Hey guys Adam here and in
this video I'm going to look at
glycemic the index and if it has
any real world impact
implications on fat loss or
overall health or is it just
complete and utter garbage now
glycemic index gets a lot of
attention in the press and we're
often told that if you want to
optimize your health and lose
body fat then you should avoid
higher GI foods and only eat
lower GI foods or focus on
eating lower GI foods.
And first if you don't know what
GI or glycemic index is it's
essentially a figure
representing the ability of a
carbohydrate food to increase
blood sugar levels.
It was invented about 40 years
ago and is tested by consuming a
specific carbohydrate source
when in fasted state.
So the theory behind avoiding
higher GI foods such as white
bread sugar white potatoes and
opting for lower G.I. foods such
as the brown wholegrain
counterparts goes like this
higher GI foods equals higher
levels of blood sugar which
leads to higher levels of
insulin which causes the
inhibition of lypolysis.
In other words it stops the
break down fat or it makes you
fat.
It makes sense when you look
like this and this is where most
of the low carb zealots would
argue
in favor of reducing
carbohydrates because of this
reason
But there are a few
misconceptions here.
The first misconception is
there's not a direct one to one
correlation with higher blood
sugar and insulin release in the
body.
And a 2010 study comparing both
carb + protein rich meals
actually show that when matched
for overall calories a meal
higher in protein rather than
higher in carbohydrates increase
insulin levels more even though
blood sugar levels were lower
with the higher protein meal.
So even though a food may have a
higher glycemic index than
another it doesn't necessarily
mean it will increase insulin
levels more.
Secondly even in the absence of
insulin you can still get fat
insulin stops fat burning in the
body by suppressing activity of
a hormone called hormone
sensitive lipase which is or in
other words HSL which is an
enzyme that helps break down fat
in the body.
But here's the kicker if you
overconsume calories even when
insulin levels are low you'll
also suppress HSL and hence why
regardless if you follow a lower
carbohydrate diet approach or
not you still need to maintain a
calorie deficit.
If you want to lose body fat and
going back to the research
specifically on glycemic index
most of the studies fail to
equate overall calories and
macronutrient in a diet which of
course will interfere with the
whole question of does the G.I.
index matter when you're
comparing the two.
That's just like trying to
compare like the quality of
petrol on a car's performance
when you're using two different
cars it just doesn't make sense.
And there are some papers did
equate the macronutrient in
fiber intake when comparing
higher GI carb source and a
lower GI carb source and sacks
at all found that lower GI diets
didn't improve insulin
sensitivity.
They didn't reduce triglyceride
levels nor did they have any
impact on blood pressure levels.
A second study by Karl +
colleagues showed that there
were no metabolic or fat loss
advantages to lower GI diets
when macronutrients and fibre
were matched.
What does that mean for
complication if you follow a
calorie appropriate diet
And eating enough fiber in your
diet eating higher GI foods or
higher GI carbohydrates will
have zero detrimental effects to
fat loss or overall health.
So people typically think that
lower G.I. foods are healthier.
However it's not always the
case.
For example full fat ice cream
has a much lower GI index than
brown rice.
So if you prefer brown bread
over white bread or brown rice
over white rice and go for it
but don't be afraid to have
higher GI foods in your diet.
Especially if it's going to help
you maintain that calorie
deficit.
But do keep mind the higher
processed foods can be lacking
fiber and also easily
overconsume as they're often
less filling.
So for my health and fat loss
goals, focus on eating whole un
processed foods for the most
part.
But don't be afraid to have the
foods that you enjoy some of the
time and understand that over
calories are going to be the
primary driver of whether you
lose fat or not.
So GI index is pretty much your
refuted in the scientific
community nowadays and it's only
ever seen online in like
articles or people who don't
really know what they're talking
about promoting it and it's
still quite rampant in the
marketing of many companies that
are saying that you should eat
these lower G.I. foods based on
those theories that I just broke
down that are no longer true or
proven not to be true.
So focus again on the overall
calories if you're going to have
higher GI foods in your diet and
might actually be beneficial
especially if those higher G.I.
foods are foods that you enjoy
and will help you stick to the
Diet, help you adhere to the
plan long term because the long
term adherence is what is going
to give you the overall best
results.
The overall goal is if you can
stick to something only for a
small amount of time and you
fall off the bandwagon go back
to the way you're eating before
then it's not success but if you
are having some of those higher
you GI foods maybe like candy
maybe you like eating honey or
whatever it is if you eat some
of that in your diet and it
helps you stick to calorie
deficit if your goal is fat loss
or if you're trying to get
better health and lose fat.
And if it makes you stick it out
longer well then that is
actually going to be beneficial
to include that in your diet.