Glycemic Index - Can it Help You Lose Weight?

Welcome to Walking the Walk, a feature that takes a deeper look at commonly shared diet and fitness advice. Every other week, I'll choose one piece of advice and practice it for seven days. Then I'll report back on what I discovered about making it work in real life and how it affected my own personal fitness -- and how it ultimately can affect your own efforts.

I'm intrigued by a low GI (glycemic index) diet, because I get hungry about two hours after I eat a meal, and snacking is what gets me in trouble. Experts say that choosing low GI foods helps to stabilize blood sugar levels, keeping dieters full longer.

What is the glycemic index? It's basically a numerical system that ranks foods on their ability to raise a person's blood sugar. Some foods -- white potatoes, for one -- cause blood sugar to spike quickly, earning them a higher number on the scale. While other foods, such as beans or legumes, ease blood sugar up slowly and sustain it for longer periods of time.

Some experts theorize that a low GI diet can help with weight loss. When you're constantly eating foods that spike blood sugar levels, the body creates excess insulin, which increases fat storage.

I'm going to try it out this week, aiming to make most of my meals with foods that are ranked as "low" on the glycemic index.