Fed Up With Carbohydrate

With all the controversy these days around low-carb diets, high carb diets…and diets in general, I think it’s high time we discuss another entry into the fray: the low-glycemic diet. But first we need to explain just what glycemia and the glycemic index are. Glycemia refers to the amount of sugar in the blood, and the glycemic index (GI) is a ranking of foods based on how much influence eating them will have on the sugar level in your blood compared to another food (usually a slice of white bread). In other words, it measures the rate at which various foods are digested and then end up as glucose in your blood. Some foods have very little impact and are termed “low-GI, while others can cause your blood sugar levels to sky-rocket and hence are called high GI.

So what does all this have to do with you and your weight and your overall health? Well, as it turns out, maybe quite a lot. It was back in 1981 that Professor David Jenkins and his group from the University of Toronto first published a list of the GI value for 62 foods. The information was first (and still) thought to be useful for diabetics, and in fact is currently being used to educate patients in diabetes education centres. The concept has been found to be very useful in helping diabetics keep their blood sugar levels under control…and now there is a good amount of evidence that a low GI diet may be helpful in keeping weight under control as well.

The reasoning behind this notion is that many people with a weight problem actually have a condition called insulin resistance. This, in fact, is part of the rationale behind the Atkins diet. Dr. Atkins’ approach, however, was to lump all carbohydrates together and try and get his patients to have a very low intake of what he considered to be the truly “fattening” foods. The jury is still out on the long-term effectiveness and safety of the diet, but I bet you know at least one person who has experienced successful weight loss by following the program. Where the low- GI diet differs is that it doesn’t outlaw all carbohydrates, just the ones that cause significant elevation of the blood sugar level. And that approach does seem to be a happy medium…those who opt for it are able to lower their insulin levels (as with the Atkins-type program), but they can eat what dietitians refer to as healthy carbohydrates: fruits, vegetables, whole grain breads, cereals, brown or converted rice and pasta.

So, just as we have fats labelled “good” fats and “bad” fats (not always correctly, I might add), now we’re in the era of the good and bad carb. The lower the GI of a particular food, the “better” it is. We can’t ignore the fact that a low-GI food usually has fewer calories, and that high GI foods are often over consumed, leading to excess caloric intake. But whatever the reason, the low glycemic diet usually works…and without the hand-wringing that accompanies Atkins, due to its perceived lack of fruit and vegetables.

Now, you’re asking for a list of low-glycemic foods…and space doesn’t permit an exhaustive review, but I’ll give you some representative examples. A low GI value is lower than 55. Some examples are : whole wheat breads and whole grain breads with seeds; pasta; brown rice; all legumes including kidney beans, chickpeas and lentils; sweet potatoes; all high- water vegetables and fruit; porridge (not instant);all milk, cheese and yogurt (artificially sweetened is lower than sugar-sweetened).When you juice a fruit, or cook or mash a food, you increase the glycemic index. Anything without carbohydrate, like meat, obviously is extremely low.;

Between 56 and 69 are foods of a medium GI value. Examples include angel-food cake, cake-type muffins and donuts; Grapenuts cereal; corn and peas; orange juice; bananas; canned soups made with lentils, peas and black beans; converted white rice.

Unfortunately, the high GI foods are quite numerous and, of course, consist mainly of stuff you love. Foods with a value over 70 are: white bread, double-layer cookies, fudge, chocolate bars; instant rice; crispy rice cereal; corn flakes; carrots; parsnips; mashed potatoes.
As I mentioned, these are just a few examples. If you seriously want to follow a low GI diet you should get the advice of a registered dietitian. Foods in their natural state, that is without a lot of processing, are your best bet. Adding to the interest in this dietary approach is a study conducted in Italy which linked a diet rich in high glycemic index foods with breast cancer. This is only one study, obviously, but an interesting one. I’ll keep you posted as further results come in.