The Myth of the Glycemic Index and Its Child: “Good Carbs-Bad Carbs”

The Glycemic Index Has Befuddled Millions

The Glycemic Index (GI), first described by University of Toronto researchers, has been the basis of many major diet and weight control programs of the last decade, the South Beach Diet as an example.

It’s clear that the researchers themselves and the endless legions of doctors and pseudo-expert writers (comprised of journalists, fitness trainers, and other pundits) never really read the results of the published paper that first appeared in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1981.

• the test of different carbohydrate foods was made using 50-gram portions of the investigated food, a fact that’s critical to know in our analysis
• the authors talked about the “great” differences in blood glucose responses existing between different foods
• they were right that there were differences, but they weren’t great

Even Though There Are Different Rates of Glucose Rise, This Has No Physiological Significance

So, if one food causes glucose to rise to a level of 200 milligrams per volume of blood and another only goes to 175, what does this mean?

The answer is: Nothing.

Here’s what happens:

1. blood glucose affects our metabolism in two main ways, it affects the release and burning of stored fat and,
2.  it affects fat storage

These are the key issues we must understand as glucose rises, we stop releasing and burning fat from the fat cell and we convert the glucose to body fat!

The carbs dictate the blood glucose level. It turns out that even the lowest GI carbs increase blood glucose enough to shut down fat release and maximize the conversion of carbs to fat in the fat cells! Is that what you want? If so, eat on the Glycemic Index.

This is where they’ve all gone wrong. It takes very little glucose to shut down fat burning and to store carbs as fat.

Fiber in Whole Grain Foods is a Big Part of the Glycemic Index Propaganda

One of the early thoughts (still strongly held today) is that fiber slows the digestion and release of glucose into the blood:

• to reiterate my point above, the rate of rise of glucose into the blood means nothing; it affects nothing
• Why? Glucose conversion to body fat and the inhibition of fat release from fat cells occurs at blood glucose levels well below the blood glucose level of the lowest glycemic index foods
• therefore, foods with higher GIs do not change fat release and the rate of glucose-to-fat conversion more so than lower GI foods
• fat release and carb-storage-to-fat is already maxed out by the lowest GI foods

Let’s see what the first research paper said about fiber:

• “Surprisingly, no significant relationship was seen between glycemic index and dietary fiber”
• “Furthermore, it does not appear that dietary fiber, either quantitatively or qualitatively, played an important role in the differences observed in the potato test meal”
• Fiber, even though it does not affect blood glucose, is the mantra of the South Beach Diet and all the other glycemic index diets

 So much for the dietary fiber “belief” system. Guys, I’m not making this stuff up. On this site and in my books, we deal with Facts.

The Glycemic Index Mantra Discusses the Idea of “Spikes” in Blood Sugar and Insulin

Spikes were the key argument supporting the notion of “Good Carbs” and “Bad Carbs,” leading to the idea of Net Carbs.

• Net Carbs was used by the food companies to sell carbohydrate foods to unsuspecting dieters
• spikes mean nothing as I pointed out above
• a carb is a carb is a carb, it all digests to glucose and it’s the daily TOTAL exposure to glucose that matters, not different rates of rise
• insulin was never a part of the Glycemic Index
• fructose (fruit sugar) messes everything up because it really converts rapidly to fat even though its GI is only 23, way lower than glucose

Glycemic Index: Tests 50-Gram Portions of Food

That’s the Test for the GI of a Food

The Gi is not a test of consuming multiple foods at the same time, or even meals. You can’t just add up the different GIs in a menu and arrive at the meal’s GI as many are doing. It’s not valid, it’s all made up.

All glucose molecules are the same and they all must be disposed of by the end of the day.

More Gobbledygook: The Development of Glycemic Load

Glycemic Load was developed by Dr. Walter Willet, the Harvard epidemiologist and card carrying member of the low-fat Establishment.

He agrees that the total amount of carbohydrate consumed is important. He calculates Glycemic Load, a measure of total carbs consumed multiplied by the carb’s GI.

Of course, since the GI is meaningless, multiplying zero by another number is still zero.

