The Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies (7 page)

Seeing how insulin plays a part

Insulin
is a hormone secreted by a group of cells within the pancreas (called the
islet cells,
just in case you were wondering) whenever you eat foods that contain carbohydrates. As the carbohydrates are digested and metabolized into blood sugar, your pancreas notices a rise in blood sugar levels and sends out insulin. Insulin allows blood sugar to move into each and every cell to provide them with necessary energy. Think of it as the key that unlocks the door into the cells for blood sugar to enter. If you don't have enough insulin production, you effectively starve to death even though you eat a lot of food because blood sugar can't get into the cells to provide energy.

People with Type 1 diabetes inject themselves with insulin so as not to starve their cells of energy. People with Type 2 diabetes often make plenty of insulin, but for some reason their insulin doesn't work effectively. Think of this insulin resistance as trying to use your house key to start your car: The key won't fit into the keyhole, and the car won't start.

Insulin plays other important roles within the body, and here's where its role in weight management is crucial. Insulin stimulates
lipogenesis,
which is the process of converting blood sugar to fatty acids that can then be stored as body fat for later use as fuel. Fatty acids are like your body's energy storage locker. When you run low on available blood sugar for energy, your body can use those stored fatty acids for energy. However, insulin also makes that breakdown process exceedingly difficult. In short, high levels of insulin make it easier to gain weight and more difficult to lose it.

Putting it all together

Blood sugar, carbohydrates, and insulin all come together to affect body weight. Carbohydrates are digested and metabolilzed into blood sugar. Rising levels of blood sugar cause the pancreas to produce insulin. Higher levels of insulin then promote body fat storage.

If you want to lose weight, you can try following a low-carb diet to interrupt this process, but that drastic move really isn't a solution because yor body needs the nutrients found in foods that contain carbohydrates.

A smarter choice for weight loss is to use the glycemic index to make sound decisions about which carbohydrate-containing foods you're going to eat. That way you stay satisfied longer; you get the benefit of fiber, vitamins, and minerals from carb-containing foods; your blood sugar levels stay even; your body produces less insulin; and you lose weight!

Moving beyond Traditional Diet Plans

Forget the traditional food lists and stringent calorie requirements. That's right. Chuck 'em out the window! The low-glycemic way of eating isn't a diet in the traditional sense — it's a lifestyle change. A low-glycemic "diet" is about listening to and working with your body to achieve long-term weight-loss (and health!) success. When you commit to this way of eating, you discover more about the foods you eat. You also realize that you can still enjoy food while making the best choices for weight loss and your overall health. The following sections help get you thinking about the glycemic index diet as a lifestyle change rather than a traditional diet plan.

Embracing lifestyle change and abandoning the temporary diet

Even though losing weight isn't easy, keeping the weight off is even more difficult. It doesn't matter what type of "diet" people follow; after one year, most folks gain back about 50 percent of the weight they lost. Yet some people are able to lose significant amounts of weight and keep it off. Individuals who embrace a low-glycemic diet as a way of life rather than a temporary diet can be among the latter group.

The National Weight Control Registry tracks people who've lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off at least five years. It has found that many people don't follow a specific diet plan. Sure, they make changes to their eating habits and activity levels, but not as part of a set "diet." Instead, they make gradual changes that they incorporate into their lives and that they keep on doing even after they've achieved their weight-loss goals.

Lifestyle change, not a temporary diet, is the key to enjoying a healthy weight for the rest of your life. Just think of these differences between the two:

A diet is when you follow a set meal plan developed by someone famous who wrote a book; lifestyle change is when you swap a candy bar for a piece of fruit as a midmorning snack and brown-bag your lunch instead of zipping through the fast food drive-through.

A diet is when you eliminate specific foods because they're too high in fat, calories, or carbohydrates; a lifestyle change is when you gradually eat fewer of these foods on a weekly basis.

A diet is when you follow a low-carb meal plan that lists foods to eat and foods to avoid; a lifestyle change is when you swap a lower-glycemic food for a higher-glycemic food a couple times each day.

According to the available scientific literature, people lost more weight on a low-glycemic eating plan (one where they didn't have to count calories or measure out food portions) than on a high-protein eating plan. They also lowered their cholesterol levels.

Focusing on the positives — like all the great health benefits you receive just by following a low-glycemic diet — makes lifestyle changes a bit easier to make. Chapter 20 includes a list of those benefits as well as additional suggestions for making successful lifestyle changes.

Tossing strict rules out the window

If you've been around the dieting block a time or two, you're well aware that diets are full of rules. They instruct you on what you can eat, when you can eat it, and how much of it you can eat. They tell you when to exercise, how much to exercise, and what type of exercise you should do to burn the most calories. They make you count calories, fat, fiber, carbohydrates, or a combination of all four.