— By Becky Hand, Licensed & Registered Dietitian

Imagine a categorizing system in which numbers are assigned to foods, allowing you to choose the foods that curb appetite, help shed excess pounds, lower your risk for diabetes, and improve heart health. These in fact are the claims of popular diets that use the Glycemic Index—GI diet, for short.

The Glycemic Index ranks carbohydrate-containing foods (on a scale from 0 to 100) based on their effects on blood sugar levels in the body. Eating highly processed foods, such as bread made from refined white flour, raises blood sugar higher and faster than does eating whole foods, such as whole-wheat bread or an apple. Foods—like white bread—that cause the most rapid rise in blood sugar are given a higher number, while whole-wheat breads and apples have lower ratings. A rating of 55 or below is considered low, and 70 or above is considered high.

Additional information and values for the GI diet can be found at: www.GlycemicIndex.com, and www.Mendosa.com. The Glycemic Indexes of a few foods are listed here:

The Premise

Proponents of the GI diet believe that the lower the GI number of a carbohydrate food, the better.   High GI foods are digested and metabolized more quickly, causing a rapid rise in blood glucose levels. This creates a dramatic spike in levels of the hormone insulin, which works to remove sugar from the blood. These responses can lead to an overproduction of insulin, contributing to weight gain. Therefore, carbohydrate foods with low Glycemic Indexes cause less insulin secretion and slow the clearing of glucose from the blood stream—resulting in greater satiety, and fewer calories consumed throughout the day.

The Spark Response

Using the Glycemic Index for meal planning is a very complicated process. Here are some of the limitations:

• Only about 5% foods in the national food database have been tested.
• There is usually a wide variation in the GI measurement. A potato can be as low as 56 or as high as 100. In fact, a food’s GI score can change based on the food’s ripeness level.
• A food’s GI score can also change based on preparation techniques. Grinding and cooking can elevate the GI score of some foods, because they become quicker and easier to digest.
• GI testing is done on individual foods, but we consume most foods in combinations. Fiber, protein, and fat will usually reduce the Glycemic Index of a meal.
• The rate at which different people digest carbohydrates varies. And each person’s glycemic response may vary throughout the day.
• When certain high glycemic foods are eliminated from the diet, so are vital vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytochemicals. Watermelon has a GI of 72 but it is high in potassium, vitamin A, and lycopene, for example.
• Relying on the Glycemic Index can still lead to overeating and weight gain. Peanuts look like the perfect choice with a GI of 14, but with about 400 calories in ½ cup, they won’t help shed pounds when eaten in excess.

The Glycemic Index is a marvelous tool for ranking carbohydrates. However, it is currently only in its infancy regarding health benefits. More research is necessary to make it a truly valid, reliable, and applicable teaching tool. The simple facts still remain:

• 20% of Americans’ calories come from high carbohydrate foods, such as cakes, cookies, pies, pastries, ice cream, sugar, candy, soda pop, and chips.
• Fresh fruits and vegetables, and whole grain products (whole-wheat breads and pastas, brown rice, and wheat germ) are nutritionally superior to highly processed, refined products.
• Simply limiting the total number of carbohydrates you consume at a meal can more easily control your blood sugar levels.
• You probably don’t need a complicated rating system to confuse you about which carbohydrates to include in your diet.

let me know your thoughts.

By Kelly Taylor, BDO Contributing Writer (BlackDoctor.org) –

– There are so many pieces of advice and tools with claims to help you fight the fat.  With so much information flying around, dieters with good intentions end up relying on their own strategies and tips that seem to be common sense. Unfortunately, these well-intentioned approaches to weight loss end up sabotaging your efforts to drop the pounds.

1. You “Save Up” Calories
Cutting your total daily calories to cause a caloric deficiency leads to weight loss. But if you’re saving most of your daily calories for a large meal or an after dinner splurge, you are doing yourself and your diet a disservice. When you eat a large amount of calories at the end of the day, your hunger hormones will go into overload and cause you to eat more. Eating too much at night will kill your appetite in the morning, which causes a vicious cycle where you’re starving by dinner.

Do this instead: Balance your calories throughout the day. Never skip a meal, particularly breakfast, in order to use more calories on another meal. A good breakfast should be about 450 calories.  Try eating a scrambled egg with low fat cheese, a piece of whole wheat toast, and a piece of fruit or cup of fruit juice for breakfast.  That way you stay satisfied until lunch and don’t end up overeating.

2. You Eat Randomly
Grazing throughout the day may contribute to weight gain. A study published in 2005 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that women who planned their meal times burned more calories in the 3 hours following eating than did women who ate sporadically at unplanned times.  You’re also more likely to nibble on small portions of calories that add up quickly.

Do this instead: Everyone is different. If you know you need to eat five times a day, plan out your calories, set a schedule for your meals and stick to it.

3. You Miscount Count Calories
Without fail, people underestimate the number of calories in nutritious foods such as baked chicken, apples, yogurt and other healthy foods.  Just because a food is healthy does not mean its calories don’t count.

Do this instead: If you want to stay within a certain number of calories daily, count every calorie every time. That means you account for the cup of strawberries and the soda.

