Dieting - Low Glycemic Index

Low Glycemic Index

"The glycemic index (GI) factor is a ranking of foods based on their overall effect on blood sugar levels. The diet based around this research is called the Low GI diet. Low glycemic index foods, such as lentils, provide a slower, more consistent source of glucose to the bloodstream, thereby stimulating less insulin release than high glycemic index foods, such as white bread."

The glycemic load is "the mathematical product of the glycemic index and the carbohydrate amount".

In a randomized controlled trial that compared four diets that varied in carbohydrate amount and glycemic index found complicated results:

• Diet 1 and 2 were high carbohydrate (55% of total energy intake)
  • Diet 1 was high-glycemic index
  • Diet 2 was low-glycemic index
• Diet 3 and 4 were high protein (25% of total energy intake)
  • Diet 3 was high-glycemic index
  • Diet 4 was low-glycemic index

Diets 2 and 3 lost the most weight and fat mass; however, low density lipoprotein fell in Diet 2 and rose in Diet 3. Thus the authors concluded that the high-carbohydrate, low-glycemic index diet was the most favorable.

A meta-analysis by the Cochrane Collaboration concluded that low glycemic index or low glycemic load diets led to more weight loss and better lipid profiles. However, the Cochrane Collaboration grouped low glycemic index and low glycemic load diets together and did not try to separate the effects of the load versus the index.