By Nick Nilsson

With the popularity of the Atkins/Low Carb diet fading rapidly, it was only a matter of time before the next "big thing" came along to replace it. Enter: the Glycemic Diet.

The premise of the Glycemic Diet is simple: carbs are not the bad guys-it's the TYPES of carbs you eat that are most important.

What Is The Glycemic Diet?

The Glycemic Diet is based on a scale called the Glycemic Index. The Glycemic Index (or G.I. for short) charts how quickly a food is converted into sugar in the body. Foods that have a higher G.I. number are converted into sugar more quickly than foods that have a low G.I. number, based on a scale of 1 to 100.

For example, straight glucose (which is straight sugar) has a G.I. number of 100, whereas a whole grain like barley has a G.I. number of 27. Proteins and fats, which have neglible impact on blood sugar, are generally not listed on the Glycemic Index, only carbohydrate containing foods.

So why is the G.I. number important? Insulin is secreted by the pancreas in response to increases in blood sugar in your body. Insulin is the primary storage hormone in your body and is used to help get nutrients into the different cells of your body. When blood sugar goes up, insulin is released to bring blood sugar back down by storing the sugar until a normal baseline is reached.

The faster a food is converted into blood sugar (e.g. with high G.I. foods), the higher the blood sugar levels get and the more insulin is secreted by the pancreas to help the cells of your body absorb the sugar. Your blood sugar decreases and your pancreas stops sending out insulin.

It's a simple "stimulus-response" system that works to keep blood sugar levels in balance in the body.

Now, that's all well and good but how does that affect your fat loss?

First, when insulin is present in the bloodstream, the body is in STORAGE mode and will NOT release fat from your fat cells to burn. So while blood sugar and insulin levels are high, your body isn't burning fat.

Next, while your blood sugar is up, your body is using that blood sugar for energy instead of fat. Sugar is the preferred fuel for your body because it's metabolically easier to use. This is why if you eat a carb-containing food before training, your body is going to be using primarily the sugar from that food for energy rather than your bodyfat AND, since insulin and blood sugar are present, your body is in STORAGE mode, not fat-burning mode.

[Quick Lesson - put away the Gatorade if you want to burn fat during your workout! Sports drinks have a G.I. number very near 100!]

Now comes the REAL fat loss killer...

When you eat a high G.I. food and your blood sugar levels rise very quickly, your body doesn't really know how much insulin to send out so it sends out quite a lot and keeps sending it out. The result: soon your body has sent out TOO MUCH insulin and your blood sugar levels drop BELOW ...