4. You Crash Diet
It sounds like a good idea. You want to lose weight so you drastically slash your calories in hopes of a fast weight loss.  Nutrition experts, however, have found that if you crash diet for more than two weeks, your body will go into conservation mode and your metabolism slows down until it starts to get a decent amount of calories.

Do this instead: Experts recommended getting no less than 1,200 calories a day.  In order to shed about one pound a week, you need to create a deficit of 500 calories.  You can do this by removing 250 calories a day from your diet and burning 250 calories through exercise.

5. You Set Short-term Weight-loss Goals
According to the National Weight Control Registry, an estimated 20% of dieters successfully keep off lost weight for more than a year. The problem is that once most people reach their goals, they slowly but surely resort back to old eating habits.

Do this instead: Set a long term goal for yourself, and then break it down into smaller goals.  As you reach each goal, think of the progress as another step toward a lifetime of health habits.  By making your goals long term, you’re setting yourself up to continue your new healthy habits for the rest of your life and not just until you lose a few pounds.

By Brittany Gatson, BDO Staff Writer (BlackDoctor.org)

– Believe it or not, fat-free foods may cause more problems than they are supposed to solve. Grocery stores are full of “fat-free” products these days — everything from cookies to bread, from juices to half-and-half for your coffee. But if your aim is to create a low-fat diet to keep cholesterol levels down, “fat free” isn’t necessarily the magic trick.

What’s In A “Fat Free” Label?

The problem is not one of definition. Foods labeled “fat-free” really do have to be fat free. According to the FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), foods advertised as “fat free” must have less than 0.5 grams of fat per serving.

“Low-fat” foods, meanwhile, must have 3 grams of fat or less per serving. “Reduced-fat” foods have to have at least 25% less fat than their traditional counterparts. And “light” foods must have either 1/3 fewer calories or 50% less fat.

The problem is that sometimes “fat free” is also, well, taste free. And to make up for that lack of taste, food manufacturers tend to pour other ingredients — especially sugar, flour, thickeners and salt — into the products. That may boost the calorie content.
Plus, if the foods aren’t that appealing, they may lead to overeating to make up for the lack of satisfaction.

Not Low Fat, But Good Fat

So if “fat free” isn’t the ticket to a low-fat diet, what is? Recent studies have shown that the main health culprit may not be the amount of total fat in your diet. A study found that women who ate low-fat diets and those who didn’t had nearly identical rates of heart attacks, strokes, and other forms of cardiovascular disease. Other studies have found no link between high-fat diets and other diseases, including cancer, and weight gain. Instead, it’s the type of fats you eat that seems to matter most.

Today, nutritionists speak in terms of ‘good fat’ and ‘bad fat. Keeping the amount of fat in your diet down to about 30% is still important, but what’s most important is that you’re eating the right kind of heart-healthy fats.

“Good” fats include both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Monounsaturated fats (like canola and olive oils) are those that have been found to lower the “bad cholesterol” (low-density lipoproteins or LDL) in the bloodstream and raise the amount of “good cholesterol” (high-density lipoproteins or HDL). LDL cholesterol has been linked to atherosclerosis and heart disease. HDL appears to actually clear the “bad” types of cholesterol from the blood. Polyunsaturated fats (as in fatty fish such as tuna and salmon) simply help lower LDL cholesterol.

“Bad” fats include the saturated fats found in animal products (beef, pork, chicken, butter, and other dairy products). They also include as trans fats, found in the hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils often used in commercial baked products and fast food. Another “bad” fat is cholesterol, found in egg yolks, meats, dairy products and some shellfish. All of these types of fat have been linked to higher levels of LDL.

All this isn’t to say that fat-free products have no role in a heart-healthy diet. But to use them wisely, experts suggest that you:

•    Read the labels of “fat-free” products. Make sure the products aren’t loaded with sugar or additives, and that they’re actually lower in calories than their traditional counterpart. Also make sure that the suggested serving size isn’t so small as to be unrealistic. Become educated on what goes into processed foods as there may be a lot of hidden fats in them.
•    Watch your servings. If you eat three servings of low-fat ice cream, at 3 grams of fat and 250 calories per serving, you’re still getting 9 grams of fat and 750 calories. Sometimes it’s better to eat one serving of truly satisfying whole-fat food and avoid the extra calories and sugar.
•    Eat a variety of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. These give you heart-healthy nutrients and fiber to keep you feeling full longer, and they typically have fewer calories. They’re also naturally low in fat. A baked potato is healthier than even ‘baked’ potato chips. The whole potato has more nutrients, more fiber, and less calories. Oatmeal, vegetables, and fruit also contain soluble fiber, which “binds” cholesterol, helping the body to excrete it.
•    Develop a consistent exercise program. Exercise helps reduce cholesterol, burn calories, prevent diseases, and reduce stress. It’s crucial for maintaining overall good health, and an important complement to a healthy diet.
•    Don’t give up on creating a low-fat diet. Eating less saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol truly can reduce the levels of fat in your bloodstream. It will also help you reduce the number of calories you eat (as fats are more caloric than protein or carbohydrates). This in turn, will help keep your weight down — another key factor in controlling LDL levels.