Category: Weight-Loss

The glycemic index is a measure of how quickly and how high your blood sugar rises after eating food.

But it’s not nearly as important as a less famous measure called the glycemic load. And the glycemic load is something worth knowing about.

When you eat any food- especially carbohydrate and to some extent protein- your blood sugar goes up. (It hardly goes up at all when you eat fat.) In response to the rise in blood sugar, your pancreas secretes insulin, whose job is to act as a traffic cop and escort the excess sugar out of the bloodstream and into the cells where- in an ideal world- it can be used for fuel. Blood sugar (and insulin) both gradually go back down to pre-eating levels, and in a few hours you repeat the whole process.

Problem is, this is anything but a perfect world.

We overeat high sugar carbohydrates, which quickly drives our blood sugar up into the stratosphere. The pancreas sends out a ton of insulin in an attempt to lower blood sugar, but most of us are pretty sedentary, so our muscle cells aren’t interested in taking it in. Insulin knocks on the doors of the muscle cell walls and the cells say, “sorry dude, we don’t need any sugar, our guy’s going to be sitting at the computer all day, go somewhere else”. (Sugar winds up going to the fat cells, which are far more welcoming.) Meanwhile both blood sugar and insulin have been raised, setting you up for hypertension, fat storage, hunger, cravings and mood crashes when your sugar eventually does fall.

Not a great situation by any means.

To measure the effect of food on blood sugar, scientists came up with the idea of the glycemic index. Using pure glucose as a standard (with an index of 100), they tested 50 gram portions of digestible carbohydrate and measured how quickly and how high blood sugar rose in reaction to eating them. By eating low-glycemic index foods you presumably could avoid the blood sugar roller coaster.

But there are two big problems with using the glycemic index as a guide to eating.

One, it only applies to a food eaten alone- in other words, a banana, not a banana with peanut butter.

Two, and more important- the glycemic index doesn’t take into account portion size.

The glycemic index of 50 grams of spaghetti is “moderate”, but no one eats 50 grams of spaghetti- at least they don’t at the Olive Garden, or at any home cooked Italian meal I’ve ever seen!

And the glycemic index of 50 grams of carrots is “high” but no one eats 50 grams of carrots (there’s 3 grams of carbohydrate in a carrot).

Glycemic load takes into account portion size. Carrots- which have a high glycemic index- actually have a very low glycemic load. Spaghetti- which has a moderate index- has a very high glycemic load.

Glycemic load is all you need to pay attention to, because it tells you what’s going to happen to your blood sugar in the real world. (Even then, it still refers to food eaten alone. Add some fat to your carbs– peanut butter on an apple, for example– and you’ve just lowered the glycemic load.)

Glycemic index is a pretty useless indicator of anything, but glycemic load is meaningful. (You can find a definitive of glycemic index and glycemic load of food here.) Bottom line: eat as little sugar as possible and go easy on the foods that turn into sugar quickly- like cereals, breads, pastas and anything white (except chicken, cauliflower and mushrooms!)

When it comes to sugar one thing is very clear: Less is more and zero is better.

When I was a kid, my father used to tell me how easy it was to stop smoking.

“Nothing to it”, he’d scoff, “I’ve done it at least a dozen times”.

Which reminds me of weight loss.

Most people have had the experience of losing the same ten pounds (or more) as often as my father quit smoking. Keeping it off- that’s the trick.

But it’s not nearly as hard a trick as you might think.

In fact, half the members of the National Weight Control Registry– a database of about 5,000 people who’ve successfully lost a lot of weight and kept it off for years- report that maintaining weight is actually easier than losing it. (Most of the rest say the two tasks are about equal.)

The key to losing weight naturally is to make a few adjustments in the way you think about it.

Most weight loss goals aren’t unrealistic- the timetables are. If you adjust your timetable, the whole task looks a lot more doable. Remember, becoming a millionaire is a doable goal- roughly 2.6 million people in the US alone have done it. But becoming a millionaire overnight almost never happens, despite what late night infomercials would have you believe. Forget looking great in a bikini by Friday and start thinking about next summer. When you adjust your time frame and your task becomes less overwhelming.

By far the biggest obstacle to weight loss is hunger, cravings and temptations. But even these are easier to beat than you might think. It all comes down to food selection. Processed carbs- including most cereals, pastas and breads, not to mention sugar-laden desserts- create their own cravings. That’s because they raise blood sugar quickly causing the body to release a surge of the “fat storing” hormone insulin.

High levels of insulin make fat burning a virtual impossibility. Not for nothing do they call insulin “the hunger hormone”. High blood sugar and high levels of insulin put you on what I like to call “the craving express”. It’s a blood sugar roller coaster that never ends well.

The secret to getting off that roller coaster is to choose foods that create healthy satiety- a feeling of fullness and satisfaction that lasts a long time. This means protein, fat and fiber. There’s no need to fear fat- it actually makes you full! Sugar, on the other hand, makes you overeat. Stock up on every vegetable under the sun, coat with some nice butter or olive oil, and top off with a side of protein. It’s a perfect, blood-sugar controlling meal, and it will keep you from digging into the Haagen Daaz.

