A few days ago, taking part in one of the molded discussion, which concerned the selection of quality food products while reducing body fat, I met with a rather intriguing theory. According to its content, wanting to get rid of excess body fat should resign from eating cooked vegetables, because they have a ” high glycemic index ” and thus make it difficult to lose weight. Due to the fact that this view is quite popular, I decided to devote a little more attention.
Vegetables in a diet
Vegetables are an extremely valuable part of the diet when it comes to males over 40, especially – dieting. It is connected on the one hand with the presence of essential nutrients such as potassium, vitamin C, folic acid, and on the other with a low energy density, large fiber content, and the fact that increasing the volume of the stomach helps control appetite. You can, however, meet with the opinions, which state that the consumption of vegetables heat treated not only not conducive to the fight against excess fat tissue, but may even hinder it. This is due to their high glycemic index.
Glycemic index – what is it?
The glycemic index (GI ) is an indicator that provides information on the impact of food on blood sugar levels. A higher value of this parameter means that the jump glucose level is higher. The very concept of IG has been created and developed by a team of researchers led by Dr. David J. Jenkins in the early 80s aim was to create a list of foods recommended for people suffering from diabetes. The assumptions of this concept, however, were quickly adapted as a reference point for composing the diet in the case of non-diabetic. IG has also been publicized as a ranking system that allows creating a division of slimming products (low and medium GI) and fattening (high GI).
Is IG is a valuable indicator of the diet?
In principle, the authors provide a glycemic index was independent of a particular food property, and not the individual metabolic response rate of their consumption. In practice, however, it turned out that the value of IG to the same food product is not repeatable, and subject to several factors such as example the presence of other foods, the method of heat treatment, the temperature of administration, which is reflected for example in the case of vegetables discussed here. Carrot’s flagship example is that in crude form is recommended as a desirable component in the diet (low GI), but after cooking becomes an undesirable component (high GI). But is it really that raw vegetables help, and cooked hinder weight loss?
The biggest drawback is the glycemic index, however, that does not take into account the carbohydrate content of a food product. Do not forget that in scientific research glycemic index foods shall be giving them the dose which produces 50 g of digestible carbohydrates. Now consider how many carrots you would need to eat to get the dose of sugar, taking into account that the amount of this product is unlikely to exceed 5g! It would take a kilo of carrots! For less rich in carbohydrates, while vegetable servings would be even greater! So does it make sense at all related to the concept of the glycemic index ( cooked or raw ) vegetables? It seems doubtful. Moreover, even suggesting that the indicator is not especially useful.
Test results
So far, there have been many scientific studies that indicate that this or eat products with a lower or a higher IG does not have much effect on weight and body composition. Quite interesting conclusions in this matter provide the results of an experiment conducted by British scientists under the leadership of Dr. Aston ( Cambridge ). The aim was to determine the effect of a diet based on foods with a lower GI on appetite, energy intake, and total weight and body composition in women who are overweight and obese. The study involved a total of nineteen participants aged 34 to 65 years. An experiment comparing said just a diet based on foods with a low GI of a diet based on foods with a higher GI. What happened? The effects of both feeding solutions were similar. There were no differences in the rate of weight loss, feeling of hunger and satiety as well as energy intake from food.
The results of this project are consistent with many other research results, as well as the conclusions published some time ago, the work of Dr. Raben ( The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in Copenhagen) including a review of fifty-one different scientific experiments on the effect of glycemic index on appetite, energy consumption food intake, body weight. In its conclusions, the author stated that there is no reasonable basis for doing so to recognize that the glycemic index has some significance for those just parameters. Unfortunately, in online forums and color press about the fact that said and written relatively little, and as a matter of fact hardly anyone is aware that such studies exist, and that they threaten the very conclusions …
Summation
While it is true that heat treatment affects the value of the glycemic index for most vegetables do not need to worry about this fact too. Non-starchy vegetables contain small amounts of carbohydrates so that regardless of the method of preparation, their consumption does not have a major impact on the body’s glucose response after a meal. It should also be borne in mind that the glycemic index alone is not a particularly struck indicator for assessing the impact of food intake on weight and body composition. So you should have doubts as to whether at all there is a sense of turning the head while composing dieting.
In the last two decades, there have been many scientific papers based on the results of studies that showed that the IG has so many flaws and limitations that should not be used as an independent ranking system to the diet – including dieting. As can be very misleading indicator shows an example of fructose, a sugar, which is characterized by low GI, but prominently promotes accumulation of body fat, disproportionately more than glucose wysokoglikemiczna Once again I repeat fructose makes you fat more than other sugars, despite the low GI!
