12 replies to this topic

[reality]

I'm trying to avoid foods high in GI because I believe those effect my acne. The problem is I look on different websites and the information varies from website to website.

Here are the foods I've been eating lately:

- whole wheat bread
- organic whole wheat pasta (TONS)
- pasta sauce from Trader Joe's
- veggies
- chicken
- roast beef
- beef patties
- turkey
- almonds
- eggs (6 eggs every morning)
- Nature Valley Oats n' Honey granola bar

Feedback would be appreciated.

Edited by reality, 04 October 2011 - 12:20 AM.

[bryan]

Here are the foods I've been eating lately:

- whole wheat bread
- organic whole wheat paste (TONS)

Where on earth did you get the idea that whole wheat bread is a low-GI food (although I'm not completely sure about "whole wheat paste")? It has about the same glycemic index as ordinary white bread.

[AKL]

You can check out the glycemic index as well as the glycemic load (which is more important imo) of 750 foods in the following pdf (starting from page 9):

 Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load reference.pdf   334.3K   145 downloads

On http://nutritiondata.self.com/ you'll also find lots of information about food, including the GL.

[Lisaveta]

Hi there!

I've been on an extremely low GI diet for three weeks now, after being told by my College GP that "diet has no affect on acne" and not to believe everything I read. I feel that she insulted my intelligence, which is not low, so I've been sticking to the diet religiously with the double aim of clearing my skin and proving her wrong. I think it's working - you may have to be patient though. I had what would be considered moderate acne - although for a girl that's pretty life-disrupting, and the first two weeks I saw only mild improvement and new zits did pop up, although the inflammation was reduced. But the last few days I've had only two tiny un-noticeable pimples and the rest are completely healed up - except for the red marks my face looks clear again. I'm crossing my fingers praying that it lasts, so I can go to that GP's office with my clear skin and a copy of a study I found in the very legit and respected Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology linking acne to carbs -- and make her admit I was right.

As to the diet, extreme strictness in the beginning stages is what I recommend. You want to reduce your insulin levels by a lot, not a little bit, especially so that if you don't see the results you were looking for you know that it's low GI that isn't working for you and not simply that you weren't going low GI enough. I've been eating mostly fruits, (Apples and oranges, because that's what's available to me, although other things like peaches and berries would be good too, just no bananas or watermelons, too high GI), vegetables, cooked and raw, (other than potatoes, which are pure carbs, salads are great but watch out for the dressing, oil and vinegar is best), and nuts, beans and sunflower seeds for protein, although not too much as protein, especially beans, can give you an insulin response as well as carbs, which we want to avoid. I say, ditch all the grains, even the conventional whole grains have a high GI, and while pasta, because of its structure, releases sugars into the blood slower, it still releases the same amount in the end, and your insulin still reacts, although maybe not as drastically. If you are eating tons of pasta, even whole wheat, I would assume that your insulin levels are not getting very low, which is counterproductive. So I would advise you to ditch all grains for a month, just to be on the safe side. Sorry... Meat is also suspect, in my book, as it can trigger insulin with its protein and it is known to be chock full of hormones, as is dairy, which can cause acne as well. Eggs too, although I do eat a few bites of scrambled for breakfast occasionally. But I think it's best to go vegan for a month, and see where that gets you. I know my diet sounds restrictive, but you don't really have to starve on it - whenever I get hungry, I eat an orange or some carrots. And I find looking at the carby food I want to eat and thinking about what it will do to my face gives me tremendous willpower. I don't think I have to go on eating this way forever - I just want to find a sort of "bottom line" that I know will clear my skin - then when my face is clear and my insulin under control I can start adding things back - some meat or a little whole grain, and see how my face responds. I have a hunch that most people who suffer from acne are insulin resistant from overeating carbs, and that low GI eating can help that condition so that gradually your hormone response is "trained" to be more normal, and you can move back to a more reasonable diet. But I will eat the way I am for ever and ever if it is the only way I can have clear skin! I hope my take on the low GI diet doesn't sound too impossible to follow - really, I just want you to get the results I have! The link to that article is below. Have a great day!

Lisaveta

http://www.sciencedi...0962207004148 

[reality]

Here are the foods I've been eating lately:

- whole wheat bread
- organic whole wheat paste (TONS)

Where on earth did you get the idea that whole wheat bread is a low-GI food (although I'm not completely sure about "whole wheat paste")? It has about the same glycemic index as ordinary white bread.

I was checking out some websites and they mentioned that whole wheat bread/paste is the way to go. Supposedly, they are wrong? There is a lot of incorrect information. I won't be eating whole wheat bread for awhile.

You can check out the glycemic index as well as the glycemic load (which is more important imo) of 750 foods in the following pdf (starting from page 9):

 Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load reference.pdf   334.3K   145 downloads

On http://nutritiondata.self.com/ you'll also find lots of information about food, including the GL.

