If you wanna shed some pounds, stay fit, tackle health problems, and feel awesome, changing up your daily habits is key. A big piece of the puzzle? Eating right! Nowadays, picking a diet and sticking to it could really help you out. But watch out, not every diet out there is gonna do you good.
Diet fads pop up like mushrooms after rain, and although their popularity skyrockets, the actual benefits are generally lacking. Some diets, on the other hand, do lead to noticeable results. A low glycemic diet is a popular choice for many men and women in the world.
So is it a proper diet or just another fad?
How does it work?
What are its benefits, and how to start?
You’ll get answers to these questions in the post below.
The low glycemic diet is based on the concept of the glycemic index (GI). The glycemic index a value assigned to foods according to how slowly or quickly they elevate blood glucose levels (1). Foods with low glycemic index release glucose slowly and steadily, unlike their counterparts with a high glycemic load.
The biggest appeal of a low glycemic diet is that, unlike many other dietary patterns, it doesn’t require people to ditch carbohydrates. A low glycemic diet doesn’t restrict carbohydrate intake altogether. Instead, people who follow this eating pattern need to abide by the glycemic index. The GI assigns a number from 0 to 100 to carbohydrates based on their effect on blood sugar levels. Foods with rate 55 or lower are considered to have a low GI, while scores 56 to 69 are considered medium GI. Foods ranking 70 or higher are high GI.
As you can presume, low GI foods should be consumed more frequently than others, while high glycemic load foods should be avoided as much as possible.
The main concept of a low glycemic diet is to enrich your menu with low glycemic load food in order to achieve desired results and protect your health.
An increasing number of men and women consider trying out a low glycemic diet. People who could benefit the most from this eating pattern include those who (2):
When you decide to follow some diet, you do so because of certain benefits and effects you want to experience. That’s perfectly natural; we all adhere to some eating plan because we want to improve our health, lose weight, or achieve some other result. A low glycemic diet could be helpful for different people, but in this section, we’re going to focus more on the benefits of this eating pattern. What could happen if you decide to opt for a low glycemic diet?
People who have diabetes aren’t able to process sugars properly. As a result, it’s difficult for them to maintain blood glucose levels in a healthy range. Diabetes is not something we can eliminate entirely by taking a pill. The treatment revolves around managing blood glucose levels and other symptoms in order to prevent the risk of potentially severe complications. Complications associated with diabetes include stroke, heart disease, damage to the nerves in kidneys and eyes, just to name a few.
If you have diabetes or know someone who does, then you’re well aware that managing blood glucose levels is not the easiest task in the world.
This is where low glycemic diet steps in.
Evidence shows that low glycemic diets decrease blood sugar levels in people with diabetes (3, 4, 5). Additionally, people who eat high glycemic foods are more likely to develop diabetes, studies confirmed (6).
Since diet modifications are crucial for men and women with diabetes, opting for a low glycemic diet could be the step in the right direction.
The rates of overweight and obesity keep increasing with a wider prevalence of sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy diet-related choices. Excess weight and diabetes tend to go hand in hand. Weight management is important for patients with diabetes, but at the same time, weight loss for overweight men and women is crucial in order to reduce diabetes risk.
An important benefit of a low glycemic diet is its potential to promote weight loss. Evidence confirms that a low glycemic diet could help promote weight loss in people with prediabetes and diabetes (5). Long-term compliance with a low glycemic diet could induce favorable metabolic effects; studies show (7). The metabolic effects involve many things ranging from cholesterol to your weight. In other words, adhering to a low glycemic diet could help promote healthy weight and thereby make it easier for you to manage diabetes.
What makes a low glycemic diet beneficial for people who want to lose weight is the straightforward mechanism of action. This diet doesn’t come with a complicated set of rules. You just need to learn glycemic values of different foods and strive to consume those with low glycemic loads. This gives you more liberty to consume different types of foods that you can use to make delicious meals.
When it comes to weight management, high-protein and low glycemic diet could be the most beneficial. A low glycemic diet could help you slim down by managing hunger, promoting fat burning, and speeding up your metabolism (8).
Cholesterol is a waxy substance found in the blood, but it’s largely misunderstood. To most people, all cholesterol is bad, but that’s not true. The body needs cholesterol to build healthy cells. That being said, high levels of cholesterol are bad for your health. When we say it’s bad for your health, we mean high levels of LDL or bad cholesterol.
Yet another important advantage of low glycemic food is its potential to improve your cholesterol levels. One study found that low glycemic diets decrease total cholesterol by 9.6% and LDL cholesterol by 8.6% (9).
A healthy heart requires a healthy lifestyle. It’s that simple, yet it’s easier said than done. One way to keep your heart healthy is to give a low glycemic diet a try. Evidence shows that a low glycemic diet is independently associated with a lower risk of various chronic diseases, including heart disease (9).
A low glycemic diet improves heart health by helping to decrease post-meal blood sugar levels and improving the elasticity of blood walls. This also improves blood flow on which your heart health depends since a low glycemic diet can aid the management of cholesterol levels, the risk of atherosclerosis decreases, which translates to a healthier heart.
Besides the above-mentioned benefits, low glycemic diet also offers the following:
As mentioned above, the glycemic index refers to the values ascribed to different foods. Some foods have low while others moderate or high glycemic index. These values are largely influenced by various factors, such as (11):
When you’re planning meals on a low glycemic diet, it’s crucial to consider the above-listed factors.
Unlike many other eating patterns that come with a long list of rules to follow, a low glycemic diet has more liberty, but it still has some basic principles to keep in mind. These principles include (15):
At this point, you probably have a picture in your mind about foods that you should consume on this diet. But we’re going to list them below. On a low glycemic diet, you should strive to consume the following.
Of course, when preparing meals, you should focus on their GI and plan accordingly.
It’s also useful to mention that some foods contain little to no carbs and therefore do not have a glycemic value. These foods include fish and seafood, other animal products, nuts, fats and oils, and herbs and spices. They are generally safe to eat on a low glycemic diet.
Keep in mind that in a low glycemic diet, like in other diets, eating in moderation is crucial.
Foods you should strive to avoid when following low glycemic diet include:
It’s useful to remember that in a low glycemic diet, no food is forbidden. However, to lose weight and manage diabetes, you may need to cut down the consumption of high GI foods or avoid them entirely.
Besides many benefits, low glycemic food has several shortcomings as well. The diet may be difficult to maintain in the long run and could be a temporary solution for most people.
Additionally, the GI of some food doesn’t provide a complete nutritional picture. Some foods have a high GI but may not necessarily be unhealthy for you.
Also, GI doesn’t take into account the number of carbs you consume. This is not overly practical if we bear in mind that carbs are crucial for blood sugar levels and their management.
A low glycemic diet is simple and straightforward. While this diet has various health benefits, it has some drawbacks too. If you plan to adhere to this diet for diabetes management, make sure to consult your doctor first.
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