Glycemic Index

Can someone explain to me how this works for weight loss? Just curious

Hope this helps:

It is a measure of how quickly the carbohydrate in a food will result in a fluctuation in blood sugar level.

Low glycemic index foods take longer to digest into sugars that result in blood sugar changes.

High glycemic index foods cause quick and large fluctuations in blood sugar.

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The glycemic index (GI) is a ranking of carbohydrates on a scale from 0 to 100 according to the extent to which they raise blood sugar levels after eating. Foods with a high GI are those which are rapidly digested and absorbed and result in marked fluctuations in blood sugar levels. Low-GI foods, by virtue of their slow digestion and absorption, produce gradual rises in blood sugar and insulin levels, and have proven benefits for health. Low GI diets have been shown to improve both glucose and lipid levels in people with diabetes (type 1 and type 2). They have benefits for weight control because they help control appetite and delay hunger. Low GI diets also reduce insulin levels and insulin resistance.

Recent studies from Harvard School of Public Health indicate that the risks of diseases such as type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease are strongly related to the GI of the overall diet. In 1999, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recommended that people in industrialised countries base their diets on low-GI foods in order to prevent the most common diseases of affluence, such as coronary heart disease, diabetes and obesity.

http://www.glycemicindex.com/about.php

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Yeah but how do you use it exactly? Do you just stick with low GI foods? Or do you have to count something? I am just not sure how it all works. 

Yes, if you are going to eat carbs it is better to eat carbs with the lower GI levels. High GI foods result in a rapid rise in blood sugar, increased insulin levels and that insulin tells your body to replace glyogen levels and when it is done store the rest as fat so unless you are eating carbs immediately after an intense workout, keep them lower GI.

Interesting... thanks! I am just trying to figure out what my plan of action is going to be once I can allow more foods in my diet. I found this awesome recipe for pancakes... Its just eggs and a banana! Nothing processed or anything! But bananas are higher carbs, but lower on the GI. So I just wasn't sure how it all worked. Thanks for your input Keith!!

Go onto YouTube and google low carb pancakes and/or protein pancakes, you will find lots of hits that you can eat as soon you get to full foods.

There are a couple of tricks you can do to significantly reduce carbs in things like pancakes. You can grind up oatmeal in a magic bullet or a coffee grinder or even a food processor to add to a protein powder/egg mixture to make pancakes. Bob's red mill also has a low carb baking mix and there are other low carb bisquick type products on the market. The oatmeal is good because they are slow digesting carbs and will leave you feeling satisfied longer even though technically they are not low carb.

Bananas are very high carb and they also stop ketosis so I have stayed away from them.

There's nothing particular to count, it's more a matter of working from the low end of the GI list.

There is also an added bit of flexibility (which helps with your banana pancakes and such,) in that foods eaten together in a meal average their respective GI's, so while a piece of whole grain bread by itself is a medium to high GI (depending upon the grains it's made from, and some grain breads are low GI), when combined with some zero to low GI meat and cheese, the total meal is low GI as far as your body is concerned. This is a good way to get the smooth insulin response that the carb counting diets promote without the nutritional deficiencies and side effects for which they are known.

There is also something called  glycemic load which I believe is more important than the glycemic index.  To be honest I don't know a whole lot about it, but maybe some of the other posters do .  You could also google it. have to admit I pay no attention to glycemic load, just aim to eat "good"carbs  that is veggies, fruits, teeny bit of whole grains and beans.

Anne