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Low Glycemic Carbs, Protein & Weight Loss
As you may remember from my resting metabolic rate post, losing weight
is a little more complicated than it sounds. We're simply told to move
more, eat less and it we'll be happy as a lark with our results, right?
A couple days ago I told you if you don't eat enough calories you'll
actually slow your metabolism and curb your fat loss. This
physiological fact is important and complicates the weight loss process
a bit more. Now I am going to share with you the importance of
consuming low glycemic carbohydrates, protein and their role in aiding
your weight loss.
First, you must be familiar with the Glycemic Index. The Glycemic Index
is a system that rates all carbohydrates based on how quickly they
metabolize and the degree in which they cause an insulin response. A
low glycemic rating indicates a smaller insulin response, whereas a
high rating means the carbohydrate causes a more drastic insulin spike.
Here's what you need to know about carbohydrates and insulin: when you
eat carbohydrates, the body releases the hormone insulin to help the
body absorb glucose into the liver, muscles and fat tissue. Free
floating glucose will end up in the blood stream to be used for
immediate energy, while the rest is stored in the body. High insulin
levels are an indicator that a high amount of glucose is available for
energy use, therefore the body stops burning fat. To efficiently burn
fat and keep your body from abandoning its fat burning capabilities,
you must control your insulin levels.
You can control your insulin levels by eating low glycemic
carbohydrates and protein. Low glycemic carbs, more commonly known as
complex carbohydrates, are sugars like their simple counterparts.
Complex carbs differ from simple carbs in that complex carbohydrates
are chains or clusters of sugars branched together which means they
take longer to breakdown into their simplest form, glucose. The
digestive processes involved with breaking apart complex carbs provides
a much more steady release of glucose into the blood stream which
ultimately results in a smaller insulin response. When insulin levels
are low or nonexistent, the body utilizes fat for energy. Protein is an
important tool in controlling insulin levels for two reasons: one, it
does not cause an insulin response because it is not a carbohydrate.
Two, protein takes a long time to digest and keeps you feeling
satiated. If you're not feeling hungry, you're less likely to binge on
those easily available simple carbohydrates you find in potato chips,
candy and cookies.
There is a lot of useful information in this post and I want you to soak it up. Go to www.GlycemicIndex.com and
take a look at what food falls where on the scale. Then, reflect for a
second on what your daily meals are composed of. Are you eating a lean
protein source at your major meals? Are you filling your day with
complex or simple carbohydrates? Check back soon as I will discuss food
selection and menu planning in the Part II of this segment.
is a little more complicated than it sounds. We're simply told to move
more, eat less and it we'll be happy as a lark with our results, right?
A couple days ago I told you if you don't eat enough calories you'll
actually slow your metabolism and curb your fat loss. This
physiological fact is important and complicates the weight loss process
a bit more. Now I am going to share with you the importance of
consuming low glycemic carbohydrates, protein and their role in aiding
your weight loss.
First, you must be familiar with the Glycemic Index. The Glycemic Index
is a system that rates all carbohydrates based on how quickly they
metabolize and the degree in which they cause an insulin response. A
low glycemic rating indicates a smaller insulin response, whereas a
high rating means the carbohydrate causes a more drastic insulin spike.
Here's what you need to know about carbohydrates and insulin: when you
eat carbohydrates, the body releases the hormone insulin to help the
body absorb glucose into the liver, muscles and fat tissue. Free
floating glucose will end up in the blood stream to be used for
immediate energy, while the rest is stored in the body. High insulin
levels are an indicator that a high amount of glucose is available for
energy use, therefore the body stops burning fat. To efficiently burn
fat and keep your body from abandoning its fat burning capabilities,
you must control your insulin levels.
You can control your insulin levels by eating low glycemic
carbohydrates and protein. Low glycemic carbs, more commonly known as
complex carbohydrates, are sugars like their simple counterparts.
Complex carbs differ from simple carbs in that complex carbohydrates
are chains or clusters of sugars branched together which means they
take longer to breakdown into their simplest form, glucose. The
digestive processes involved with breaking apart complex carbs provides
a much more steady release of glucose into the blood stream which
ultimately results in a smaller insulin response. When insulin levels
are low or nonexistent, the body utilizes fat for energy. Protein is an
important tool in controlling insulin levels for two reasons: one, it
does not cause an insulin response because it is not a carbohydrate.
