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Grey Matters Blog


May 19th, 2012

Are you aware of the Low Glycemic Index Diet?

by Geeta Bagga

Category: Articles, Information & Tips, Things everyone should know…

The message is bleak: North American children are growing fat. Heavy children are often stigmatized as lazy, unhealthy and less intelligent than children of normal weight. As well over weight children suffer from loss of self-esteem and social isolation. Intervention and prevention of obesity with the principles of the Glycemic Index can help overweight children and adolescents avoid such unpleasant circumstances.

What is the Glycemic Index (GI)? It is a numerical Index that ranks carbohydrates based on their rate of glycemic response (i.e. their conversion to glucose within the human body). Glycemic index foods are split into three categories: high--a rating of 70 or more; medium--a rating of 56 to 69; and low--a rating of 55 and under.

Generally speaking, the GI has an impact on blood sugar levels. Your body performs best when your blood sugar is kept relatively constant. If your blood sugar drops too low, you become lethargic and/or experience increased hunger. And if it goes too high, your brain signals your pancreas to secrete more insulin. Insulin brings your blood sugar back down, but primarily by converting the excess sugar to stored fat.

Because blood sugar fluctuations can contribute to severe weight gain, physicians may recommend a low-glycemic index diet. Understanding how this diet works--and how it can prevent serious health problems like obesity in kids can help you keep your child healthy.

Low GI foods, release sugar into the bloodstream slowly and do not cause a rapid rise in blood sugar. On the other hand, high GI foods release sugar into the bloodstream quickly, causing a rapid rise in blood sugar. And because of the low fibre content of high GI foods, they are easy to overeat and encourage a rapid return of hunger, thus leading to weight gain. Interesting research is appearing on low glycemic diets as a way to manage pediatric obesity. A study from the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine found that children on a low GI diet did better than children on a low-fat diet.

Those on the low GI diet had better weight loss results and what was most striking was that this group did not need a reduction in serving sizes. They were able to eat until fullness and still lose weight. Overall, studies have shown:  After a high glycemic breakfast, children continued to consume 53% more calories before supper-time than children eating a low glycemic meal.  Studies show more weight loss on low glycemic-calorie restricted diets than high glycemic diets of the same calories. 

Infants born to women on high glycemic food patterns had a higher body fat. Below are some guidelines for finding foods with a low or moderate GI rating: Most fruits and vegetables have a low GI. Bananas and potatoes have a high GI and should be limited. Beans, legumes, soybeans.  Lean meats, poultry and seafood. Make sure that they are not getting too big a proportion of these foods.  Whole grain breads, other whole grains, and pastas with more protein content.

For an even broader list of foods with their GI rating, follow this link. In conclusion, it does seem that high glycemic diets may increase appetite, food intake, and fat deposition and overwork the cells that produce insulin. High glycemic foods may therefore increase the risk of obesity, type-2 diabetes and heart disease. Therefore, in light of the evidence produced so far, it would seem prudent to institute a change in lifestyle by adopting a low GI food diet.

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