I am prohibited from counseling people who choose to follow a "low carb" diet that proposes protein consumption of more than 15% of the total daily caloric limit.
You have probobly heard that low glycemic meal plans are of benefit to persons with elevated blood sugar levels, but one does not have to be a diabetic in order to benefit from low glycemic meal planning.
Low glycemic meal planning involves making smarter choices when it comes to carbohydrates, such as choosing whole wheat bread rather than white bread, whole wheat pasta rather than white pasta, and so on...
It is also important to note that low glycemic and low carb are not the same thing.
Low glycemic is smart. Low carb?
Let's just say, I have nothing good to say about low carb dieting.
Here's why.
"When you reduce your carbohydrate consumption to almost nothing, however, your body quickly runs through it's supplies of blood sugar and stored glycogen. It then turns to what it has left: fat and protein. Fat, ofcourse, is what you want to burn. Protein is not.
When your body burns protein for energy, it raids the protein from your muscle tissue. Every pound of muscle in your body burns between 35 and 50 calories a day just to maintain itself. That's in addition to the countless additional calories your muscles burn when they power every move your body makes. When you lose muscle protein, you slow your metabolism. This sets you up for weight gain down the road-when you abandon your low carb lifestyle.
IF you could stick to eating low carb for the rest of your life, you might not regain the weight. Few people last this long, however. Studies show that about 40 percent of people cheat and eventually drop out of low-carb diets. By the way, that's roughly the same percentage of people who lose the motivation to stick with low-fat diets.
With longer-term studies, we also may find that these diets are anything but good for your health. When you force your body to burn fat in the absence of carbohydrate, your body cannot burn fat completely. This creates by-products called ketones. Normally, your body can clear these ketones from your blood, but when it burns fat too quickly, they can build up to dangerous levels. This may increase levels of uric acid in your blood, which raises your risk for gout and kidney stones.
Carbohydrates also house a number of healthy nutrtients-such as fiber-not found in protein and fatty foods. Carbohydrate rich foods such as fruits and vegetables contain numerous phytonutrients-not found in meat-that can help prevent many types of disease. When you cut carbs from your diet, you lose out on these important nutrients."
another quote reads:
"One study completed at the University of Sydney in Australia found low GI diets produce greater weight loss than high GI diets."
another quote reads:
"I competed as a gymnast through college, and I remember my coach telling us over and over again about the importance of carbohydrates for energy. He definitely was onto something, as numerous studies show that diets low in carbohydrate reduce athletic performance. In one study completed at the University of Birmingham in Edgbaston in the United Kingdom, researchers put runners on 2 different diets: one high in carbs and one low in carbs. When the runners consumed a low carb diet, they felt more fatigued and reported feeling moody."
SOURCE:
"Eat Carbs, Lose Weight"
Denise Austin with Amy Campbell, M.S., R.D., C.D.E. of the Harvard affiliated Joslin Clinic
I want to encourage you to learn the difference between "slow carbs" and "fast carbs" and familiarize yourself with the Glycemic Index otherwise known as "GI."
This information is in the above listed book.
In the mean time, try to remember that the slow carbs are beneficial to insulin levels, and the fast carbs are detrimental to insulin levels.
Slow carbs, which have a low GI rating, which is 55 or less, help to stabilize blood sugar levels
EXAMPLES OF LOW GLYCEMIC INDEX FOODS [ low GI]
[ please don't confuse glycemic index or GI with glycemic load or GL ]
NOTE: please keep in mind that a food can be low glycemic and still be high calorie, which means you still have to watch your total caloric intake and pay close attention to the recommended serving size !!!
pears 43
apples 34
sourdough rye bread 48
lentils 52
peas [ yes, I said peas ] 22
oatmeal cookies 54
banana 42
corn chips 42
chocolate cake 38 [this does not mean you can eat alot of it, it's still high in calories]
EXAMPLES OF HIGH GLYCEMIC FOODS:
chocolate ice cream 68
watermelon 72
corn pops cereal 80
froot loops 69
baked potato [ a serving size is usually a small 5 oz. potato ] 78
pretzels 83
