Today, I want to share with you two very important indexes: the glycemic index and the Fat Storing Hormone index, and we'll keep the discussion simple.
Differentiating the Glycemic Index from the Fat Storing Hormone Index
What Is the Glycemic Index?
The glycemic index (GI) is the scale of foods that has influence over your blood sugar within 2-3 hours after eating. So, there are certain glycemic index foods, like jelly beans, that trigger a lot of sugar response in your blood. It spikes up blood sugar levels very high on the scale. But, eating celery, which is a carbohydrate, does not create that same effect because that would be low on the scale.
The glycemic index has to do with how fast carbs or sugars affect the blood sugar. You have different things to alter that like including fiber in your glycemic index diet.
What Is the Fat Storing Hormone Index?
The Fat Storing Hormone index is all those non-carbohydrate foods that affect Fat Storing Hormone. When you eat sugar, you trigger Fat Storing Hormone, but there are non-sugary foods that trigger Fat Storing Hormone, too.
Fat Storing Hormone is a hormone that regulates blood sugar as it tends to lower blood sugar. In the presence of Fat Storing Hormone, it's almost impossible to lose weight. So, our goal here is to have a low-Fat Storing Hormone, low-sugar situation to avoid weight gain and obesity.
Glycemic Versus Fat Storing Hormone Index
In the glycemic index food list, potatoes, white bread, and whole wheat bread are high GI foods. Some foods low in glycemic load are peanuts and hummus. In the Fat Storing Hormone index food list, whey protein powder, lean beef, and egg whites are high in the scale. Egg yolks, butter, and bacon are low in the scale.
When people are trying to lose weight, they usually avoid fat and eat more protein, but they have to understand the scale to effectively lose weight. Fat actually buffers and lowers the Fat Storing Hormone of your fat. So, if you're going to eat some beef, make sure it has some fat in it. Fat is one of the things that's almost neutral when it comes down to Fat Storing Hormone, and it doesn't turn into sugar. Yes, it has calories, but it doesn't create the same effect as that of Fat Storing Hormone, making it great for those with diabetes mellitus.
But, here's the confusing part. If protein triggers Fat Storing Hormone release, which is a fat-making hormone, then why do people lose weight on protein? That's because protein also triggers the fat-burning hormones like glucagon and growth hormones.
Glucagon Definition: A hormone that helps control levels of blood sugar.
Low Fat Storing Hormone Improves Weight Loss
The thing to remember is we want to keep Fat Storing Hormone low to enhance the weight loss process. So, if you’re going to have protein, don't go so lean and add some dietary fat to it. Make sure it's not so low fat, too. If you're going to have an egg, have the whole egg, not just the egg white.
The only foods and beverages that don't trigger Fat Storing Hormone that much are the fatty ones — the exact foods people have been avoiding.
Understanding the glycemic index and Fat Storing Hormone index will help you create a diet that works effectively for weight loss or fat loss. One important thing to remember, though, is that fat helps you lose weight so you should not avoid them entirely.
Knowing that fat helps in reducing weight, how does that affect your diet? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Dr. Eric Berg
08/31/2023
