[Freeda]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl

And Freeda, is low glycemic the same as low carb? Appears to me to be the same?

Sorry for not answering this sooner; been on the go alot. 'Low carb' is not the same as low-glycemic, as I'll explain below. A low carb diet would be like the Atkins diet, which is high protein, low carb.

With a low carb diet, your body feels that it is starving, and begins to draw on other sources of fuel for its metabolic needs; similar to what happens with fasting. The body, especially the brain, prefers glucose (which comes from carbs) as its fuel of choice. So, where there is no, or low, carbohydrate in your meals, insulin levels drop dramatically (since there is little if any excess sugar in the blood, and therefore not much insulin is needed, since its job is to remove excess sugar from the blood and store it in the cells). Next, the body uses up glycogen stores (stored glucose as a ready source of fuel) from the liver and the muscle. These stores are used up in a couple of days, and so next the body begins breaking down fat and more muscle as a means of obtaining fuel for energy, in the form of ketones. (This is called ketosis, and can lead to impaired liver function, low blood pressure, fatigue, constipation, and leaching of minerals from the bones). The brain can function on ketones as fuel, but glucose is its fuel of choice. Thus, in this unnatural state of ketosis, one feels fatigued, confused and irritable

With low-carb diet the initial weight loss is very rapid, in terms of pounds lost - but it is a 'fake' weight loss, and here is why:
For every gram of carbohydrate (in the form of glycogen) stored in the liver or muscle, four grams of water are also bound. In other words, for every gram of glycogen released from the liver or muscle, four grams of mere water weight are also released. So, when you are using up reserved glycogen from muscle and liver, you are also releasing alot of water - thus, essentially all, or at least most, of the 'weight loss' shown on a scale is actually loss of water weight - not much loss of fat. When before and after body fat measurements are compared, there is little fat loss on a low-carb diet, regardless of the 'weight' loss shown on the scale.

Then, when you inevitably return to eating carbs (the body will eventually force this, in order to get energy once the glycogen stores are used up, and after the state of ketosis becomes prolonged - so that you can feel good again), the glycogen stores will be replaced, along with the water that is necessary to be bound with them. So, the 'lost' weight returns.

After a low carb diet, one looks (for a while) thinner, because both muscle mass and water have been lost. But, the trap has been set: because muscle mass has been lost, and muscle is what burns fuel, once you go off a low-carb diet, you have less muscle mass to burn fuel; thus, fewer calories are needed by the body for fuel, and fat can be gained more easily and quickly from eating the same or even less food than before the diet. This is the cause of the 'yo yo' dieting experience.

In short, the body must have plenty of good carbohydrates in order to function normally - and to maintain a normal weight. Not only do carbohydrates provide fuel, but they are an important source of nutrients, so low carb diets are also a problem due to lack of nutrients.

Low-glycemic eating (which is actually just another term for eating the way that Mother Nature intended for us to) combines healthy carbs (low-glycemic carbs are 55 or less - and the lower, the better - on the glycemic index - see www.glycemicindex.com or other internet sites to learn about this, and about what to eliminate), ie, carbs that do not unnaturally spike the blood sugar, with healthy proteins and fats. We need a diet where our calories come from about 40-50% healthy (low-glycemic) carbs, about 30% healthy fats, and about 20-30% healthy proteins.

The single most important principle of low-glycemic eating is that because you are no longer unnaturally spiking your blood sugar, you will not be dropping in to a hypoglycemic state (low blood sugar), and within a short time this will cause you to stop getting that shaky feeling and craving high-glycemic carbohydrates - in other words, when you stop eating high-glycemic carbohydrates, the cravings for them (that are caused by hypoglycemia - and the craving is very analogous to the withdrawal that drug-abusers experience) will quickly vanish. I know this may seem hard to believe until you experience it, but it is true; and that is why low-glycemic eating does not required alot of 'will-power' or self-denial or suffering - which are the main reasons that virtually all true 'diet plans' fail. Most if not all 'diet' plans are too complex, restrictive, and extreme (ie, unnatural) to result in a sustainable weight loss; and more importantly, a sustainable FAT loss.

So the difference between low-carb and low-glycemic is that low-glycemic (ie, natural) eating focuses on the quality of the carbs - not so much the amount of the carbs - and dispels the notion that all carbs are the same; and also dispels the notion that 'simple-carbohydrates' or 'complex-carbohydrates' are the important focus. For example, whole wheat bread, shredded wheat, and baked potatoes, are 'complex' carbohydrates as that term has been used traditionally for decades (since this theory was introduced in 1901); and traditional thinking was that 'complex' carbohydrates would be more slowly absorbed into the blood stream. However, whole wheat bread, shredded wheat, and baked potatoes are all actually very high-glycemic, meaning that they are rapidly absorbed into the blood stream, resulting in a sharp blood sugar spike (with consequential blood sugar drop and craving for more food). In fact, all three of these foods spike the blood sugar more than if we slapped an equal amount of pure sucrose (table sugar) on our tongue. Conversely, cherries and fructose, which are 'simple' carbohydrates (which would traditionally be considered unhealthy because simple carbohydrates were believed to be more easily broken down and, thus, absorbed into the bloodsteam more quickly) under conventional 'simple' vs. 'complex'-carbohydrates theory, are actually very low-glycemic, and healthy. So much for the conventional (and, unfortunately, antequated info that is still being taught to many of the diabetics in our country) 'simplex vs. complex' carbohydrate theory; which is what resulted in the government's food pyramid showing grains and bread (ie, 'complex' carbohydrates - but, unfortunately, they are also high-glycemic) at the bottom - ie, largest 'rung' in size - of the food pyramid, encouraging us to have more servings of those foods per day than of any other foods; which is a principle reason for us having become a 'carbohydrate nation' with an increasingly overwhelming, enormous, tragic, and unnecessary healthcare crisis.

The end results from low-glycemic eating are: that the body will start naturally releasing stored fat, so you will (inevitably) get thinner (and lighter in weight) from fat loss - not just from muscle and water weight loss, and you will not be craving food, you will not ever have to go hungry or 'deprive' yourself of eating, and you will naturally stop overeating because you will only be hungry when your body actually naturally needs energy.

(Even children, studied on low-glycemic eating, have the same results: when a group of children who were fed a low-glycemic breakfast were compared with a group of children who were fed a high-glycemic breakfast, and all of the children were then given unfettered access to many food choices for the rest of the day, the low-glycemic breakfast group chose several hundred calories of less food over the course of the day, than did the high-glycemic breakfast group; and beware, most 'traditional' breakfast foods and cereals are - you guessed it - very high-glycemic; so many children are starting their day on a high-glycemic roller-coaster). Children's Hospital, Boston, study in 2000 - Dr. L. E. Spieth)

Once you have reached your goal weight, eating an occasional moderate- or even high-glycemic carb (most - but not all - of which are from processed carbohydrates) will not wiggle the needle on your scale.

Hope this info helps. Glad to hear PTurner that you are having such success!