"Health benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, including ..
potatoes"

Medical News Article on Weight Loss

Two Studies Cast Further Doubt on the Effectiveness of Low GI/GL Diets
for Weight Loss

2008 FEB 25 -- A study published in the September 2007 issue of the
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition provides further evidence that
the glycemic index (GI) of a diet is not important; when it comes to
weight loss it is calories that count. This study adds to the growing
body of evidence supporting the health benefits of a diet rich in
fruits and vegetables, including potatoes, according to the United
States Potato Board.
Researchers from Harvard and the State University of Rio de Janeiro in
Brazil who worked independently from any food industry sponsors,
sought to determine if a low GI diet would be more effective than a
high GI diet for long-term weight...

http://www.ajcn.org/misc/release2.shtml#wolever

Evidence Does Not Support Usefulness of Glycemic Index in Type 2
Diabetes

Background  Although a healthy, well-balanced diet is critical to both
prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes, there is considerable
debate about the most favorable dietary macronutrient composition.
Many health organizations promote consumption of a diet rich in low-
glycemic index (GI) and low-glycemic load (GL) foods. GI is a numeric
value reflecting the body's glycemic response to a specific amount of
a food, whereas GL takes into account both a food's GI and
carbohydrate content. Consumption of foods with high GIs and GLs may
lead to more rapid and/or prolonged elevation of blood glucose.
Nonetheless, there is considerable controversy as to whether low-GI
and/or low-GL diets can prevent type 2 diabetes and its complications.
The January 2008 edition of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
reports the results of 2 prospective clinical trials concerning this
important issue. Wolever and colleagues compared the effects of low-
GI, high-GI, and low-carbohydrate, high-monounsaturated-fat diets in
subjects who already had type 2 diabetes. Sahyoun et al examined
whether consumption of diets differing in GI and GL is associated with
risk of developing type 2 diabetes in older adults without the
disease. In corresponding perspectives, Miles and Pi-Sunyer provide
additional insight regarding the importance of these studies on the
advice given to individuals with type 2 diabetes.

Study Designs  1) Wolever et al conducted a randomized intervention
study in which they recruited subjects aged 35-75 y who had type 2
diabetes that was being managed by diet alone. Subjects (n = 156) were
educated to consume 1 of 3 experimental diets for 12 mo. Diets were
designed to be high GI, low GI, or low carbohydrate, high
monounsaturated fat. Fasting blood samples were collected, and oral-
glucose-tolerance tests were administered at baseline and throughout
the study. Samples were analyzed for glucose, insulin, glycated
hemoglobin (HbA1c, a measure of long-term glycemic control), lipids,
lipoproteins, and C-reactive protein (CRP, a marker of chronic
inflammation).
2) Sahyoun and colleagues studied a cohort of relatively healthy,
older adults (n = 1898) between 70 and 79 y of age who had not been
diagnosed as having type 2 diabetes. Subjects were followed for 6 y;
dietary intake was assessed at baseline by using a food-frequency
questionnaire, and dietary GI and GL were calculated. In addition,
information was collected concerning whether subjects were diagnosed
as having type 2 diabetes, reported using insulin or oral hypoglycemic
medication, or had elevated fasting blood glucose concentrations
during the study.

Results  Results from Wolever and colleagues showed that HbA1c, a
sensitive biological marker for blood glucose control, was not
influenced by dietary GI or GL, which suggests that low-GI or low-GL
diets are not, by themselves, beneficial in the treatment of people
with established type 2 diabetes. Moreover, consumption of the low-GI
diet resulted in elevated fasting glucose and lower glucose
concentrations 2 h after the oral-glucose-tolerance test. Compared
with the low-carbohydrate, high-monounsaturated-fat diet, the low-GI
diet elevated circulating triacylglycerol and lowered HDL cholesterol
early in the study; these effects disappeared by 6 mo. CRP values were
30% lower in the low-GI group than in the high-GI group. Sahyoun et al
did not find a relation between dietary GI or GL and incidence of type
2 diabetes in their study population.

Conclusions  Neither of these prospective human trials provides
support for the hypothesis that consumption of low-GI and/or low-GL
foods independently prevents or treats type 2 diabetes. Although data
from Wolever et al suggest that a low-GI diet may lower CRP, Pi-Sunyer
points out that the low-GI group started the study with lower
concentrations. Additional research on the effect of GI on
inflammatory markers will clearly be required. Miles concluded that
results of these studies "will be disappointing to some advocates of
low-GI diets." Disappointing or not, data from these carefully
conducted clinical trials suggest that GI and GL are not good measures
of optimal diets for individuals with type 2 diabetes.

Who loves ya.
Tom

Jesus Was A Vegetarian!
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