Living Low Carb (39 page)

Furthermore, a lot of research has shown that low-GI diets are really healthful. They help improve your body’s sensitivity to insulin (since your body produces less of it, the cells “listen” to it better); they improve diabetes control; they reduce the risk of heart disease; and they can also help people lose weight. What’s more, low-glycemic diets keep you full longer and help stave off hunger and cravings. And recent research has linked high-glycemic diets to some forms of cancer. So all in all, eating “low” on the glycemic scale makes a lot of sense.

But the glycemic index has some problems. For one thing, the “rating” only applies to a food eaten alone. (Once you group foods together, the impact on your blood sugar is very different.) Second of all—and maybe most important—the glycemic index number only tells you the effect of 50 grams of carbohydrates, which doesn’t reflect real-world portions. For example, carrots got a bad rap for being so high on the glycemic index, but there’s only 3 grams of carbohydrate in a carrot, not 50. You’d have to eat a bushel of them to really raise your blood sugar significantly. And conversely, pasta—which has a “moderate” glycemic index—is rarely eaten in 50-gram portions. You’re more likely to consume about 200 grams, which will send your blood sugar off the charts.

To compensate for this, scientists invented the “glycemic load,” which is a far more accurate measure of a food’s “real-life” effect on your blood sugar because it takes portion size into account. For example, carrots have a glycemic index of 92 (high!) but once you take into account the typical portion size and figure out their glycemic load, it’s very low (under 10). Foods whose glycemic loads are between 0 and 10 are considered low, 10–20 medium, and over 20 high.

Jennie Brand-Miller, the author of
The Low GI Diet Revolution
, is the research scientist who’s done the most to popularize the glycemic index and to bring it into the popular lexicon. She’s published a ton of research on the glycemic index, and her tables of glycemic index (and glycemic load) for hundreds upon hundreds of carbohydrate foods are widely considered the industry standard. (You can find the glycemic index and glycemic load for just about any food that has been tested at
http://www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm.
)

The Low GI Diet Revolution
is Brand-Miller’s entry into the diet book world, and it’s her attempt to bring low-GI eating to the masses. Except for a few missteps, it’s a pretty good program.

First the missteps. She repeats a number of myths about low-carb diets (much of the weight loss is muscle mass, not body fat; saturated fat causes heart disease; the brain can only use glucose as a source of fuel). She also doesn’t do much to address the fact that the
glycemic load
is a much better indicator than the glycemic index. But given the enormity of her contribution to the conversation about carbs, insulin, and health, let’s overlook those mistakes for the moment and focus on what’s good about this program.

The Low GI Diet Revolution
uses a novel approach to determining what you should eat. First you look at a table for your weight and determine what your “energy level” is. (By “energy,” the authors are not talking about “get up and go,” they’re talking about “calories,” which is the technically correct use of “energy” in nutrition.) So, for example, women who weigh less than 154 pounds have an “energy” level of “1,” those who weigh 155 to 176 are “2,” 177 to 198 are “3,” and so forth. (There is a similar table for men.)

Once you know your “energy” number, you simply go down to the graph and look at the number of servings of protein, carbs, and fat you should consume. Each “energy level” (from 1 to 10) has a recommended number of servings from each of these three groups. For example, if you’re a woman who weighs 175, you look on the chart and see that your “energy rating” is 2; for an energy rating of 2, your recommended daily intake would be 4 servings of carbohydrate-rich foods, 4 servings of protein-rich foods, and 2 servings of fat-rich foods.

A carbohydrate-rich serving is one that contains 20 to 30 grams of carbs (like grains and starches). A protein-rich serving contains 10 to 15 grams of protein, and a fat-rich food contains 10 grams of fat. In addition, everyone eats at least 5 servings of vegetables (which tend to be very low in actual grams of carbs) and 2 servings of fruit each day. The authors consider this program to be a very good “compromise” between a low-carb and a low-fat program.

Once you know the carb, protein, and fat content of food—not hard to learn from reading labels, using calorie books, or checking online—it’s pretty easy to follow.

The Low GI Diet Revolution as a Lifestyle: Who It Works for, Who Should Look Elsewhere

Overall this is a good program. By limiting your “carb-rich” foods, you will automatically be reducing the high-ticket items like starches but will still be able to eat some of them, a big plus for people who don’t do well on—or don’t need—a very carb-restricted diet. The 5 servings of vegetables and 2 of fruit will make sure you get all the valuable nutrients and phytochemicals contained in the plant kingdom (though I’d argue that you could eat even more vegetables than that), and if you pretty much stick to the recommendations your calories will be moderately—but not painfully—low.

However, if you are insulin-resistant, very carb-sensitive, or very overweight, you may need much more carb restriction than this program provides, and you may want or need more protein or fat in your diet than the amount recommended by the authors.

It’s also worth noting that this isn’t so much a weight-loss program as it is a general guide to eating. Those who have a lot of weight to lose may need a bit more fine-tuning than the general guidelines of this program provide and may want to look elsewhere.

JONNY’S LOW DOWN
  

The Low GI Diet Revolution is not really a weight-loss program per se—it’s much more of a general eating plan based on the principles of low-glycemic eating. For the average person willing to make the effort to learn the protein, carb, and fat content of their food, it’s a good program from which you will undoubtedly see some health benefits like appetite control and better energy. It’s a very good starting place for weight loss, but be prepared to fine-tune the program a lot if your main goal is to lose weight
.

Four stars simply because the idea of low-GI eating is such a good one
.

