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August 8, 2007 | Issue 128 |
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Glycemic Load: No Help in Losing Weight
It was all the rage not too long ago.
Diet books like South Beach and Atkins preached the wonders of eating foods low in glycemic load because, the theory went, low-glycemic foods kept your blood sugars down. Conversely, high-glycemic foods, even healthy ones like carrots and potatoes, were a no-no.
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Now, new science is learning that the glycemic load was, well, a load of baloney. The latest study, led by scientists at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center at Tufts University, concluded that the number of calories you eat, not the glycemic load, is what matters most when you’re trying to lose weight.*
The glycemic index, developed by University of Toronto scientists in the 1980s, is a tool that ranks individual foods by the effect they have on blood sugar levels. The higher the index, they theorized, the higher the blood sugar. But many health organizations, including the American Diabetes Association, do not endorse it, arguing that in determining blood sugar levels one’s overall diet is significantly more important than individual foods.
One-year trial
In the USDA’s new carefully-controlled randomized trial, Dr. Susan B. Roberts and colleagues followed 34 healthy overweight men and women, average age 35, for a total of one year. Half were on a low-glycemic-load diet; the other half followed a high-glycemic plan. Both diets were designed to cut calories by 30 percent, and both groups were encouraged to limit fat and eat a lot of fiber-rich, healthful foods like fruits and vegetables.
The first six months, the scientists provided the dieters with all their food. The next six months, the dieters followed their eating plans on their own.
Identical weight loss
After one year, the low-glycemic-load dieters ended up losing about 8% of their initial weight – and so did the high-glycemic-dieters.
“These finding provide more detailed evidence to suggest that diets differing substantially in glycemic load induce comparable long-term weight loss,” stated Dr. Roberts and team.
The scientists also found no differences between the two diet groups in calorie intake, hunger, satiety, metabolic rates, and body fat loss.
Identical drops in blood sugar and triglycerides
And interestingly, drops in blood sugar and triglyceride levels, the two areas that a low-glycemic diet has been promoted as being particularly beneficial for, did not differ between the two diets.
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Pritikin Perspective - Healthy Living Made Easier
Pritikin Perspective is a publication for Alumni of the Pritikin Longevity Center. It is dedicated to helping people make healthy changes in their lives. The articles in this publication should not be considered specific medical advice, as each individual circumstance is different. You are strongly encouraged to seek medical advice before beginning a program of diet and exercise.
Editor/Writer: Eugenia Killoran.
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