Paying attention to the quality of the foods we eat, and not just the calories of the same, is a fundamental thing if we want to start eating well to have a better weight. For example, it is important to know that different foods have different effects on our metabolism.

Any food ingested containing carbohydrates (= sugars) leads to an increase in blood glucose . Do we need carbohydrates? Yes, we can’t do without it if we want to be healthy.

However, the production of insulin corresponds to this rise in blood sugar. The higher the blood sugar level, the more our body responds with insulin (or should).

It is on this mechanism that the glycemic index diet is based , and in particular the Montignac diet which finds its basis precisely on the glycemic index of foods and the insulin response to meals.

Secondo la dieta dell’indice glicemico, più si alza l’insulina dopo che abbiamo mangiato carboidrati più tendiamo a ingrassare, perché l’eccesso di zucchero sarebbe convertito in riserve di grasso. Al tempo stesso, l’insulina è un ormone ipoglicemizzante: fa piazza pulita degli zuccheri nel sangue, lasciando il corpo di nuovo affamato di zuccheri.

Secondo questa teoria, per nutrirci senza ingrassare dobbiamo evitare quei cibi che ci creano picchi di glicemia per cibi che invece ci danno energia poco per volta, e che un tempo venivano sommariamente chiamati zuccheri a lento assorbimento: questo permette di modulare anche l’azione dell’insulina.

In the glycemic index diet as well as in the Montignac diet, foods that contain carbohydrates can distinguish between foods with a high, medium or low glycemic index . The Montignac diet determines the glycemic index of foods based on glucose.  The scale of foods with glycemic index goes from 0 to 115. Foods with zero glycemic index are those that have no or almost no carbohydrates . For example, those with fats and proteins: meat, fish, cheeses and fats such as oil, butter, etc., have no glycemic index or have a very low one. Does that mean they don’t make you fat?