What is in a diet?
It is common sense that if you take in fewer calories than you expend, you will lose weight. Beyond this simple fact, you must ask three crucial questions when evaluating a diet:
- Is the recommended way of eating palatable, readily available and affordable so that it might be practiced in the long term?
- Does the diet result in weight loss above and beyond that to be expected from its caloric value?
- Does the diet modify your intermediary metabolism and tissue composition in a way that improves your health in the long as well as short term?
We believe that low glycemic (low GI) eating provides 'Yes' answers to all three questions.
Over the last 5 years we have adopted an integrated program of low glycemic eating, aerobic exercises and, where necessary, insulin–sensitizing drugs, to manage the multifaceted manifestations of insulin resistance. Our success rate in terms of symptom relief, biochemical improvement and weight loss has surpassed our most optimistic expectations.
You will note that we advocate the program as a way of life, in which we integrate low glycemic eating (as opposed to “diet”). We place due importance on exercise as an adjunct to reducing insulin resistance as well as emphasize life-style changes to minimize comfort eating and blunt the effect of stress-related hormone secretion on insulin resistance.
Low glycemic eating is predicated on the choice of carbohydrates with low glycemic index, while keeping an eye on calories, fats and micronutrients. Practitioners of low GI eating are advised to supplement their three meals with two or more low GI snacks (See the menu on Table 3).