Have you've heard of The Glycemic Index or GI Diet

Have you've heard of The Glycemic Index or GI Diet

I’m asked questions about this all the time. Is the Glycemic Index the best guideline
or criteria in choosing what carbs to eat? My answer may surprise you.

The glycemic index ranks foods on a scale from one to one hundred based on how
much the blood sugar increases after each food is consumed. In general,
the index is concerned with carbohydrates because fats and proteins have
little effect on blood sugar levels. How does it work? Well the higher the number, the greater the
increase in your blood sugar.

The glycemic index has for some time been attracting a lot of attention in the bodybuilding and
fitness, and weight-loss community. Many popular weight-loss plans and diets base their
entire program on this index. For some it is the most important criteria for choosing carbohydrates.

According to advocates of the Glycemic Index also referred to as “GI system”, foods that are high on the scale such as potatoes rice cakes, carrots, or grape juice are "adverse to weight loss" and should be avoided because they are absorbed so quickly and are therefore more likely to change to fat. Instead, they recommend you consume carbohydrates that are low on the GI such as oatmeal, peanuts, apples, and beans (all good foods choices, by the way).

Here is the crux of the theory that foods with a high GI increase insulin output. Since high levels of insulin are connected with increased fat storage and suppressed fat burning, it is believed that eating high GI foods can make you fatter than eating low GI foods. So on the other hand low glycemic index foods are thought to reduce fat storage because they cause slower release of sugar in the bloodstream and that results in less insulin production.

While the Glycemic Index should be given consideration in your carbohydrate choices,
it's not a good idea to make it your only criteria for your choice of carbohydrates . Here is where the mistake in this theory lies in adhering strictly to the Glycemic Index to dictate all your carb choices. The index is based on carbohydrates being eaten by themselves in a
fasting state. I'm sure you know by now, that's a problem. In other words if you have not eaten in awhile then a choice of a low GI snack makes sense, but almost everyone knows now a good diet has a small portion of carbs and protein at each meal and we shoot for around 5 meals a day.

A successful fat burning and or muscle preserving diet is always based on combining carbohydrates and protein together. This is very important. When carbohydrates are eaten in meals in combination with protein and small amounts of fat, the Glycemic Index loses its significance, because the fat and protein slow the absorption of the carbohydrates.

For instance, potatoes have a Glycemic Index that is near that of pure glucose (or in other words “sugar”) but if you combine the potatoes with a chicken and vegetables, the
of the entire meal is much lower than the potato by itself. Rice cakes also
have a high Glycemic Index . But if you spread a little peanut butter on them, the fat
slows the absorption of the carbohydrates, in so doing lowering the GI of the
combination.
A good fat burning diet is also based on eating small frequent meals that are spaced out 2.5 to 3 hours apart. This also lowers the significance of the GI because on such an eating schedule, you
are never eating at a truly fasted state except for breakfast because it’s after sleeping 8 hours.

If you're including a good protein source at each meal, and you're eating small meals frequently throughout the day 4 to 5 meals and hopefully one of them coming from something really healthy like Shakeology which is what I suggest then I would not get overly concerned about the GI or Glycemic Index. It is a good source of information but you don’t need to base all of you choices because of it.


Paul Seymour