San Juan Island Fitness Home Page

Community Healthy Weight Challenge Home Page

Healthy Weight Challenger Session #3 Membership Special

Regular Monthly Dues (NO INITIATION FEE and 4 month commitment)

$48.00 Non Pool/ $60.00 Pool (+Tax)

(ask about the 5% discount and additional family member discount)

This offer will expire when the challenge ends (May 3rd)

Do Carbs Discriminate Against Women?

At issue are foods with what is called a “high glycemic index.” These are foods that rapidly boost blood sugar levels, causing glucose spikes.

The glycemic index is a system of rating foods on a scale from 1 to 100, based on the speed with which the food increases blood sugar. High-glycemic-index foods score 70 or above; low glycemic index scores score 55 or less.

The interesting thing about this latest study is that men did not show the same degree of risk from eating these high-glycemic-index foods. Carbohydrate intake didn’t seem to change heart disease risk in men. In contrast, women who ate a lot of carbohydrates doubled their heart disease risk; women who ate a lot of high-glycemic-index carbohydrates increased heart disease risk 2.25 times.

While researchers aren’t certain why this male-female disparity exists, it could be due to a difference in the way carbohydrates affect triglyceride levels in men and women. Triglycerides are fats that circulate in the blood. High triglyceride levels occur when someone eats many more calories than they actually need. And high triglycerides go along with other risky conditions, like obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and hardening/narrowing of the arteries, all of which lead to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

So what can you do? Lean toward whole grain, unprocessed foods, and high-fiber fruits and vegetables. Eating a diet primarily composed of low-glycemic-index foods will help keep blood sugar levels more stable, which may also prevent erratic changes in other factors affected by glucose level, such as appetite, energy, and mood. And you may reap other benefits: diets that are composed of unprocessed foods that are high in fiber may provide some degree of protection against certain types of cancer.

EAT MORE: Low-glycemic-index foods include:

EAT LESS (OR BETTER YET, ELIMINATE) : High-glycemic-index foods include:

Rosalyn Carson-DeWitt, MD