New Study Shows Mixed Results on Glycemic Index and Blood Sugar vs. Hunger Pains

This was a rather surprising study, one that in many ways is contrary to what our experiences and those of many readers have reported — but worth reviewing.

According to a new study by the American Diabetes Association, researches tested 26 adult subjects and monitored blood glucose levels to measure the degree low GI foods have at reducing/controlling serum glucose and insulin levels.  The report showed that the low GI / Low Glycemic Load diet does an effective job at reducing blood sugar spikes.

That’s good, but not that new of a result (still, always nice to see more testing from more and more authoritative groups).

The flip side to the test that is more controversial to us is that the adults involved in the tests did not conclusively report a corresponding decrease in hunger (or ‘satiety’ as the nerdy physician researches call it).

From our experiences and long standing reports, that’s certainly not been the case.  Eating high GI foods (including my old favorites like bagels and other highly processed flour baked goods, enriched tortillas, etc.) absolutely results in a corresponding spike in sugar (as reported in their test) but also a very common urge to eat again shortly after finishing the meal.  That’s actually a really strong point of appeal for many on the low GI diet in the first place!  Maybe their study was just too small (26 subjects is pretty minimal after all).

You can read the ADA study here.  View more low glycemic index food types with our list as well.

What are your findings?  Have you seen a drop in hunger pains once you’ve been on a low GI / load diet for 2+ weeks?  Be honest!

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