Beginner's Fitness Programs

Many studies done in the past indicate that a low glycemic index (GI: a measure of how quickly blood glucose levels increase for a given food) is better for health and weight management, and a high-protein diet, such as Atkins, appear to work well for certain groups of people. Now researchers at the University of Copenhagen have finally published conclusive evidence about which diet is the best to lose weight after a large controlled study done in Denmark: a combination of more protein and low GI is the best diet for overweight people.

They found that, among their controlled groups, people who ate about 25% of calories from protein with low GI carbohydrate foods lost weight far more than other groups, and they also got less hungry. To some extent, they could eat as much as they wanted so that they didn’t feel hungry.

This is good news – we don’t need an extreme diet, such as very high protein/fat, or very low fat. We just need to slightly modify our diet to lose weight. Of course, we need to reduce our overall calorie intake and increase the expenditure of calories to lose weight, but it seems that this combination will satisfy our appetite at a lower-calorie level.

So what are the most practical foods for us?

It is not difficult for most people in developed countries to eat the “required” amount of protein. In fact, most of us in the US eat far more protein than we probably need. However, the kind of protein we eat could be improved. In general, less red meat and more white meat like chicken and fish are recommended. Low fat dairy is good as are beans. Although you may want to cut all red meat from your diet, you should reconsider – it is a great source of iron (which is easily absorbed into the body). You should not eat any one particular type of protein exclusively; too much of a good thing may not be good for you. For example, many large predatory fish, such as tuna, may have higher amounts of mercury and other heavy metals in their meat. Soy is great, but it contains chemicals which mimic human hormones. It is better to get protein from a variety of sources.

The harder part is eating low-GI foods. Most processed foods are high-GI. Pure sugar is definitely a no-no. In general, the closer to “raw” the food is, the lower its GI (although there are exceptions – see below). So, as previously posted in another article, Haiga rice is better than white rice, and brown rice is much better than Haiga rice. Whole-grain bread is better than white bread, and Multi-grain bread is much better than white bread. Uncooked vegetables are better than cooked ones.

Vegetables and Fruits are, in general, low in GI, especially if they are eaten raw, but there are some exceptions. For example, bananas are high in GI especially if they are ripe. Grapes are also high in GI, since their sugar is glucose, not fructose. Carrots, beets and parsnips are also high in GI, especially if they are cooked, although they are much better than any processed food. Potatoes are high-GI foods, and if you like them, avoid mashed or baked.

There is a trick to converting a high-GI food into lower-GI. One method is to combine the high-GI food with protein and fat. The protein and fat slow down the absorption of carbohydrates into the blood stream, effectively lowering the GI of that food. So if you put a bit of olive oil on your multi-grain bread, its GI is much lower than the multi-grain bread with jam.
Here is an sample menu.

• Breakfast: whole-grain bread with low-fat cottage cheese, a glass of non-fat milk, and an orange.
• Morning snack: strawberries and non-fat plain yogurt (you could add protein-based sugar substitute).
• Lunch: chicken sandwich with whole-grain bread and mustard. Salad with soy-based meat substitute.
• Afternoon snack: non-fat milk and apple.
• Dinner: Steamed fish with a variety of vegetables and brown rice. Salad with avocado.

If you are wondering about the GI of a particular food, check out “The GI Diet Guide” (http://www.the-gi-diet.org/lowgifoods/). This site has great information about the glycemic index. And if you are serious about your diet, you should meet with a dietitian who has familiarity with your particular needs.

Source:
Diets with High or Low Protein Content and Glycemic Index for Weight-Loss Maintenance. New England Journal of Medicine, 2010; 363 (22): 2102
The Effect of Protein and Glycemic Index on Children’s Body Composition: The DiOGenes Randomized Study. Pediatrics, 2010; 126

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