Two, protein takes a long time to digest and keeps you feeling
satiated. If you're not feeling hungry, you're less likely to binge on
those easily available simple carbohydrates you find in potato chips,
candy and cookies.
There is a lot of useful information in this post and I want you to soak it up. Go to www.GlycemicIndex.com and
take a look at what food falls where on the scale. Then, reflect for a
second on what your daily meals are composed of. Are you eating a lean
protein source at your major meals? Are you filling your day with
complex or simple carbohydrates? Check back soon as I will discuss food
selection and menu planning in the Part II of this segment.
Comment
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Comment by Eve L on March 8, 2010 at 4:07pm -
I think it will always be a journey..but it makes it that much more fun :). I also agree, the path to health and wellness is not an easy one in todays world when we are constantly bombarded with such poor food choices and misinformation, and a lot of the time the so-called "health foods" are just as bad as the junk foods.
Enjoying reading your posts!
-
Comment by Jeffrey Bomberger on March 8, 2010 at 3:44pm - No doubt there is something to the correlation between breads, pastas, grains and some health issues. Like anything else, it is difficult for us to adjust the way we think, approach and act on new knowledge. Even for me, as a fitness professional, this is an ever going journey that has taken many days, weeks, months and years of consciously choosing a more healthy direction. The fact of the matter is, people are having a hard enough time disciplining themselves enough to not OVER EAT, let alone eat the food that is more healthy. It's a process and every little step forward we take down the right path...the better off we are. Thanks for sharing your research, it is much appreciated!
-
Comment by Eve L on March 8, 2010 at 3:11pm
-
The whole grains may be slightly better than the refined, but the overall result is the same as the refined, the blood sugar makes a very quick drop after that two hour period.
There also other factors which come into play when it comes to breads, pastas, grains, etc. in our research as not being hte best food to consume. They contain unsaturated fats which in our research are harmful to the body and have been proven to be harmful to the body way back in the early 20's when they started to feed livestock corn, soy, and grain instead of their natural diet. Other diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer did not really come onto the map in such great numbers until things like corn, canola, soy, peanut oil, flax oil, fish oils, etc were introduced into the market instead of real butter.
This is a cool little video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8WA5wcaHp4
and also the book Saturated Fat May Save Your Life, has some great insight and places to look for research regarding how all of the unsaturated oils came about and why they are promoted as health foods.
http://www.amazon.com/Saturated-Fat-Save-Your-Life/dp/0941599493
Looking forward to reading you next post :)
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Comment by Jeffrey Bomberger on March 8, 2010 at 1:43pm
- There is a part two to this post that talks about food choices on my regular blog. One of the benefits of many of the lower glycemic choices is that they contain more fiber and more nutrients since they are not enriched. When you fill yourself with more fiber you are less likely to over eat. From a health standpoint, this is huge. Clearly the benefits of fruit far outweigh their glycemic rating because they are rich in nutrients, vitamins and antioxidants. The glycemic index is by no means the end all for selecting food choices. I feel it is a pretty good guide for getting people on the right track with their food selection because the way I see it is the lower glycemic carbs are much more satiating. You will be less likely to overeat oatmeal, brown rice and whole grain bread than if you try slamming down white rice, rice crispies and white bread. All carbohydrates do have an insulin response, we know this. Repeated mental stress induces raised insulin levels too, insulin is impossible to avoid. The article you posted was really great and of course, everything we think we know about the world will always fall under criticism and undergo some sort of overhaul. There is a lot of truth to raypeat's post. There's more to the consumption of complex carbs than just the glycemic index in my opinion and perhaps I will inject more of those ideas into a new post!
-
Comment by Eve L on March 7, 2010 at 12:26pm
-
What about the information that shows that the glycemic index only measures these reactions in a two hour period and that while fruit and simple sugars may rise the blood sugar faster at first on the chart, after the two hour period it maintains the level because the sucrose helps prevents a strong insulin response resulting more blood sugar sustained level. The fructose in sucrose( sucrose is table sugar) helps to curb the insulin response and also so does the potassium in fruit. Complex carbs will continue to rise which creates a stronger insulin response resulting in a crash, which is not shown on the chart because it happens after the two hours. As far as what type of complex carbs, it doesn't make it difference if it is whole wheat or white bread, the blood sugar still responds in the same way. Same goes for pastas, cereals, rice, etc. This is the info that I have come across over the years, which seems to be that the glycemic index does not give us the whole story. I will attach a great article I think that explores some info I have researched. :)
Here is a great research article: http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/glycemia.shtml
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