Raena Morgan: Hello. I’m visiting with Sherry Torkos, who is a pharmacist and the author of The GI Made Simple. And the GI diet is pretty big right now, and I guess what I would like to ask you is, what is the glycemic index, Sherry?
Ms. Sherry Torkos: Well, the glycemic index is a scale that helps us understand how carbohydrates are processed in our body. When we eat carbohydrate foods, such as starches, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, they eventually get broken down to sugar in our system. And the rate at which that occurs varies. Foods that break down really quickly into sugar are considered to be high GI or high glycemic. Foods that break down more slowly are considered to be low GI—they have a low glycemic index value. And what the research shows us, is that by following a low glycemic diet, eating foods that break down more slowly into sugar, that can help with weight management, it can help to reduce the risk of diabetes, reduce cholesterol and triglycerides, and even play a role in other, more serious diseases, such as heart disease and cancer. So, I think there are a number of reasons why following a low glycemic diet can be beneficial, and in my book, I outline my strategies, including dietary approaches, exercises and also supplements.
Raena Morgan: How does the diet differ from the low carb diet, which has been so popular over the years?
Ms. Sherry Torkos: Yeah, it’s a great question. You know, with a low carb diets, people were misled into thinking that carbohydrates were the source of all their problems and that they couldn’t eat potatoes and they couldn’t eat carrots and they were going to get fat if they had a salad—
Raena Morgan: And they could eat bacon and eggs, but no toast.
Ms. Sherry Torkos: Bacon and eggs, exactly, but the toast would kill you. You know, unfortunately, there was a lot of misinformation out there. Our body does need a certain amount of carbohydrate in order to function properly. And the Institute of Medicine has set that amount at 130 grams, meaning that that is the minimum amount that you need in order to function—and when we’re talking about functioning, the brain is actually one of the most energy requiring organs of the body. And if you don’t get enough carbohydrate, it can cause depression, anxiety, irritability. But the other concerns if you’re cutting carbohydrates out of your diet, what we found with these low carb diets, people were getting constipation, bad breath, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and it was causing a whole host of problems. So, what our current research is showing is that we just need to make better carb choices. And that involves choosing low glycemic carbohydrates—those that process more slowly into sugar, that will help to control your hunger. It will help keep your blood sugar stable, which is going to help control appetite, it will help to improve your metabolism and really put your body in a state of optimal functioning for weight management and just better health.
Raena Morgan: Well, thank you, Sherry.
Ms. Sherry Torkos: Thanks for having me.
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