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WHAT IT IS IN A NUTSHELL

A six-week holistic weight-loss program with a big emphasis on self-help, motivation, behavioral remodeling, and journaling. The first four weeks are for weight loss (calories and carbs are limited); the next two weeks are a period of “metabolic adjustment.” You repeat the cycle until you reach your goal weight. After that, you go on the maintenance (“Lindora for Life”) program
.

About the Lindora Program

The Lindora program was started in 1971 by Dr. Marshall Stamper. The plan as detailed in the book
Lean for Life
is basically a do-it-yourself version of the program offered in the 29 Lindora Medical Clinics in southern California. It’s a very structured program with a tremendous self-help component. The emphasis is on re-training behaviors and on reconditioning how you think about food, weight, and goals in general. That’s really the strong point of the program.

The diet part is as follows: days 1 through 3 are “prep days.” The diet on the prep days looks like something you might find in virtually any woman’s magazine at the supermarket. Sample instruction: “Your meals should include a protein, a salad with dressing, a potato or other starch, vegetables, fresh fruit, and milk.” The plan does, however, emphasize protein-based snacks like cheese, nuts, and seeds. The idea is to use the prep period to gradually transition into the weight-loss diet that’s coming up for the next 28 days. During the prep days, you can also have “craving-based foods” like pizza, and you’re encouraged to use this period to satisfy any nagging cravings you may have before jumping into the diet proper. During these 3 days, you also gather the stuff you’re going to need for the next 4 weeks: ketone strips, a food scale, measuring cups, a weight scale, and so on. You also weigh and measure yourself and write down the results, and you do some mind–body visualization exercises.

After the initial prep days, it’s time to start the 4-week weight-loss phase of the cycle. You begin with a “protein day.” Actually, the first day of
every
week is a protein day, even in the maintenance phase. On the protein day, you have at least six protein servings and keep your carb intake in the range of 50 to 100 grams, or whatever it takes to get into ketosis (100 is most likely too high for the vast majority of people, and even 50 may be too high for some). You use the ketone sticks to monitor this. The “approved” protein choices are all pretty much low-fat selections (e.g., skim milk, low-fat cottage cheese, fat-free cold cuts, water-packed tuna). You can also choose from a million different Lean for Life products that the company sells, and/or pick from a list of acceptable grocery-store choices.

After completing the initial protein day, you go on to the weight-loss plan for the rest of the week, then repeat that 7-day cycle for 4 weeks (1 protein day, 6 “weight-loss menu” days). The weight-loss part of the week means 3 meals and 3 protein snacks a day, but you are still aiming for both ketosis and the reduction of cravings (by cutting out foods that tend to trigger them).

The basic weight-loss menu consists of the following:

•  protein 6 times a day (at all 3 meals plus 3 snacks)

•  3 fruits a day (or 2 fruits and 1 grain)

•  2 servings of vegetables a day

With this menu, you can have fat-free salad dressing, any calorie-free beverage (including diet sodas and the like), powdered creamer for your coffee, and various spices.

After every 28-day weight-loss module, you go on to a 2-week “metabolic adjustment.” The purpose of this period is to
gradually
increase the amount of food you eat and let your body’s metabolism adjust to that increased amount without experiencing weight gain. The stated purpose of the metabolic adjustment is not to lose weight, but to reset your body’s thermostat to deal with the additional calories. (There’s no science whatsoever to back this up.) The author reports that people resist this phase like crazy. Those who are losing want to keep losing and don’t want to change what’s working for them. Those who have arrived at their goal think they’ve crossed the finish line. But the Lindora folks claim that this period is absolutely necessary, because your body has learned, during the first 28 days, to live on a lower number of calories. What you want to do now is “teach” your body to adapt to more food without actually storing fat. During this 2-week metabolic adjustment, the first day of each week is still a protein-only day, but it’s for focus, discipline, and of course weight control. You’re not in ketosis during this 14-day period. The food choices are the same as they were during the first 4 weeks, but the portions are different, and on day 8 you can add one more grain serving. Any time you have a weight gain of 1½ pounds or more, you have a protein-only meal that evening. You keep repeating this until you’re back on target, and you don’t move on to the next level of food addition until your weight is back on track.

Once you’re done with however many 6-week cycles it takes you to get to your goal weight, you’re ready for phase two, the Maintenance for Life program, which is a whole other book. Basically, the program continues to stress low fat (what they call “lean foods”) and higher protein. The lifelong daily maintenance menu is this:

•  6 protein servings a day (one at each meal and each snack)

•  2 vegetable servings a day

•  3 grain servings a day (“don’t forget to choose low-fat crackers,” the book exclaims!)

•  3 servings of fruit a day

•  3 servings of fat a day

The program tries to be all things to all people—it makes a valiant attempt at being both low-carb
and
politically correct, and tries not to offend anyone in the dietary pantheon. According to the book, during the weight-loss phase, you follow a “low-calorie, low-carbohydrate, low-fat, moderate-protein-structured eating plan.” The book has a section on “nine easy ways to reduce your fat intake” that could have been lifted from the pages of any popular magazine of the ’80s. In truth, the entire sensibility of the book is that of a standard low-fat diet but with elevated protein intake. (All of the acceptable protein choices are low-fat.) Interestingly, on the list of “avoids” is hydrogenated fats “such as coffee creamers” (evidently they forgot that coffee creamers were on the
allowed
list a few pages earlier). Naturally, there is complete adherence to the politically correct mandate against animal fats of any kind. There’s some very old-fashioned advice (such as limiting eggs if your cholesterol is high), and the list of approved cereals includes glycemic nightmares like corn flakes and Special K. Of course, there is not a word about aspartame or the controversy around artificial sweeteners.