Some favorite “satiety” foods and snacks include:

• Grass fed beef
• String cheese and apples
• Celery and almond butter
• Tomato and buffalo cheese (with a splash of extra virgin olive oil)
• Avocado
• Spinach
• Almonds
• Pumpkin

A key to eating less and feeling satisfied longer is to start eating beans on a regular basis. I find this to be the best weight loss secret in the world, and I frequently start the day with eggs and a homemade dish of kidney beans (right from the can) mixed with some cut up vegetables and stir-fried in butter or Barlean’s coconut oil. It’s a bonanza from an energy and blood sugar point of view, and you’ll hardly ever find yourself overeating at lunch.

While no supplements (or drugs, for that matter) will cause fat to fall off your hips, certain supplements may support your metabolism in ways that will make it easier to lose fat if you’re also eating right.

One of them is chromium, which helps our friend insulin do it’s job better and may help control blood sugar.

Another is green tea extract (also known as EGCG) which has a mild but noticeable effect on metabolism. And fish oil is always a good idea, not only for it’s myriad of health benefits, but because it helps reduce inflammation which can be a big obstacle to losing weight.

Finally, fiber supplements like psyillium husks help keep blood sugar on an even keel, keeping cravings at bay. Even better, sprinkle a product like Barlean’s Forti-Flax on smoothies and salads- you’ll get not only the fiber, but also the healthful plant lignans found in the flax.

The key to natural weight loss is to eat real food. Food your grandmother would have recognized as real. Food without a barcode. Food as close as possible to that which- thousands of years ago- you could have hunted, fished for, gathered or plucked.

Relax, go slow, and turn off the informercials. Cut the white stuff out, take good supplements and move around a lot. And check out our Summer Diet Boot Camp Challenge.

It’s a great way to begin the summer, and best of all, it’s a plan you can actually stick with.

Superfoods like berries, grapefruit and pumpkin can help you lose weight quickly!

Look, there’s no shortage of books (and articles) telling you what not to eat if you want to lose weight. But information on what you should eat to control your weight? Not so much.

The truth is you can lose weight eating just about any food, as a nutrition professor famously demonstrated when he lost 27 pounds on Twinkies. But, as the old saying goes, “Just because you run through a dynamite factory with a lighted match and live through it doesn’t mean you’re not an idiot.”

Not So “Super” Foods…

So, although you can lose weight eating almost any food—including Twinkies—some foods make it really difficult to do so. Why? These foods create their own self-sustaining cravings, a fact all too well-known to anyone who’s ever found herself consuming six bowls of cereal while watching reruns of Friends.

Processed carbs—like cereal, desserts, pasta and bread, potato chips—play havoc with your blood sugar, the appetite centers in the brain, and, ultimately, your waistline.

But some foods do just the opposite, packing a ton of nutrition into a relatively small number of calories and filling you up at the same time. Plus, every one of them has the added advantage of stabilizing your blood sugar, making it far less likely that you’ll go on a waist-busting binge.

Make these 10 superfoods part of your daily diet and watch the fat burn and pounds come off!

Glorious Grapefruit…

Remember the old “grapefruit diet?” Turns out there may actually be something to back up grapefruit’s reputation as a fat fighter.

In a study from the Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, researchers studied the effect of grapefruit on weight loss and found that eating half a grapefruit before meal actually helped people drop weight. The researchers studied the effect of grapefruit capsules, grapefruit juice, and real grapefruit. All three seemed to help, but the folks eating the real grapefruit got the best results.

The mechanism isn’t completely understood, but the results speak for themselves. As an added benefit, grapefruit contains cancer-fighting compounds like liminoids and lycopene, and red grapefruit has been shown to help lower triglycerides.

Plus, half of a grapefruit has just 39 calories!

Sensational Sardines…

I call sardines one of the greatest health bargains of all times, and it’s definitely a boon to anyone wanting to lose weight. Why? Let me count the ways!

First, it’s loaded with protein, which helps stabilize blood sugar, makes you feel full (and less like overeating), and helps stimulate metabolism. Second, it’s a great source of omega-3’s, which boost mood and strengthen the cardiovascular system, not to mention making hair, skin and nails look better!

Third, sardines are convenient, easy to find, and cheap! And because they’re very low on the food chain, they’re remarkably free of contaminants.

Great Pumpkin…

You may only know this vegetable for its central role in Thanksgiving celebrations, but it’s one of the great weight loss foods of all time.

Plain old canned pumpkin is absolutely loaded with fiber—each ½ cup serving has a whopping 8 grams and only a mere 40 calories. Dozens of studies confirm that high fiber intake is associated with a host of health benefits, not the least of which is weight management.

