3ac Health Tips

 

Protein and exercise may promote weight loss

For the last couple years, much of the talk in the weight loss world has been about the high protein, low carb diet. Now it appears that there is research to back up the claims.
 
American researchers examined 48 obese women, half of whom were on a high protein, low carb diet and the other half on a high carb, low protein diet. Both diets contained 1,700 calories, 30 per cent of calories from fat, and about 17 grams of fibre.
 
Both groups also participated in either a high or low level exercise programme while on the diet. The women in the high exercise group did five 30 minute walking sessions and two 30 minute weight lifting/stretching sessions a week. The low exercise group only completed a minimum of 30 minutes of walking five days a week. After four months, the researchers found that while both groups lost weight, the high level exercise group lost less muscle tissue and more fat.
 
o The high protein dieters in the high exercise group lost an average of 10 kilograms and less than half a kilogram of lean muscle.
 
o The high carb dieters in the high exercise group lost 8 kilograms, but nearly 3 kilograms of that came from muscle.
 
o Nearly 100 per cent of the weight loss in the high protein group was fat, while 25-30 per cent of the weight loss in the high carb group was muscle.
 
The diet works because the extra protein reduces muscle loss while the low carb component gives you low insulin, allowing you to burn fat. To get the metabolic effects seen in this study, your diet should contain 9 or 10 grams of leucine a day. Foods high in leucine include: cottage cheese, fish and other seafoods, meats, poultry, peanuts (roasted with skin), and sesame seeds.
 
If you can't avoid carbs, check the Glycaemic Index first: This is a numerical value given to a particular food based on that food's ability to raise and sustain blood glucose levels.
 
Eating foods with a high GI rating (such as white rice, baked potatoes, corn flakes and white bread) results in a quicker return of hunger and increases your subsequent intake of calories, compared to eating foods with a lower GI rating (such as brown rice, all-bran cereal and oat bran).
 
The Glycaemic Index is also an important tool to help you manage type 2 diabetes, and a number of chronic diseases including heart disease.
 
So how can you learn the GI of a certain food? A website run by the University of Sydney (www.glycemicindex.com) provides a GI Database where you can search for the Glycaemic Index of different types of food.