What most dieters really want to lose is not weight, but body fat. Your body fat percentage can be calculated with different techniques, such as bioimpedance scales or calipers. Measuring your body fat percentage is a good way to track your progress, because although you may not be losing weight, you may be gaining lean muscle mass and losing body fat. The low glycemic index diet can help you not only lose weight, but also can lower your body fat percentage to improve both your health and appearance.
Glycemic Index Definition
While fats are classified as being saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, the best classification system for carbohydrates is called the glycemic index. The lower the glycemic index, which ranges between zero and 100, the slower a food increase your blood sugar levels. On the other hand, foods with high glycemic index values cause a marked increase in your blood sugar levels. A diet based on low glycemic index foods is associated with a healthier body weight, lower fat percentage and better health, while the consumption of high glycemic foods is linked to overweight, type 2 diabetes and heart diseases, according to the July 2002 issue of the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition."
Glycemic Index and Body Weight
Low glycemic index foods can help you reach your target weight, and therefore decrease your body fat percentage, by different mechanisms. First, low glycemic index foods help you stabilize your blood sugar levels between your meals, which helps you have more stable energy levels and prevent hunger and cravings that can cause overeating. Moreover, low glycemic index foods are more satiating, which means that you will not feel the need to eat as much or as often when basing your diet on slowly digested carbohydrates. If a low glycemic index diet can help you get closer to your desired weight, your body fat percentage is likely to go in the same direction.
Glycemic Index and Fat Percentage
In a study published in the May 2002 issue of "Diabetes Care," healthy, slightly overweight men following a low glycemic index diet for five weeks lost an average of 700 g of body fat while slightly increasing their lean body mass and staying at the same total body weight. This study shows that a low glycemic index diet can help you decrease your body fat percentage. In another study on obese adults, participants had a similar decrease in their body fat percentage, ranging between 1.1 percent and 1.5 percent, whether they followed a low glycemic index or low-fat diet, as published in the May 2007 issue of the "Journal of the American Medical Association."
Food Choices
Choosing healthier carbohydrate-rich foods that have a lower glycemic index can help you achieve a lower fat percentage and get closer to your desired physique. Eliminate all high glycemic index carbs from your diet, such as potatoes, french fries, rice, breads, cereals, sweetened beverages, desserts and baked goods, and make all of your carbs low glycemic by selecting whole grain pasta, sourdough bread, quinoa, beans, lentils, nonstarchy vegetables, fruits, milk and plain yogurt.
References
- Built Lean; Ideal Body Fat Percentage Chart: How Lean Should You Be?; Marc Perry; August 2010
- "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition"; International Table of Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load Values; Kaye Foster-Powell, et al.; 2002
- "Diabetes Care"; Five-Week, Low--Glycemic Index Diet Decreases Total Fat Mass and Improves Plasma Lipid Pro?le in Moderately Overweight Nondiabetic Men; Clara Bouche, et al.; May 2002
- "Journal of the American Medical Association"; Effects of a Low--Glycemic Load vs Low-Fat Diet in Obese Young Adults; Cara B. Ebbeling, et al.; May 2007