Thanks! I checked it out and it seems interesting. Hopefully all that data in there is reliable/accurate. By the way where did you get this?

Hi there!

I've been on an extremely low GI diet for three weeks now, after being told by my College GP that "diet has no affect on acne" and not to believe everything I read. I feel that she insulted my intelligence, which is not low, so I've been sticking to the diet religiously with the double aim of clearing my skin and proving her wrong. I think it's working - you may have to be patient though. I had what would be considered moderate acne - although for a girl that's pretty life-disrupting, and the first two weeks I saw only mild improvement and new zits did pop up, although the inflammation was reduced. But the last few days I've had only two tiny un-noticeable pimples and the rest are completely healed up - except for the red marks my face looks clear again. I'm crossing my fingers praying that it lasts, so I can go to that GP's office with my clear skin and a copy of a study I found in the very legit and respected Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology linking acne to carbs -- and make her admit I was right.

As to the diet, extreme strictness in the beginning stages is what I recommend. You want to reduce your insulin levels by a lot, not a little bit, especially so that if you don't see the results you were looking for you know that it's low GI that isn't working for you and not simply that you weren't going low GI enough. I've been eating mostly fruits, (Apples and oranges, because that's what's available to me, although other things like peaches and berries would be good too, just no bananas or watermelons, too high GI), vegetables, cooked and raw, (other than potatoes, which are pure carbs, salads are great but watch out for the dressing, oil and vinegar is best), and nuts, beans and sunflower seeds for protein, although not too much as protein, especially beans, can give you an insulin response as well as carbs, which we want to avoid. I say, ditch all the grains, even the conventional whole grains have a high GI, and while pasta, because of its structure, releases sugars into the blood slower, it still releases the same amount in the end, and your insulin still reacts, although maybe not as drastically. If you are eating tons of pasta, even whole wheat, I would assume that your insulin levels are not getting very low, which is counterproductive. So I would advise you to ditch all grains for a month, just to be on the safe side. Sorry... Meat is also suspect, in my book, as it can trigger insulin with its protein and it is known to be chock full of hormones, as is dairy, which can cause acne as well. Eggs too, although I do eat a few bites of scrambled for breakfast occasionally. But I think it's best to go vegan for a month, and see where that gets you. I know my diet sounds restrictive, but you don't really have to starve on it - whenever I get hungry, I eat an orange or some carrots. And I find looking at the carby food I want to eat and thinking about what it will do to my face gives me tremendous willpower. I don't think I have to go on eating this way forever - I just want to find a sort of "bottom line" that I know will clear my skin - then when my face is clear and my insulin under control I can start adding things back - some meat or a little whole grain, and see how my face responds. I have a hunch that most people who suffer from acne are insulin resistant from overeating carbs, and that low GI eating can help that condition so that gradually your hormone response is "trained" to be more normal, and you can move back to a more reasonable diet. But I will eat the way I am for ever and ever if it is the only way I can have clear skin! I hope my take on the low GI diet doesn't sound too impossible to follow - really, I just want you to get the results I have! The link to that article is below. Have a great day!

Lisaveta

http://www.sciencedi...207004148%C2%A0

Thanks for the lengthy response!

But let me get this straight, your living off of fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, and sunflower seeds...? What do you eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? I'm a male so my situation might be a bit different but I always seem to be hungry. I usually have 4-5 serving of paste and grill a chicken breast for dinner but now that I'm reading this I'm beginning to have second thoughts. I usually have meat with every single meal besides breakfast. I didn't cook any eggs for breakfast today because your post scared me...haha.

There are no safe foods out there besides veggies and some fruits it seems like..

Edited by reality, 02 October 2011 - 02:33 PM.

[Lisaveta]

"Thanks for the lengthy response!
But let me get this straight, your living off of fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, and sunflower seeds...? What do you eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?"

Haha, yes I am. I guess it sounds pretty crazy - but I don't think its as bad as it sounds. I usually have some fruit and a ton of water for breakfast, vegetables of some sort with a salad and beans for lunch, the same for dinner, and more fruit and nuts as snacks throughout the day. I eat something if I start feeling hungry. But I don't actually get as hungry as I used too. I used to read that carbs can be addicting and set you up on this vicious cycle of spiking and then crashing your blood sugar - which makes you hungry for carbs again. Now I believe it's true. After the first few days I stopped getting ravenously hungry and I eat mostly because I think I ought to. Since you're a guy I can see how you need to eat more calories and more protein, but I do think nuts and beans are pretty good sources of those. I guess you wouldn't have to cut the meat out if you feel that you need it, I'm just suspicious of the hormones involved. But four to five servings of pasta for dinner sounds like a lot to me - and any lower GI advantage which you get from the whole wheat, (which isn't really that much), is going to be canceled out by the sheer amount of what you're eating. It seems to me like you might have one of those carb addictions - and the whole wheat isn't doing much to help it. So do as you see fit, but personally I'd be afraid that just eating that amount of grain every day, especially all at once like that, will make it pretty much impossible to get insulin levels down, especially with the bread and granola bars you mentioned eating as well. Another long post, haha. I spend crazy amounts of time researching/thinking about this stuff - hope I helped.

