I popped into my local bookstore a few weeks back. I was in the weight loss section and noticed lots of books about something called the GI Diet. I hadn't a clue what a GI was, and they didn't even explain on the inside, but from the number of books on the shelf it seemed like everyone else must know about it. Either that or it's the latest fad diet that will shortly die a slow death.
I got onto Google as soon as I got home and discovered GI means glycaemic index. Great, I thought, that's that problem solved. The glycaemic index is a measure of the amount of sugar in your blood.
But then someone did a bit of research about this and found out something interesting and it relates to metabolism. Now I am a fan of metabolism, and do my best to expose the myths and lies spread by the weight loss industry about this mysterious subject.
The research I found compared three diets: low-fat, low-carb, and low-glycaemic. The focus of the research was to see whether or not any particular types of food were better than others at kick-starting the metabolic engine and getting a 'free' burn off of excess calories.
The low-glycaemic diet burned off 125 calories more per day than the low-fat diet. So this was good news. By the way, 125 calories equates to around half an ounce in additional lost body weight over the low-fat diet. But the low-carb diet was even better. Unfortunately the low-carb diet increased levels of cortisol and inflammation - so a low-carb diet carries with it an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease. The low-glycaemic diet was the winner. It burns off a little more fat and is good for your heart.
High-glycaemic foods are: things baked with white flour, sugar, white rice, and potatoes. These foods are easily digested and so the carbs in these foods are turned into sugar quickly and blood sugar goes up. So don't eat those. The trick seems to be to make your body work for the sugar by eating things like: pulses (peas, beans, lentils... ) and non-starch based vegetables, in other words - green things. Add to that whole grains, low fat meat, fish, nuts and all that other health-food stuff.
The major cause for concern is that the low-carb diet seemed to show a tendency towards creating heart health problems for the future. The tricky bit is separating out carbs that give a quick sugar hit, and carbs that hold on to the sugar and make you work to release it.
Once you've done that you'll be well on your way to getting a little help from your body in burning off some of that excess weight.
Michael J. Hadfield MBSCH is a registered clinical hypnotherapist, with many years' experience in the treatment of weight problems, stress, anxiety, phobias, smoking, and other psychological problems. If you would like a FREE copy of his latest book 'Freedom' visit http://www.hypnosisiseasy.com/freedom.htm and discover how to take those first steps towards a future where you find yourself living your dreams.
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