I’ve heard of the Glycemic Index diet, that the lower the GI the food has, the quicker you lose weight and the easier it is to stay healthy. What is the appropriate amount of GI to consume in a day? Does it count like calories? If you want to lose weight, how many “points” should you consume in a day?
2:14 pm on April 26th, 2010
You’re misinterpreting a bit. GI is a measure of how a food impacts your blood sugar level. Of critical importance for diabetics. For the rest of us, a high GI number means a quick insulin reaction. Insulin mediates the conversion of blood sugar to stored fat. So if you eat the same number of calories, high GI foods will be converted to fat faster than low GI foods.
Losing weight is not a matter of how many GI points, its about calories consumed vs. calories burned, but sticking to the lower GI foods as a general rule makes weight management easier.
There ARE occasions where high GI foods are usefull however. In the middle of a marathon, runners need high GI foods and sugars to fuel their muscles quickly and efficiently after they’ve depleted a significant portion of the glycogen in their muscles and liver.