally, foods with a high glycemic index cause a dramatic rise in blood sugar, and subsequently on insulin levels. That is why all low carbohydrates diets suggest that you eat low-glycemic carbohydrates as these carbohydrates like vegetables have a much lower impact on your blood sugar and insulin, thus help for healthy weight loss purpose.
However, we need to understand glycemic load as it is a more accurate predictor of what is going on with blood sugar and insulin than the glycemic index. Let us use an example for illustration purpose. Suppose you put an empty bucket under a faucet and you want to know how much the water is going to wind up in the bucket. You can say immediately that there are 2 variables affecting the results: The water pressure – how high you turn on the faucet, and how long you are going to leave it on. In the same way, if you want to know the impact of a particular food on blood sugar and insulin, you need to know 2 things: the glycemic index and how much of the food you are going to eat.
So, glycemic index tells you the impact that a 50gm serving of a particular food will have on your blood sugar. The glycemic load, on the other hand, also take into account the amount of carbohydrates actually in the food. To find out the glycemic load, simply multiply the glycemic index by the number of net carbohydrates in a standard serving.
Some foods have only a few grams of available carbohydrates, so even if their glycemic index is higher, their overall impact will be reduced because there are so few of them. This is very important for healthy weight loss purpose. Take carrots and pasta for example: Carrots have a glycemic index of 47, higher than that of whole-wheat spaghetti, which is only 32. If this is the only information you take consideration of making decision which food to take, you will think that spaghetti is better from a blood sugar point of view. Anyway, while there are only 6 net grams of carbohydrates in a carrot, there are a whopping 48 gm of net carbohydrates in the pasta. When you calculate the glycemic load of both type of foods, you will find that the glycemic load of carrot is 282 (47 times 6) and pasta is 1,536 (32 times 48), results more than 500% higher than carrots. Now you know what you should take for healthy weight loss purpose, right?
Weight loss and Glycemic Index | Load
If you want to success in a healthy weight loss program, you need to understand how different glycemic index | load foods effect the blood sugar level. In the first two hours after a meal, blood glucose and insulin levels rise higher after a high-glycemic load meal than they do after a low-glycemic load meal even though they contain equal calories. However, in response to the excess insulin secretion, blood glucose levels drop lower over the next few hours after a high-glycemic load meal than they do after a low-glycemic load meal. This justifies why most published studies find that the consumption of low-glycemic index foods delayed the return of hunger, decreased subsequent food intake, and increased satiety compared to high-glycemic index foods.
Besides, several small, short-term trials (1 to 4 months) also suggest that low-glycemic load diets result in significantly more weight or fat loss than high-glycemic load diets. Although more long-term studies of low-glycemic load diets in the treatment of obesity are needed, the results of short-term studies on appetite regulation and healthy weight loss suggest that low glycemic-load diets might be useful in promoting long-term healthy weight loss and decreasing the prevalence of obesity.
Another review of six randomized controlled trials conclude that those are overweight or obese who follow a low-glycemic index |load diet experience greater weight loss than individuals on a comparison diet that was in high-glycemic index diet.
So, you can lower your dietary glycemic load for healthy weight loss purpose by having more of whole grains, nuts, legumes, fruits, and non-starchy vegetables, and eat less of starchy high-glycemic index foods such as potatoes, white rice, and white bread, and also decrease the consumption of sugary foods like cookies, cakes, candy, and soft-drinks.
However, do not forget to calculate the total calories consumed if you take nuts and beans that bring you lots of calories. Remember to perform regular exercise, make use of right supplement and get more tips on weight loss if you are really serious in losing weight.
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