One of the most amazing weight loss transformations I’ve ever witnessed was that of a colleague at work. He was overweight but not obese.
She suddenly found out on a routine doctor’s visit that she had diabetes. He had no indication before his regular checkup. Diabetes is a blood sugar disorder caused by insufficient insulin production or the inability of cells to use insulin properly.
What is insulin? Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas and is released into the bloodstream in the digestive process. The purpose of insulin is to bring glucose, or sugar, from the blood into the cells to use for energy. When insulin is under or over secreted, it causes stress in the body and usually manifests itself physically. If left unchecked, it could lead to excessive thirst, frequent urination, dry skin, blurred vision, fatigue, and many other conditions, including weight gain.
Glucose is created from the digested food or carbohydrates you just ate. It changes from sweet sugar that we taste in our food to blood sugar that our body can use. This is the energy for your cells.
Glucose is stored in the liver in the form of glycogen. When a person’s blood glucose changes, the liver converts stored glycogen to glucose and releases it into the bloodstream for low glucose levels. For high levels, the pancreas secretes insulin to signal the liver to stop glucose production. The pancreas continuously monitors blood sugar levels and reacts by injecting the correct amount of insulin into the system. It acts as a governor and responds directly to the levels of sugar ingested.
What you need to know about the glycemic index is to really understand how foods affect your insulin secretion. Understanding your insulin secretion is like learning to drive a car. You may know how to turn it on and off, but that doesn’t mean you won’t crash it until you understand the rules of the road and how the machinery works. To do this, you need to know about carbohydrates.
The two types of carbohydrates that have a big impact on your weight are known as simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates have little nutritional value and are characterized by being dry and without fiber such as donuts, cakes, candies, pastries, cookies, breads, white flour products, etc. They quickly convert into your bloodstream triggering a 911 call to your pancreas to send insulin to combat the flood of sugar. Usually, due to the extreme impact of sugar on the system, the pancreas reacts with a rush of insulin. When the insulin level is high, a large amount of glucose is rapidly removed from the blood, faster than it can be metabolized. This glucose turns into fat in the cells. Over time this buildup is the layer of fat that covers your abs.
Complex carbohydrates are better for you. They have more fiber density and are characterized by being moist or juicy, hence fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables contain sugar, but they also often contain fiber. Therefore, fruits and vegetables are digested more slowly in the system. The 911 call to the pancreas is avoided and therefore excess insulin is not produced. Fruit is efficiently metabolized in cells without excess sugar being stored in fat cells.
Going back to my colleague, he lost 50 pounds in two months. All that weight loss was the result of following the glycemic index of foods and an eating plan. He is unable to exercise due to a back injury and has not exercised for many years. His secret was that he never ate a meal that had more than 40 carbohydrates per sitting. Second, I would also eat protein snacks or glycemic index friendly snacks (low complex booths) between meals. This kept her insulin levels stable throughout the day. He said that he was actually eating more now than before the weight loss.
What is the glycemic index?
The glycemic index is a ranking of carbohydrates on a scale of 0 to 100 by the extent to which they increase blood sugar levels. It measures how much your blood glucose levels rise after eating. Low glycemic index foods have less than 55 and produce a small spike in insulin levels. A medium glycemic index food is between 56-70 and a high glycemic index food is above 70.
Avoiding foods with a high glycemic index is a good start to losing weight and regaining your abs. High glycemic index foods are not necessarily all the good things you like to eat. Believe it or not, a Snickers bar is classified as a low glycemic index food with a rating of 40. It doesn’t mean you have to eat a Snickers bar 5 times a day. There are a lot of empty calories in a candy bar. The nuts in the candy bar digest more slowly, giving it a lower rating. Ice cream has a glycemic index of 61. Again, not something to indulge too much in, but it does show that you can change your diet and not miss out on all your favorite foods.
Learning how to eat and paying attention to how your body reacts will help you reach your weight loss goals. Spend some time on the glycemic index, and then build your plan around it. You can read much more about losing weight and getting firmer abs at Best Abs Diet.
