Low Glycemic/Good carbs

T

ThePoet

New member
Hi

I'm new here and I've been browsing the net trying to find a program that may work for me. I've heard how cutting carbs can be a great way to drop the pounds, but then I also hear how in the long run it can be detrimental. So where does the low glycemic way of eating fit into the scheme of things? From what I've read it seems doable. But I want to know if anyone here has tried this and what their results have been while eating this way. Also how is this different from other programs?
 
There is often a misconception when it comes to low carb eating. For some, this means eliminating all foods that contain carbs aside from the lowest carb veggies, and for others, it means clean eating, avoiding processed foods and controlling the type and amount of carbohydrates they do put in their bodies.

Following a low glycemic index based diet is clean, healthy eating. It's a way to avoid foods that are going to cause a severe spike in blood sugar (followed by a huge crash), and fueling your body with carbohydrates that are slower to digest, resulting in a gradual increase in blood sugar over time, without the huge crash.

There are a number of resources online and in bookstores that have charts and explanations regarding the GI of a host of foods.

It is a good idea to check out a book or a site that goes in depth to the science behind GI based eating, to explain not only how to follow a plan like that, but why it is beneficial and how it works.

Hope this helps!
 
Low carbs means shit all if calories aren't accounted for. Carbs don't make you fat. Calories do.

Fat = energy

Calories = energy


Low glycemic does NOT always mean low insulin response as eluded to above.
 
What Steve says is true: you only lose weight if you burn more calories than you eat.

However, from a healthy sustainable diet point of view, there is more to the story. For example, there is nutrition. You need a certain amount of fat and protein each day over the long run. This has been pointed out many times by several people (including Steve) on this forum, and it has nothing to do with the calorie count.

I believe that there is another aspect that often gets ignored, and that is that people have a tendency to overeat certain types of foods. I think the reason people are overeating more these days is mostly because the food that we are eating is unnatural. Until recently, people did not eat so much corn, potatoes, white flower, and sugar. Processed foods are mostly based on these bad--but highly addictive--ingredients. Eliminating these and other high GI foods forces one to eat mostly foods that are not as addictive.

Doubt that the foods listed above are a big part of the problem? Think about when you have binged on food. It's probably the case that the foods you were eating had one or more of these high-GI ingredients. (There are some other foods you might overdo, like cheese, but there are not a lot of these.) Fatty foods get blamed a lot, but more often than not the fatty food also has addictive high-GI carbs in it. If I eat just steak and salad (with no dressing) , I am unlikely to overdo it. I mean, how much plain steak can one eat before feeling gross? However, add mashed potatoes and bread and I will likely overeat.

So, besides being more natural, I think that the low-GI foods are just easier to eat in moderation.
 
High GI does not always = high II.

That's all I was saying.
 
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