Now, for the final nail in the coffin: GI proponents have tried to get the GI recognized for more than 25 years by the American Diabetes Association to help diabetics control their sugar levels.

The Glycemic Index did not help diabetics control blood sugar and the ADA rejected it and refused to make it a part of a diabetes control program. This really irritated the Toronto doctors but, again, facts are facts, and real science will always trump beliefs, if you allow it.

There are many other details about why you shouldn’t use the Glycemic Index to manage your weight or health. I detail all of this in my book, Net Carb Scam and the Hazards of Carbohydrates. I cover GI on pages 124-163, a thorough analysis based on a detailed scrutiny of the scientific literature since the introduction of the GI in 1981.

Glycation: the Cause of Most Degenerative Diseases

Glycation is a Major Killer

Harman’s Free Radical Theory of Aging was the early belief as to the causes of aging.

But the newest theory presented in the mid-1980’s was Dr. Anthony Cerami’s Theory on Glycated Proteins and their effect on aging.

Diabetes is a model of rapid aging. The normal aging process that occurs in non-diabetics accelerates when a person is diabetic. Dr. Cerami focused his initial work on this disease.

Few People Have Heard Anything About Gycation

Dr. Cerami wrote:

“As people age, their cells and tissues change in ways that lead to the body’s decline and death. The cells become less efficient and less able to replace damaged materials.

At the same time, tissues stiffen. For example, the lungs and the heart muscle expand less successfully, the blood vessels become increasingly rigid and the ligaments and tendons tighten.

Older people are more likely to develop cataracts, atherosclerosis, and cancer, among other disorders.

Few investigators would attribute such diverse effects to a single cause.”

It’s Only Recently that the Hazardous Biological Effects of Glycation Have Been Understood

Food chemists from 100 years ago understood the process by which glucose binds to proteins, but biologists were unaware of this process and how it would contribute to disease development.

The chemical reaction was known as the Maillard or browning reaction, the same way meat browns when cooked.

• glycated proteins cause the vast majority of degenerative diseases
• glucose or blood sugar is the offending agent
• diets high in carbohydrates are dangerous
• glucose from carbohydrates binds to tissue proteins, gluing them together
• glucose binds non-enzymatically in a hap-hazard way
• one glycated protein binds to the one next to it and a chain reaction forms

Glucose Also Binds to RNA/DNA, Your Organs, and Blood Vessels

We are all made of proteins that provide our structure and glucose attacks all of them: brain, skin, eyes, organs; everything.

The Medical Establishment is hardly aware of this condition. Patients are encouraged to eat carbohydrates that yield glucose upon digestion. Talk about a dangerous way to eat. Eat fat and reduce carbohydrates.

The focus is still on fat. Fat was never the problem, it was always carbohydrates.

Now, the degenerative diseases are increasing exponentially with the rise in carbohydrate intake.

• arthritis
• heart disease
• genetic problems
• diabetes
• heart and blood vessels
• repair and maintenance mechanisms wear and tear
• eyes become damaged
• skin loses its elasticity
• brain tissue deteriorates
• the list of problems caused by glycation is very long and scary

You Can Avoid Glycation by Consuming a Low- or Carbohydrate-Restricted Diet

Thousands of studies prove that glucose isn’t the inert, non-reactive, non-dangerous substance that most biologists believed it was for the last century.

We consume lots of glucose and we’re constantly building the deadly, irreversible glycated protiens driving us to premature disease and death.
This data shows that glucose and glucose-derived glycated proteins are involved in and speed-up the aging process in all individuals.

Glycation is the main reason that I advocate a low- or restricted-carbohydrate diet.

It Makes NO Difference if the Carbs are Processed, Such as White Flour, or Unprocessed Foods Such as Whole Grains

All carbs digest to glucose and fructose, or fruit sugar, is more dangerous than glucose.
You should reduce your carbohydrate intake to maintain good health and slow the aging process.

My books describe glycation in detail and outline the hazards of carbohydrates. They also show how to correctly follow a low-carb diet. The popular Atkins’s program is full of flaws — learn how to eat healthy, stay away from dietetic and medical advice about what to eat. They’ll still living as if it’s the early twentieth century.