Glycemic Index is Really Cool!

The foods you eat really do make a difference in your weight. For example, a huge portion of broccoli is not the same as a huge portion of potato chips, although they’re both carbohydrates. Broccoli has a much lower conversion rate on the glycemic index, and as such will not affect our blood glucose levels as do potato chips. Why does the level of our blood glucose matter? Well, it’s because consistently high levels of glucose in the blood, which is known as diabetes, will cause damage to our body. Those of us who are not diabetic produce our own supply of insulin, the hormone released by our pancreas that removes the excess blood sugar and eventually stores it as adipose tissue. And guess what adipose tissue is! FAT!

The glycemic index is about the quality of the carbohydrates we eat. Carbohydrates low on this index convert to glucose during the digestive process much more slowly than carbohydrates which rate high on this index. The slower blood glucose levels rise, the less insulin is released into our blood stream. The pancreas wants to keep our blood sugars steady and at a level that will not cause damage to our arteries and organs. If we eat foods that keep our blood sugars in a healthy range, the pancreas won’t secrete much insulin. Without insulin, blood sugars won’t be converted to glucose, and then ultimately to body fat. This is one of the reasons a low carbohydrate diet causes such quick weight loss: little insulin is produced to store glucose, so the body begins to use fat as fuel. BUT, like all diets, it must be a lifestyle change, as a low carbohydrate diet could create an even greater sensitivity to carbohydrate consumption, which means it could take even fewer carbohydrates to cause a release of insulin once you stop the diet. A quick weight loss usually leads to an even quicker and greater weight gain!!

You can find a good glycemic index for foods either on the internet or in your local bookstore. It is worth your time to find out more.

As for me, I am happy to report another pound of body fat lost: up to a little more than seven pounds of body fat since I started this blog. But did I lose scale weight? NO! And that makes me sort of mad, but then I reflect on my goal: to lost twenty-five pounds of body fat. I will stay committed, because what are my choices? In my mind, there is only one, and that to have a body fat percent of about twenty and a BMI of about twenty. My workout with weights accounts for my lean muscle mass gain, and my calculations say that I am on track, so I say, "Quit yer c'plainin', Anna!"