Eat More Protein + Low Glycemic Meals to Maintain Weight Loss

Continuing yesterday's theme (I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, by the way) of "which is better", there continues to be debate as to whether glycemic index (GI) & load (GL) really matters when it comes to nutrition, and whether high protein or low protein meals are better for you.  In fact, think back to yesterday's big meal.  Did you consume low or high GI foods?  Presumably you had plenty of protein in the form of turkey (turducken, anyone?) and ham.

To address this question, the authors studied 548 participants who had lost 8% body weight (average 11kg) while completing an 800kcal/day diet (extremely low calories!) who were randomized to either control, low protein + low GI, low protein high GI, high protein + low GI, or high protein + high GI for 26 weeks.  Fat content was kept at 25% caloric intake regardless of meal composition.  15 glycemic points were supposed to separate low from high GI while 12% protein calories were supposed to separate those on low vs high protein diets.  The participants were allowed to consume as many calories as they choose as the authors also wanted to determine which diet better satiated the participants.

After completion of the study, the authors discovered that only those on high GI + low protein diet regained some weight (average 1.67kg).  In fact, those assigned to high protein diets regained less weight compared to those randomized to low protein, and those assigned to low GI diets regained less weight compared to those randomized to high GI.  They also reported that more participants assigned to low GI diets completed the study than those randomized to high GI, and likewise for high protein vs low.  What's noteworthy is that these findings were obtained despite only achieving 5 glycemic points & 5% protein calorie separation between the groups.

The editorialists were actually quite warm to these findings, suggesting more reseach but noting the practicality of the low GI + high protein diet for weight maintenance.  As for our patients, I'd suggest Sugar Busters, South Beach, Zone, and the Mediterranean Diet as prime examples.  And for those who aren't interested in reading books, low GI + high protein boils down to what our parents told us.  Eat our veggies & meat.  Just remember to moderate/minimize our consumption of processed grains.