One Size May Not Fit All on GI Foods

There’s been a lot of recent buzz lately around GI foods and the variability as far as weight loss and blood sugar levels in people.

In a report published in November by Cell, researches in an 800 person study observed that despite identical selections of food with the same GI load ratings, individuals in many cases had drastically different swings in their response rates for the breakdown of those foods as far as blood sugar and insulin.

Low GI foods provide benefits over high GI foods in how the body digests and responds to the sugars and carb loads, resulting in a much reduced spike in blood sugar and often corresponding weight loss.  Individual results, influenced by factors including things like microbes in your digestive tract, appear to have a large impact than previously thought as far as your inidividual results vs anothers.

Some studies, in both the U.S. and Israel, are eluding to individual testing of those microbes (mostly from your colon, where 80-90% live) as a better predictor for how a low GI diet and foods on the glycemic index food chart may work for you.

So what does this really mean?  The GI food loads and premise hasn’t changed dramatically.  Gaining insight that individual results can vary isn’t shocking, but there are some really compelling studies that are emerging that can help inform us on what your personal results may be.  

In the meantime, stay alert and the principles of following a low GI dense diet and limiting high GI foods is still a valid and recommended approach for both wellness and weight loss.