Dieter's Digest

New Discoveries in Weight Loss

Some people say that there have been no new discoveries in nutrition for over 20 years. I beg to differ. Interestingly enough, it pertains to weight loss and it is getting the attention of the medical community.

It seems there is a growing body of evidence, which indicates that some foods are more likely to cause weight gain than others. What if the foods you are choosing for weight loss, are turning straight into fat when you eat them? They could be undermining your good efforts to lose weight. The food group we are talking about is

carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are digested and enter the blood as sugars. Researchers are finding out that they do this at different rates.

When a carbohydrate, like white bread, is digested and absorbed quickly into the blood stream, blood sugar rises sharply causing the body to pump out extra insulin. Insulin moves the sugar into the cells to be stored as fat.

The larger the portion of this carbohydrate you ingest, the higher your blood sugar and the more insulin your body produces. The more insulin produced, the faster the sugars are put into storage.

But that may not be the worst of it. When insulin production shoots up, too much sugar is sent to the cells and low blood sugar results. Among other things, this makes you more-hungry, sooner than normal. So you eat again, probably too much, because you are ravenous. Blood sugar shoots up and the whole cycle begins again.

Of no surprise to you, is the list of foods which tend to cause this glucose/insulin response. White bread, sugar, highly refined flour and potato products top the list of these high glycemic foods. Sadly, those delicious rice cakes we love to use as a diet staple, are

one of the highest glycemic foods available.

Help your body use its carbs rather than store them. Stay away from processed and manufactured foods like sugary breakfast cereals, and increase your intake of carbs with fiber, like beans and lentils, whole wheat breads and fresh fruits and vegetables.

For more information on how foods may cause weight gain check out the article on Glycemic Index at: www.myfoodbuddy.com