WHAT IS THE GLYCEMIC INDEX? The Glycemic Index (GI) is a measure of how much a carbohydrate food raises blood glucose in your body. Foods with high GIs raise blood glucose levels more than foods with low GIs.
™
CARBOHYDRATE FOODS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL! Whole food carbohydrates such as vegetables have low Gl values, while foods containing processed flours and sugars have high GI values. A donut raises your blood glucose levels much faster and much higher than a cup of broccoli.
SO WHAT? Excess sugar in your system causes your pancreas to secrete insulin. Insulin brings your blood sugar down primarily by converting the excess sugar to stored fat. This means the donut doesn't just make you fat because it of its high calories, it also spikes your insulin levels and causes your body to go into "fat-storing" mode. In fact, that donut dumps sugar into your system so fast that your pancreas is likely to secrete too much insulin, resulting in an energy "crash" and increased hunger! (When your insulin levels drop too low, fueling of the cells is inhibited, causing a release of hormones to make you hungry).
THERE'S MORE! Chronically high insulin levels have been associated with other life risking diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, kidney damage, liver damage and high blood pressure - just to name a few. Chronically high insulin levels can lead to insulin resistance. This is a big problem. Think of insulin as the key to the door of your cells. It opens the door so that your cells can receive vital nutrients. If your cells don't respond to insulin they can't receive the nutrients they need to function.
WHY DO CHRONICALLY HIGH INSULIN LEVELS LEAD TO INSULIN RESISTANCE? Desensitization. Think of walking into a room with a fresh Christmas tree. You'll be flooded with the smell of the tree. But it doesn't take long for you to become desensitized to the smell. Soon, you need to stand next to the tree to smell it. Next you'll need to bury your face in the tree to smell it -you've become desensitized. It's the same with insulin and your cells. The cells become desensitized to the insulin when insulin is always high in the system. When this insensitivity becomes dangerous it is called Type II Diabetes.
BACK TO THE GLYCEMIC INDEX: Whole foods are naturally more balanced and less likely to cause insulin spikes than processed foods. Fiber helps slow down the absorption of glucose into the body. Nature typically combines fiber with sugar in whole foods. Vegetables and fruits have sugar, but they also contain a lot of fiber. Hence whole keto net carbs or total carbs food carbohydrates typically have a lower Glycemic Load then processed carbohydrates.
GLYCEMIC LOAD? WHAT'S THAT? Because fiber slows the absorption of glucose, the higher the fiber content in relationship to carbohydrate content the lower the Glycemic effect of the food on the body. The actual effect is called the Glycemic Load (GL) of foods: GL = GI/100 x (Total Carbs - Dietary Fiber).
One cup of oatmeal has a GI of 58 but its GL is only 9 because it has 21g net carbs. 4 oz of potato chips has a lower GI of 55, but a higher GL of 30, because it has 55 net carbs. You already knew that oatmeal is healthier than potato chips, but what about a potato? One medium size potato has a GI of 85 and a GL of 28. That's triple the GL of Oatmeal. The lesson? A potato is more likely to make you fat AND more likely to make you hungry sooner than a bowl of oatmeal.
HEART DISEASE! THE DOUBLE WHAMMY! Combine a diet of high GI/GL foods with transfats and you have a recipe for DISASTER. Chronically high insulin levels can lead to scarring of the vascular walls. Add transfats to that situation and you get fatty deposits on the walls of the vascular system and a greatly increased chance of heart failure. Yikes!
In this article you learned the danger of why foods high in sugar and low in fiber will make you fat and sick, especially when combined with transfats.
THE MORAL OF THE STORY:
1. EAT WHOLE FOODS Carbohydrate foods should have at least 3g of fiber per serving
2. EAT DIETS RICH IN FIBER with good quality protein and good fats
3. IF SUGAR - IN ANY FORM - IS IN THE FIRST 3 INGREDIENTS it's a dessert
4. SHOP THE PERIMETER of the grocery store
By the way, one rice cake has a GL of 17. That's only 2 less than a Snickers bar!
Calculating your daily keto macros is now more convenient since there are a lot of Keto macro calculators that you can use online.
For a more accurate calculation, you may look for a Ketogenic calculator that includes your age, BMI, weight, gender, your sets of activities for the day, and your calorie intake.
The common ratios of a Ketogenic diet's macronutrients breakdown are 5-10% carbohydrates, 15-25% protein, and 65-75% fat.
Now let's begin looking at how you can calculate your Keto macros.
Carbohydrates
5-10% Carbohydrates equates to approximately 20-50 grams of carbs per day. Since Ketogenic diet is a low carb one, you will also have to keep your carb intake low. What you can do is eat your carbs separately.
Before getting your total number of carbs, you need to first compute your Total Daily Energy Expenditure(TDEE). Remember that as mentioned above, you will have to record your set of activities also. That set of activities will equate to your TDEE. By then, you will have to multiply it by your total number of calories which will have to look like this:
TDEE x Total % of calories / 4 = Grams of carbs per day
You may also try this calculation;
Total number of calories x (Desire percentage of carbs) / 4 = Total number of carbs
For instance, your total calories intake is 2,000 and you wish to keep your carb intake at 5% only per day.
2,000 x 0.05 = 100
100 / 4 = 25
Your total carb intake daily will be 25 grams.
You may also look for a standard online Keto calculator that can help you as you compute for your daily carb intake.
Protein
If you are new to the Ketogenic diet and have a lightly active lifestyle, the estimated grams per pound of lean mass will range from 0.8-1.0. However, if you are into bodybuilding, you might need 1.0-1.2 grams per pound of lean mass.
You should have a general idea of what your body goal is and then use that to get your ranges that determine the amount of protein you need.
Let's say you want to maintain your body weight at 110 pounds, your body mass will roughly need 70-88 grams of protein per day.
If you want to compute the total number of calories from that amount of protein, calculate 70-88 grams of protein multiplied by 4 to give you the total number of calories from protein.
Fat
Doing a Ketogenic diet will require your body to consume 70-80% of calories. In order to know your total amount of fat needed, you will have to sum up your total number of protein with your total number of carbs and then deduct 100 from the end answer. The most recent numbers will be your total number of fat needed.
You might get varying results whenever you try to compute for your total number of fat. This may be because of your varying bod mass also. However, you will have to adjust your macros from time to time.
Your total number of fat might even shock you at first. But do not worry. As stated above, you will be needing 65-75% of fat in order to stay in Ketosis.
Know your Keto Macros
You can be your very own Ketogenic macro calculator. However, the calculation of your Keto macros above may not be 100% accurate. If you wish to have it double checked, you can consult an online Keto macro calculator.
Since going on a Ketogenic diet will also make you lose weight, you will also have to check and adjust your macros to make your daily macro intake more conducive for your current body mass.