July 26, 2006

GI Key to Diet?

“GI” here stands for “glycemic index.” The glycemic index of a food is a metric for how that food affects your blood glucose level.

Carbohydrates (sugars and starches) have long been known to cause a spike in your blood glucose level. Your body responds to this spike by producing the hormone insulin, which changes the way your body metabolizes the carbohydrates. There are a number of ways that this process can go wrong, but even in normal metabolism, hyperglycemia (high blood sugar levels) and hypoglycemia (low blood sugar levels) are undesirable.

Apparently, your body really likes to have relatively flat blood sugar curves. I’m not an expert on why that is, but I know that chronic highs and lows can actually cause you to have health problems later. The reasons are somewhat mysterious, but your body seems to try to adjust to the spikes (and the lows) and the consequences of that can leave you less able to regulate blood sugar, and that leads to a number of problems that are difficult to detect if you don’t know you have a problem with blood sugar.

I didn’t intend this post to be an extended over simplification of blood sugar regulation; the above is just a preamble that leads into an interesting article in New Scientist about glycemic index.

A diet that scores low on the “glycaemic index” helps overweight people lose body fat while also reducing levels of “bad” cholesterol that contributes to the risk of heart attack and stroke, a study shows.

Also, the high-carb, low-GI diet was better when it came to lowering cholesterol.

I like having more information that I can use to adjust what I eat, because my family history tells me that eventually I will have to worry about cholesterol. But I don’t have a good handle on what is a high-GI food vs. a low-GI food. I’ve read a few lists of food, but I haven’t seen any easy-to-follow recommendations about making changes to improve a low calorie diet by lowering the overall GI of the foods you’re eating. I just looked, and NutritionData.com may have a decent database.

Taking an “everything in moderation” approach, I wonder if there are good, small changes to make at first. I already eat a lot of whole fiber carbs and things like veggies, peanuts and low fat yogurt. It’s possible I’m already on this diet.

Anyone out there becoming more mindful of glycemic index?

Posted by James at July 26, 2006 5:38 PM
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Comments

Maybe you've seen this, but I thought it was interesting:
http://www.diabetes.ca/Section_About/glycemic.asp

It points out that a smaller meal will raise your blood glucose level less. That's kind of a "duh," but I never thought about it quite that way. So smaller, more frequent meals (or small meals and snacks) makes more sense than three larger meals.

And I thought whole-wheat bread was "good for you," but you're apparently better off with oat bran or pumpernickel. Al-dente pasta is better than overcooked pasta, white rice is better than instant rice! It's not as simple as "eat whole grains"!

Posted by: Maggie at July 26, 2006 7:21 PM

Generally speaking, the longer it takes your body to turn a food into energy, the better. So, whole fruit is better than, say, applesauce, which is a better choice than apple juice. Complex carbs like brown rice beat out whole wheat bread because of the added sugar. Whole grains like millet and barley could be good. Small meals, 5 or 6 times a day, each containing a serving of a protein food seems to work. Some folks have to avoid fruit altogether, and even beets, carrots and squash because they are so sweet. Added sugar is right out. High fat foods are pretty much right out too, because they kick up insulin, the hormone that metabolizes fat, and then the insulin drops the blood sugar level.
At that point, most of us want to head for coffee and a doughnut.

Posted by: helen_b at July 27, 2006 12:03 AM

Many high fat foods (peanuts, for example) are low GI. I may be wrong, but I think it's mainly (only?) the presence of glucose in the bloodstream that triggers the release of insulin.

Of course, many prepared high fat foods have lots of sugar or high-GI carbs in them. A doughnut, a hamburger (with bun) plus a sugary soda, french fries. It seems to me like some foods are a double-whammy. A high fat meal with a sugary soda gives you the worst of both worlds.

I think this consideration of GI is complicated enough that nobody has a good handle on it yet.

Posted by: James at July 27, 2006 1:00 AM

Absolutely a low-GI carb eater here. Like helen said, I eat 6 times a day, consisting of lean protien, low-GI carbs (apple, oatmeal, brown rice, sweet potato, whole grain organic pasta, veggies, beans, small portions of nuts, etc) and occasional "partial protien" foods like skim milk, low fat (again watch the added sugar!) yogurt and cottage cheese. Lowfat dairy is touted as a great weight loss food because it does have a low GI.

I eat this way 6 days a week, and take one day a week to eat whatever I want. Combined with regular exercise it is really putting me back in shape...13 lbs of fat lost and 2 lbs of muscle gained in 7 weeks.

Below is what I remember about this mechanism, from reading lots about sports nutrition, for those who really care:

Blood sugar triggers/regulates insulin, and insulin can store blood sugar as glycogen in one of three places - your muscles, your liver, or your gut/hips/ass/place of genetic pre-disposition. A steadier, moderated blood sugar level keeps most of the blood sugar ready for immediate use. Introducing lots of sugar will create an insulin spike to store the blood. If there is currently no avenue to store glucose in (or room left in) your muscle tissue, it dumps it into the liver, and when the liver fills up, it goes to the unwanted places. Therefore, avoid big influxes of high-GI carbs to avoid the spike. However, you can PRIME your body to store high GI carbs in your muscle tissue, and NOT gain fat. You do it by working out. Post-workout (I mean a glucose depleting workout like weight training, calisthenics, or interval cardio) your muscles are low in glycogen. Your body sense this need, so the introduction of some high GI carbs (I've seen recommendations of from 40 to 100(!) grams) like gatorade, fruit juice (NOT high fructose corn syrup!!! Apparently this stuff, for some reason, is a "straight to the liver" type of sugar - probably a link between the pervasiveness of HFCS and the obesity problem) will spike insulin, but drive the glucose into the lean tissue with very little spillover into the liver. More glycogen in muscles = more energy, helps build more muscle, gets better performance. It is even possible, naturally, to "overfill" your muscles with glycogen through a combination of depletion (via INTENSE workout) followed immediately by sustained "carb loading" over several hours. Tried it when I was younger and into bodybuilding, but I don't think I took the time to really do it right. It does make sense though, that high GI carbs post-workout has a replenishing effect.

GI is very complex - for the most part, the GI of a combined meal may be nothing like the GI of individual foods - but I also find from personal experience that stciking mostly to low-GI carbs is the key when trying to shape up. I agree with James that the handle is tenuous at best.

Posted by: Bull at July 27, 2006 10:20 AM

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