Despite intensive research, the causes of the obesity epidemic remain incompletely understood and conventional calorie-restricted diets continue to lack long-term efficacy.

To understand a food’s complete effect on blood sugar, you need to know both how quickly it makes glucose enter the bloodstream and how much glucose per serving it can deliver. A separate measure called the glycemic load does both — which gives you a more accurate picture of a food’s real-life impact on your blood sugar.

Recent increases in the consumption of processed, high-glycemic-load carbohydrates produce hormonal changes that promote calorie deposition in adipose tissue, exacerbate hunger, and lower energy expenditure.

Meta-analyses of behavioral trials report greater weight loss with reduced-glycemic load vs low-fat diets. Beyond the type and amount of carbohydrate consumed, there is a conceptual framework for understanding how many dietary and nondietary exposures might alter hormones, metabolism, and adipocyte biology in ways that could predispose to obesity. Pending definitive studies, the principles of a low-glycemic load diet offer a practical alternative to the conventional focus on dietary fat and calorie restriction.

For decades, consideration of “energy balance” has informed efforts to prevent and treat obesity in the clinic and public health arena. Indeed, a recent scientific statement from the Endocrine Society concludes that “the answer to the question, ‘Is a calorie a calorie?’ is ‘yes.’” In otherwords, diets high in added sugar or other processed carbohydrates should have no special adverse effects on metabolism or body composition, after considering total calorie consumption. However, rates of obesity remain intractably high despite intensive focusonreducing calorie intake (eat less)andincreasing calorie expenditure(move more), with major implications to well-being, life-expectancy, and health care costs.

A central problem with the conventional model of obesity is its inability to provide a satisfactory explanation for the Obesity epidemic,beyond the difficulty many people have maintaining self-control in the modern environment. Withweight loss, hunger predictably increases and energy expenditure declines—physiological adaptations that tend to push bodyweight back up.

According to an alternative view, changes in dietary quality since the 1970s produce hormonaal responses that shift the partitioning of calories (metabolic fuels) consumed in a meal toward deposition in fat tissue. Consequently, fewer calories remain available in the blood stream for use by the rest of the body, driving hunger and overeating.

How to Lower Glycemic Index of Your Food?

Preparation

Fat, fiber, and acid (such as lemon juice or vinegar) lower the glycemic index. The longer you cook starches like pasta, the higher their glycemic index will be.

Ripeness

The glycemic index of fruits like bananas goes up as they ripen.

Other Foods Eaten at The Same Time

Bring down the overall glycemic index of a meal by combining a high-glycemic index food with foods that have lower ones.

What to Eat For a Diet With a Lower Glycemic Load?

Eat more whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, fruits, berries, leafy greens, vegetables without starch, and other foods with a low glycemic index.

Eat fewer foods with a high glycemic index, like potatoes, white rice, and white bread.

Do no teat sugary foods, including candy, cookies, cakes, and sweet drinks.

Written by nutritionist Riin Reimer

 

References:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/the-lowdown-on-glycemic-index-and-glycemic-load

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29971406

https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/guide/glycemic-index-good-versus-bad-carbs#1