[AKL]

Thanks! I checked it out and it seems interesting. Hopefully all that data in there is reliable/accurate. By the way where did you get this?

Yes, the data is pretty reliable, I got it from the Harvard University website. There must be a revised/updated/extended version from an Australian uni, I'll see if I can find it for you. Here's another reliable source: http://www.glycemicindex.com/

If you're looking for protein (besides meat): have a look at spirulina and/or chlorella, I don't know of another food source containing more protein (somewhere between 60-75%, and it's a complete protein too, all the essential amino acids are there) Plus, they're whole foods, containing lots of vitamins, minerals, carotenoids etc.

eta: found the revised GI/GL list here: http://www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm Look at the GL values, the GI index isn't nearly as important.

[vapor1]

Hi there!

I've been on an extremely low GI diet for three weeks now, after being told by my College GP that "diet has no affect on acne" and not to believe everything I read. I feel that she insulted my intelligence, which is not low, so I've been sticking to the diet religiously with the double aim of clearing my skin and proving her wrong. I think it's working - you may have to be patient though. I had what would be considered moderate acne - although for a girl that's pretty life-disrupting, and the first two weeks I saw only mild improvement and new zits did pop up, although the inflammation was reduced. But the last few days I've had only two tiny un-noticeable pimples and the rest are completely healed up - except for the red marks my face looks clear again. I'm crossing my fingers praying that it lasts, so I can go to that GP's office with my clear skin and a copy of a study I found in the very legit and respected Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology linking acne to carbs -- and make her admit I was right.

As to the diet, extreme strictness in the beginning stages is what I recommend. You want to reduce your insulin levels by a lot, not a little bit, especially so that if you don't see the results you were looking for you know that it's low GI that isn't working for you and not simply that you weren't going low GI enough. I've been eating mostly fruits, (Apples and oranges, because that's what's available to me, although other things like peaches and berries would be good too, just no bananas or watermelons, too high GI), vegetables, cooked and raw, (other than potatoes, which are pure carbs, salads are great but watch out for the dressing, oil and vinegar is best), and nuts, beans and sunflower seeds for protein, although not too much as protein, especially beans, can give you an insulin response as well as carbs, which we want to avoid. I say, ditch all the grains, even the conventional whole grains have a high GI, and while pasta, because of its structure, releases sugars into the blood slower, it still releases the same amount in the end, and your insulin still reacts, although maybe not as drastically. If you are eating tons of pasta, even whole wheat, I would assume that your insulin levels are not getting very low, which is counterproductive. So I would advise you to ditch all grains for a month, just to be on the safe side. Sorry... Meat is also suspect, in my book, as it can trigger insulin with its protein and it is known to be chock full of hormones, as is dairy, which can cause acne as well. Eggs too, although I do eat a few bites of scrambled for breakfast occasionally. But I think it's best to go vegan for a month, and see where that gets you. I know my diet sounds restrictive, but you don't really have to starve on it - whenever I get hungry, I eat an orange or some carrots. And I find looking at the carby food I want to eat and thinking about what it will do to my face gives me tremendous willpower. I don't think I have to go on eating this way forever - I just want to find a sort of "bottom line" that I know will clear my skin - then when my face is clear and my insulin under control I can start adding things back - some meat or a little whole grain, and see how my face responds. I have a hunch that most people who suffer from acne are insulin resistant from overeating carbs, and that low GI eating can help that condition so that gradually your hormone response is "trained" to be more normal, and you can move back to a more reasonable diet. But I will eat the way I am for ever and ever if it is the only way I can have clear skin! I hope my take on the low GI diet doesn't sound too impossible to follow - really, I just want you to get the results I have! The link to that article is below. Have a great day!

Lisaveta

http://www.sciencedi...207004148%C2%A0

GL is also important to consider. For instance, pasta might not be that high gi, but if you eat more than like half a cup, it becomes high GL due to the amount of carbs. I notice no problems whatsoever with meat, so you should add it back. Just make sure it says no hormones added. Fish is also really safe

[chunkylard]

What's wheat paste? Is that like eating glue?

Googling wheat paste gives some information about some type of adhesive/glue. I'd be hard pressed to recommend ANYTHING wheat-based or wheat-derived to anyone honestly. The rest of your diet seems fine although I'd be skeptical about Nature Valley's granola personally, even though "true" oats are one of the few decent grains.

