Glycemic Loads
Your Glycemic Load is Killing Your Waist
As with everything it is a good idea to revisit the newest studies pertaining to your health and perhaps some new findings that may dispel what was once thought to be write in stone. Every where we turn today there is an abundance of information pertaining to foods that might help people keep their waistlines in check. As the population ages this becomes even more concerning. We hear lots about calorie counting and what calories are bad for us. New studies now can tell us that certain food calories calories in are not as bad for us as once thought when trying to keep your weight in check.
On a daily basis many people around the country report eating nuts, peanut butter, fish, yogurt and low-fat cheese and seem to be losing unwanted weight. On the other hand people have been made to believe that they should stay away from foods that have been labeled as unhealthy, such as eggs, full-fat cheese and whole milk as an example. But are these food really unhealthy for you? The resounding answer is that this notion is completely false and are NOT a contributor to weight gain.
The easier culprits to identify in my humble opinion that will add to the waistline not to mention other health issues are white breads, soft drinks, especially diet soft drinks, refined flours, and those starchy carbohydrates. This would include potatoes and white rice.
The human body is truly a miracle machine beyond our comprehension in regards to it’s complexities To simply think that all the body cares about and consumes are calories is oversimplifying the reality. When thinking about human bodily function, one can not just focus on just calories or even fat for that matter. I hear so much about calories and fat on a daily basis as if that is all we should think about. But I rarely hear anything about the quality or the lack of quality of the foods we eat. Just ask someone what their definition of “quality food” is, and you will get so many conflicting answers that it has become clear to me that the definition of quality food is more of a personal preference, rather then a true definition.
What I am trying to get into peoples heads is the term “glycemic loads”. This is what can not only put on the weight as the foods high in glycemic loads are consumed, but also promote other medical maladies that could be avoided. To keep it simple, if you choose hight glycemic foods in your diet and increase the intake of these foods, rest assured your weight will also increase as well.
When considering the concept of Glycemic loads as pertains to foods, you can no longer just think of isolated amounts of carbohydrates, but we must also consider the quality of these carbohydrates.
Lets take a look at come samples published in the studies from the Journal of clinical nutrition and hopefully you will adopt some of these principals and incorporate them into a smarted and trimmer diet approach.
1. A white-flour bagel, for instance, has a glycemic load (GL) of about 25 units; in contrast, a serving of quinoa, a whole grain which has a GL of around 13 units, and a serving of chickpeas has a GL of only 3.
In this study, every 50-unit increase in a person's daily glycemic load -- the equivalent of two bagels -- was tied to an extra pound gained over four years.
What's more, certain foods -- like eggs and cheese -- were connected to weight gain only if people also boosted their intake of refined or starchy carbs.
Red and processed meats, meanwhile, were also tied to weight gain. Again, though, some of the harm was reduced if a person's glycemic load was kept in check.
Therefore eating a burger with a salad, rather than fries, could be a smarter move. If eaten without a bun you would drop the glycemic load even further.
These findings, reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, were based on twenty four years of diet information. These findings were reported by nearly 121,000 U.S. health professionals. When this longitudinal study began all persons tracked were healthy, normal weights and normal.on average.
However, as time went on the study found that weight gains seemed to creep up on people and increase as they aged. With that said, there was a difference with those in the study that made different choices when it came to the typical quality of protein and carbohydrates ingested. This seemed to be regardless of their other lifestyle choices , including their total caloric intake.
I am not saying we should just throw calorie counting out the window completely, but we must now balance those calories to become more healthy. The concept of caloric intake should still fall within the doctrine of intake and exercise / energy expenditure, but not just have it all about the calorie itself.
The latest craze of restaurants putting calories next to the food items on a menu. This can be very misleading because it does not consider the “quality” of the calories, or the glycemic loads. This can give a false sense of, shall i say, doing the right thing.
Counting calories alone, no matter what kind of calories, is simply not enough to ensure a health weight. Counting calories is no more of a low fat diet then being obese and calling yourself athletic just because you are wearing workout cloths, but not actually working out.
Bottom line is even if you are selecting that sub sandwich because it displays a low caloric intake, you still must consider the what is in those sandwiches. Does yours have processed meats and refined carbohydrates in it? Well, then that would not be the best choice. Now I hope you are getting my drift.
I can remember when everyone began to demonize fat and stay away from it at all costs. This lead people away from fat and misguided them into consuming much more refined carbohydrates, which does not in all cases, depending on the carbs, reduce weight. But people really thought if they just stayed away from fat that would do the trick, WRONG. The human body needs fat to survive, just choose the quality of your fat intake and you can reap the overall benefits throughout your life.
So lets recap and get you off to enjoy your day:
1. Balancing not just intake but also the quality of your proteins, carbohydrates and fats are the key to better health.
2. When in doubt you can never go wrong choosing healthy carbohydrates which include vegetables, fruits, fiber rich grains, proteins that come from fish, chicken, nuts and even pea protein.
3. Fats that come from vegetable / olive oils and fatty fish are a healthy choice.
Today what we have explored has empowered you with the insight that you can actually enjoy more of the foods you like. The trick is how you assemble these foods with balance for ingestion that can make a world of difference. We now know that there is no one or 5 foods that will become your weight loss miracle, but how you combine these foods together to make a healthy meal. Lastly, it’s about the quality of these fats and carbohydrates that determines your waistline. When it comes to plain calories, seek the balance and choose low glycemic calories over high ones and lats not forget the exercise to calorie ratio.
In conclusion, with just a few painless tweaks, you will see positive benefits. If you are on the go all the time then I would suggest that you give Monarch Manor's whole body nutrition shake called "BENEFITS" to keep you balanced.