And here’s the deal: it’s the easiest food in the world to prepare. You can sweeten it with some xylitol (or erythritol), sprinkle it with blood-sugar lowering cinnamon, throw in some nutmeg and some nice healthy almonds, and make it into one of the best-tasting weight loss treats around. It’s filling and delicious.

Glorious Grass-Fed Beef…

I’ll be honest with you—meat is a great weight loss food, but it’s hard to recommend it when it so often comes with a nice unwanted helping of antibiotics, steroids, and hormones. Get grass-fed and avoid the problems while getting all the terrific benefits. (Hint: Buffalo burgers are a good alternative if you can’t find grass-fed beef).

Higher protein diets are associated with weight loss for a variety of reasons. Protein stimulates the metabolism, helps you feel fuller longer, and helps decrease the desire to overeat.

High-protein breakfasts are one of the best weight loss tricks in the book (try a buffalo burger for breakfast sometime and see what I mean!). And grass-fed beef has demonstrably higher levels of anti-inflammatory omega-3’s and lower levels of pro-inflammatory omega-6’s—a big plus for hard training athletes.

Bountiful Berries…

Berries are one of those non-controversial items that virtually every nutritionist agrees on. They’re on everybody’s and anybody’s list of superfoods.

They assist in weight loss in a number of ways. They’re very low in calories, very rich in nutrients, high in fiber and, best of all, have a very low in impact on your blood sugar.

Research confirms that blueberries especially deserve their growing reputation as that their brain food — feeding blueberries to rats actually slows their age-related mental decline3. Blueberries contain pterostilbene, a plant compound recently shown to have cholesterol-lowering properties. Their ORAC value (antioxidant rating) is the highest of any fruit.

Tip: Try them frozen with a little almond milk and a sprinkling of almond slivers. They taste like sherbert!

(This excellent article on food addiction was written by Kevin Helliker and was originally published in the Wall Street Journal.)

A new study suggests that people who struggle to say no to chocolate, french fries or other junk food suffer from something more insidious than lack of willpower: They may actually have an addiction.

Using a high-tech scan to observe the brains of pathological eaters versus normal eaters, the study found that showing a milkshake to the abnormal group was akin to dangling a cold beer in front of an alcoholic.

Previous studies have shown that food photographs can activate the brain’s reward centers in much the way that booze imagery does for alcoholics. This study from Yale University researchers purports to be the first to distinguish so-called food addicts from overeaters.

Beyond a Craving

Study subjects who scored high on the Yale Food Addiction Scale had addict-like neural responses to food during an MRI. Before the MRI, they answered questions including this one, with 26 foods to choose from.

Please circle ALL of the following foods you have problems with:

Before subjecting 39 women to magnetic resonance imaging scans, researchers asked them to complete the 26-question Yale Food Addiction Scale, a two-year-old test designed to identify pathological eaters. Fifteen of the women scored high on the test for addictive-like eating behaviors. When placed inside an MRI machine, those 15 women had dramatically greater neurological responses to the image of a milkshake than the others, according to the study, published online this week in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

Just as most people who abuse alcohol or smoke marijuana aren’t addicts, this study suggests that no single explanation or solution exists for overeating. In cases where the underlying problem is addiction, psychiatrists say that neither gastric-bypass surgery nor lifestyle changes are likely to prove effective. Among addicted eaters, “the current emphasis on personal responsibility…may have minimal effectiveness,” concluded the paper.

Ashley N. Gearhardt, lead author of the study, said that those who score high on the food-addiction scale report needing to consume greater and greater quantities of food to achieve the same earlier emotional effect. For some, thinking about anything other than food becomes difficult, she said.

“Some of them actually stop socializing because it gets in the way of their eating,” said Ms. Gearhardt, who is a doctoral student in clinical psychology at Yale University who was involved in devising the food-addiction scale.

The study suggests that food addicts could benefit from a checklist akin to those that exist for measuring alcoholism and drug addiction.

“It’s the first study to ask whether a paper-and-pencil checklist for food addiction correlates with brain regions known for drug reinforcement,” said Mark Gold, University of Florida chairman of psychiatry and a prominent addiction researcher who wasn’t involved in the study.

Dr. Gold said such a checklist could be valuable for individuals considering gastric bypass.

The publishing of the study comes at a time when American psychiatry is wrestling with whether to regard pathological eating as an addiction akin to alcoholism.

Skeptics note that the brain’s reward centers are designed to light up at the promise of food, because food is necessary for survival. Those centers also brighten in some cases at the thought of whiskey or cocaine, they said. Moreover, skeptics note that food addiction less commonly results in the consequences that characterize drug addiction—stealing, negligent parenting and deteriorating workplace performance.

“The skeptic’s position is that drugs are uniquely powerful reinforcers that hijack the brain’s reward center,” says Michael M. Miller, a Wisconsin psychiatrist and board member of the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

Calling himself “middle-of-the-road” on the issue of food addiction, Dr. Miller said ASAM will vote this month on a policy change that would embrace food addiction—among other compulsions—as a genuine addiction.