[alternativista]

Yeah, WTH is wheat paste that you are eating tons of???. And Whole wheat bread is lower GI than white bread, but no, it is not low GI. And gluten mimics insulin messing up your whole carb metabolism. Keep your wheat eating to a minimum.

Also, for glycemic impact, it is the Glycemic Load of the meal that matters.

[bryan]

...And Whole wheat bread is lower GI than white bread, but no, it is not low GI.

In the Extended Table of Glycemic Indexes near the end of the book "The Life Extension Weight Loss Program" by Pearson and Shaw, one finds the following entries (under Bakery goods):

white bread: 69
whole wheat bread: 72

In other words, whole wheat bread was actually slightly higher in glycemic index that white bread, in that specific test. I think people make too much out of any supposed difference between white bread and whole wheat bread, at least in the specific regard of glycemic index.

[reality]

"Thanks for the lengthy response!
But let me get this straight, your living off of fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, and sunflower seeds...? What do you eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?"

Haha, yes I am. I guess it sounds pretty crazy - but I don't think its as bad as it sounds. I usually have some fruit and a ton of water for breakfast, vegetables of some sort with a salad and beans for lunch, the same for dinner, and more fruit and nuts as snacks throughout the day. I eat something if I start feeling hungry. But I don't actually get as hungry as I used too. I used to read that carbs can be addicting and set you up on this vicious cycle of spiking and then crashing your blood sugar - which makes you hungry for carbs again. Now I believe it's true. After the first few days I stopped getting ravenously hungry and I eat mostly because I think I ought to. Since you're a guy I can see how you need to eat more calories and more protein, but I do think nuts and beans are pretty good sources of those. I guess you wouldn't have to cut the meat out if you feel that you need it, I'm just suspicious of the hormones involved. But four to five servings of pasta for dinner sounds like a lot to me - and any lower GI advantage which you get from the whole wheat, (which isn't really that much), is going to be canceled out by the sheer amount of what you're eating. It seems to me like you might have one of those carb addictions - and the whole wheat isn't doing much to help it. So do as you see fit, but personally I'd be afraid that just eating that amount of grain every day, especially all at once like that, will make it pretty much impossible to get insulin levels down, especially with the bread and granola bars you mentioned eating as well. Another long post, haha. I spend crazy amounts of time researching/thinking about this stuff - hope I helped.

That's one hard diet to follow, I give you tons of credit for your mental toughness. I woke up today and didn't make eggs I just grabbed two apples and two bottles of water and headed to school. It was so hard making it through the day without my usual breakfast. I had my first meal at 3:30 PM. I stopped by Subway and grabbed a salad (picture below). Thats pretty awesome that nuts don't effect your acne? For most people it seems like they do. I agree with you that I shouldn't be eating all those carbs. I will try cutting those out of my diet and see if it helps.

Here is a picture of my Subway salad:

That's sweet onion sauce on the top (its sugar free) with some chicken. I'm a bit worried about the chicken due to possibly added hormones?

Goals:
- Cut down on carbs
- Cut down on wheat
- Eat more veggies
- No more processed granola bars
- ??


Thanks again for your awesome post!

Thanks! I checked it out and it seems interesting. Hopefully all that data in there is reliable/accurate. By the way where did you get this?

Yes, the data is pretty reliable, I got it from the Harvard University website. There must be a revised/updated/extended version from an Australian uni, I'll see if I can find it for you. Here's another reliable source: http://www.glycemicindex.com/

If you're looking for protein (besides meat): have a look at spirulina and/or chlorella, I don't know of another food source containing more protein (somewhere between 60-75%, and it's a complete protein too, all the essential amino acids are there) Plus, they're whole foods, containing lots of vitamins, minerals, carotenoids etc.

eta: found the revised GI/GL list here: http://www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm Look at the GL values, the GI index isn't nearly as important.

Thats great information! I wasn't aware of those websites. These websites actually look trustworthy. I will create a shopping list before I go to the store later this week using the information on those great sites. Also I'm not looking for just protein but more calories since I'm trying to put on some weight. Are you on a low GI diet? You really seem to know your stuff too.

Yeah, WTH is wheat paste that you are eating tons of???. And Whole wheat bread is lower GI than white bread, but no, it is not low GI. And gluten mimics insulin messing up your whole carb metabolism. Keep your wheat eating to a minimum.

Also, for glycemic impact, it is the Glycemic Load of the meal that matters.

I'm sorry I meant whole wheat pasta.

Now I know I have to watch how much and what I eat, dang.



Thanks everybody for your responses...such helpful people!!!

[Beautiful Day]

Forget GI. GI tells you nothing useful. You want GL.