Which Diet is Best?

Fad diets come and go.  Scientists, doctors, and nutritionists have long argued over which diet is the best.  A recent study compared low carb, low fat, and low glycemic index diets.  In the short term, low carb diets tend to work better.  However, dieters who followed a low glycemic index diet were better at keeping the weight off.

The glycemic index is a measure of how quickly your body turns food to sugar that it can use.  Processed foods and simple carbohydrates have a high glycemic index and cause the familiar "sugar high" and subsequent crash.  Foods with low glycemic indices have more of a slow burn.  Brown rice and whole wheat pastas are examples.

Diet alone is usually not enough.  Not surprisingly, researchers also found that individuals who exercised 60-90 minutes a day were the most successful.

Here is a link to the article abstract and a story about it.

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1199154

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/09/10/160757730/low-and-slow-may-be-the-way-to-go-when-it-comes-to-dieting