Diabetes is one of the most obvious areas of concern with overweight people with a large number of the population suffering from diabetes and the related health problems that this disease can bring with it. Many people are unaware that diabetes is the leading cause of blindness. And diabetes is also a major cause of kidney disease.
In addition to this, diabetes increases your chance of having heart disease and suffering from a stroke by almost 400%.
Obesity is now an epidemic in the United States and many in the medical community believe that this is contributory to the corresponding diabetic epidemic. It is the general consensus of the medical community that obesity is a precursor to Type II diabetes.
It is a misconception to think that people contract diabetes only through excessive consumption of sugars. It is not only sugar that contributes to the disease. While it is good to eliminate the use of excessive sugar in your diet, carbohydrates are also contributory to the onset of diabetes. One way on how to prevent diabetes is becoming aware of the Glycemic Index.
The Glycemic Index is very helpful in preventing diabetes because it rates different carbohydrates based upon their effect on the different levels of blood glucose. Those foods that digest rapidly cause the less harm to the system and have a low glycemic index. The carbohydrates that take a longer time to digest have a higher rate as they cause more harm to the blood glucose level.
The Glycemic Index ranges from one to one hundred. A low food in the glycemic index has a rating of below 55. These include fruits, vegetables, whole grains and some pastas. Foods that fall between the 56 to 69 range are considered "medium" in the Glycemic Index. They include candy bars, croissants and some rices.
Surprisingly, although a candy bar scores in the medium classification of the glycemic index, it is not as harmful as those carbohydrates that score in the high glycemic index range. These include corn flakes, white rice, white bread and baked potato.
Insight into the glycemic index is imperative for anyone who has diabetes or who has been diagnosed as borderline diabetic. To be able to understand which foods have the most impact on blood glucose levels is crucial for anyone fighting this potentially life-threatening condition.
Signs of diabetes include frequent urination, increased thirst and desire for fluids and may also include an increased appetite. In many cases, a person with Type II diabetes feels generally unwell but cannot figure out what is wrong. Symptoms can mirror the flu or other illnesses. If you are experiencing frequent thirst, excessive urination and a substantially increased appetite, have yourself checked out for diabetes.
Even a small reduction in body fat can have quite a substantial effect on your overall quality of health and it will also help to reduce the possibility of you suffering from other diseases later in life. So begin an exercise regime, even if it only entails walking. Take a look at the Glycemic Index that explains which foods diabetics should avoid and follow these suggestions.
Glycemic index diet plans such as ?The GI Diet? are a refreshing change from the typical fad diet. Contrary to low-carb diets, glycemic index diet plans suggest that you don't need to eat less carbohydrate foods, or eliminate them completely, to lose fat. Instead, we're told that we should focus on eating ?healthy? carbs such as oats, grains, beans, and most vegetables and fruits, and try to avoid carbs higher on the GI scale such as white rice, white potato, baguettes and bagels.
An interesting point about glycemic index diet plans is that, so long as you abide to simple guidelines on portion control, you do not have to count calories or stop eating when you reach a certain number of points. I have found that calorie counting, while very effective, can be counter-productive; glycemic index diet plans address this well.
Let me ask you, have you tried counting calories while eating out at a restaurant? Not only is it very unsociable and a pain in the butt, it's simply not feasible to do this for the rest of your life. What makes glycemic index diet plans good is that they are based on lifestyle changes, and are realistic too. Compared to a restrictive fad diet that involves counting calories or how many grams of fat or carbohydrates you're consuming, glycemic index diet plans are much easier to implement.
Another advantage of glycemic index diet plans is that they do not involve unhealthy and potentially dangerous phases unlike diets such as the Atkins Diet, the South Beach Diet and the Fat Flush Plan. Such phases recommend you drastically lower your calories and/or your intake of carbohydrates which can dehydrate you and result in loss of muscle tissue which will slow down your metabolism and make it easier for you to re-gain the weight when you go back to eating normally.
Despite the good points, glycemic index diet plans do have their drawbacks unfortunately. For example, following the glycemic index is not as simple as it appears. For starters, the GI value of many foods is unknown, and so you are limited to foods which are on the list when following a glycemic index diet plan. Also, many factors affect the GI value, such as how the food is cooked and what is eaten with it.
In fact, this is the biggest drawback of the glycemic index diet plans. Since most meals are made up of a combination of foods, not single foods, it is difficult to identify the GI value of a meal. White potatoes, for example, have a high GI, but if the meal also includes a grilled chicken breast and steamed green vegetables, this will slow down the digestion of the potatoes and lower the GI value. Glycemic index diet plans that rely exclusively on eating low GI foods often ignore this.
What's more, since fat slows down digestion, foods such as chocolate, potato chips and sausages have a low GI value, yet it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that such foods are very unhealthy and eating too many fatty foods can lead to heart diseases and obesity. You can actually have a diet high in fat and low in healthy nutrients and still be following a glycemic index diet plan!
What it comes down to at the end of the day is not the GI value of certain foods, but using common sense. The GI value of a potato is much higher than that of a chocolate bar, however, the former is clearly the more healthy option. Fortunately, many glycemic index diet plans make this point clear.
Rather than follow a glycemic index diet plan and restricting yourself to low GI foods, the approach I teach is to focus on eating healthy and natural foods, be them low or high on the glycemic index, alongside quality sources of protein and healthy fats such as extra virgin olive oil. Glycemic index diet plans have a lot of good in them, but they do have flaws.
Both Margot & James Perious are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Margot has sinced written about articles on various topics from Lose Weight, Dieting and weight loss secret. Dr de Clermont is an experienced medical doctor, a certified NLP practitioner and hypnotherapist. She is the author of several weight loss articles. She firmly advocates self hypnosis for weight loss at. Margot's top article generates over 18100 views. to your Favourites.
James Perious has sinced written about articles on various topics from Green Tea, Dieting and Metabolism. James is a prolific writer on many different topics, please visit for more information on. James Perious's top article generates over 2900 views. to your Favourites.