Perhaps the Glycemic Index List is the Dieter"s Choice for Good Reason After All?
When I was undertaking some research on the diet and food industry, I came across some really startling facts.
There are literally thousands of diet products out in the market at any one time, many of which have very misleading health claims attached to them and many of benefits stated on the packaging and through media advertising is shaky at best. I'm not even talking about the supplement market with all their "quick fix portions". But don't get me wrong there are some very good supplements on the market, the challenge however is weeding these out from the chaff.
Did you also know that the US weight loss market alone was worth a staggering $55.4 billion in 2006 according to Marketdata Enterprises and its estimated that by 2010 it will be worth around $68.7 billion. That may not raise an eyebrow with you, except perhaps to acknowledge that these are big numbers. But what if I told you that numerous reports estimate that anywhere between 90 to 95% of dieters fail to achieve any long term weight loss and in fact put the weight back on within 12 to 24 months of the diet ending. I don't know about you but that set off alarm bells with me. Something is really amiss here.
It was this kind of data that really encouraged me to dig deeper to try and discover what the hell was going on and why so many dieters - and there are a lot (1 in every 2 Americans is on a diet at any given time!) - were failing to succeed in breaking out of the stubborn weight gain cycle. For more information on what I discovered, you can watch my video on my website.
I just couldn't accept that with some many people genuinely trying their best to lose weight that such a large number failed because of their own lack of motivation. And it can't be just down to poor eating habits or lifestyle, although in for people perhaps it for this reason.
The first shocking truth I discovered about the food and diet industries, I came across while reading about how the glycemic index list of foods was helping non-suffers of diabetes to control blood sugar levels and to control their weight. It's undeniable that its seems widely accepted by the majority of dieters and people generally who a conscientious about their health and in what they eat, that fat is generally considered harmful and something to be avoided if possible.
Yet, the truth is that fat is in fact very good for you and constituents 1 of the 3 essential macronutrients that the body needs to metabolize to remain healthy and in top shape. I have to confess that many years ago, before I began to take a keen interest in healthy eating, I certainly fell into that camp and recall scrutinizing the small print on food packaging, looking of food choices that were very low in fat.
It therefore surprises me to find that despite it being more than 20 years on, there still appears to be a general perception that fatty foods should be avoided.
The question one inevitably asks is why is this perception still persisting when the science on the matter is pretty conclusive?
Whether it is intentional or not, the diet and food industry still seem to be exploiting this general perception by placing so much emphasis on low calories and low fat. It is misleading and reckless in my opinion. They cleverly market their products and package it in such a way so as to suggest that their stuff is low calorie or low fat and that in some way our health will be better for it if we consume their products. Quite frankly it is a load of tish-tosh.
The truth is that people who listen to this nonsense are likely to pay for it with poorer health and a lighter wallet, since these products also tend to come at a premium perhaps because they want us to believe that their products perform some kind of magic!
Science has shown that low calorie diets may in fact encourage the body to store more fat as low calorific diets tend to fool the body into believing that food is scarce and in an effort to preserve itself, it slows down our metabolism and sends a signal to store more fat, as fat is a prime source of energy.
Scientists have shown that fat performs 2 important functions. Firstly it sends a signal to the brain to tell it that you feel satisfied after a meal which prevents binge eating and secondly it slows the absorption of carbohydrates into the bloodstream which moderates insulin levels and blood sugar levels. It is generally believed that foods that cause the secretion of high levels of insulin cause the body to store more fat in an effort to bring down the high level of insulin produced.
If this theory is correct - and I have found nothing to the contrary - then eating foods that are low on the glycemic index list, will help to moderate the insulin response in the body and therefore discourage the body from storing too much fat.
There are literally thousands of diet products out in the market at any one time, many of which have very misleading health claims attached to them and many of benefits stated on the packaging and through media advertising is shaky at best. I'm not even talking about the supplement market with all their "quick fix portions". But don't get me wrong there are some very good supplements on the market, the challenge however is weeding these out from the chaff.
Did you also know that the US weight loss market alone was worth a staggering $55.4 billion in 2006 according to Marketdata Enterprises and its estimated that by 2010 it will be worth around $68.7 billion. That may not raise an eyebrow with you, except perhaps to acknowledge that these are big numbers. But what if I told you that numerous reports estimate that anywhere between 90 to 95% of dieters fail to achieve any long term weight loss and in fact put the weight back on within 12 to 24 months of the diet ending. I don't know about you but that set off alarm bells with me. Something is really amiss here.
It was this kind of data that really encouraged me to dig deeper to try and discover what the hell was going on and why so many dieters - and there are a lot (1 in every 2 Americans is on a diet at any given time!) - were failing to succeed in breaking out of the stubborn weight gain cycle. For more information on what I discovered, you can watch my video on my website.
I just couldn't accept that with some many people genuinely trying their best to lose weight that such a large number failed because of their own lack of motivation. And it can't be just down to poor eating habits or lifestyle, although in for people perhaps it for this reason.
The first shocking truth I discovered about the food and diet industries, I came across while reading about how the glycemic index list of foods was helping non-suffers of diabetes to control blood sugar levels and to control their weight. It's undeniable that its seems widely accepted by the majority of dieters and people generally who a conscientious about their health and in what they eat, that fat is generally considered harmful and something to be avoided if possible.
Yet, the truth is that fat is in fact very good for you and constituents 1 of the 3 essential macronutrients that the body needs to metabolize to remain healthy and in top shape. I have to confess that many years ago, before I began to take a keen interest in healthy eating, I certainly fell into that camp and recall scrutinizing the small print on food packaging, looking of food choices that were very low in fat.
It therefore surprises me to find that despite it being more than 20 years on, there still appears to be a general perception that fatty foods should be avoided.
The question one inevitably asks is why is this perception still persisting when the science on the matter is pretty conclusive?
Whether it is intentional or not, the diet and food industry still seem to be exploiting this general perception by placing so much emphasis on low calories and low fat. It is misleading and reckless in my opinion. They cleverly market their products and package it in such a way so as to suggest that their stuff is low calorie or low fat and that in some way our health will be better for it if we consume their products. Quite frankly it is a load of tish-tosh.
The truth is that people who listen to this nonsense are likely to pay for it with poorer health and a lighter wallet, since these products also tend to come at a premium perhaps because they want us to believe that their products perform some kind of magic!
Science has shown that low calorie diets may in fact encourage the body to store more fat as low calorific diets tend to fool the body into believing that food is scarce and in an effort to preserve itself, it slows down our metabolism and sends a signal to store more fat, as fat is a prime source of energy.
Scientists have shown that fat performs 2 important functions. Firstly it sends a signal to the brain to tell it that you feel satisfied after a meal which prevents binge eating and secondly it slows the absorption of carbohydrates into the bloodstream which moderates insulin levels and blood sugar levels. It is generally believed that foods that cause the secretion of high levels of insulin cause the body to store more fat in an effort to bring down the high level of insulin produced.
If this theory is correct - and I have found nothing to the contrary - then eating foods that are low on the glycemic index list, will help to moderate the insulin response in the body and therefore discourage the body from storing too much fat.
