The Three ContendersThere are three contenders which, together, I suggest as a winning formula.
1. Tackling the ‘what food’ side of things
You’ll know that I advocate a specific low GL diet (45 GLs – 10GLs per three main meals, 5 GLs each for a snack mid-morning and afternoon and 5 GLs for a drink or dessert. This is doable and, with some exercise, has produced 7kg weight loss in a month without muscle mass loss – eg fatThere are many different types of fats; polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, hydrogenated, saturated and trans fat. The body requires good fats (polyunsaturated and monounsaturated) in order to… loss. [There is a more extreme method of achieving very low GL, shunning carbs, eating high fat, and effectively going into ketosis. Also, there’s merit in an 18/6 intermittent fast.]
Any successful strategy must cut hunger. The attractiveness of the drugs is that they cut appetite. So, what help cut appetite, eliminate hunger and motivate you more naturally towards a low GL diet?
2/3. Cutting Hunger: there are two winners here: glucomannan fibre and the natural sugar allulose
Allulose, amazingly, doesn’t cause a spike in your blood sugar, but does all the right things to ‘reverse’ metabolic syndrome. They both address ‘insulinInsulin is a hormone made by the pancreas. It is responsible for making the body’s cells absorb glucose (sugar) from the blood…. resistance’ which is the underlying metabolic problem. Insulin is the ‘fat storing’ hormone that sends excess sugar into storage as fat. ‘Insulin resistance’, which means you’ve lost that sensitivity and must make even more insulin, is a consequence of eating too many carbs and sugar over the years (more about these below).
How to Approach Weight-Loss
Ultimately, no approach to weight loss works unless it reduces hunger and reverses insulin resistance, which is both what stabilising your blood sugar with a low GL diet is all about, since blood sugar peaks make you fat and dips make you hungry.
It’s to do with a balancing act between two hormones –
- insulin, which takes glucose into storage when your blood glucose level rises, and
- glucagon which releases stores of glucose when your glucose supply in the blood has gone (think gluc-has-gone.) This is what happens when your blood sugar levels crash.
There’s a clever little enzyme called GLP-1 (Glucagon-Like-Peptide) that helps control your blood sugar level and your appetite, slowing down digestion so you don’t get an overload of sugar that turns into fat. That is, in essence, what my low GL diet does.
But drug companies have worked out how to make drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy which are GLP-1 agonists (so it mimics rather than ant-agonise) that achieve a similar result, so you feel less hungry and lose weight. In this way they also help reverse diabetes. They do work for weight loss but at a cost. Apart from short-term side-effects such as vomiting, diarrhoea and constipation there are long-term concerns about pancreatitis, thyroid tumours, gallbladder issues, and diabetic retinopathy.
In addition to my low GL Diet, you can achieve the same goal of weight loss and reduced appetite with allulose and glucomannan, which don’t have the risk of these adverse effects and may be good for you.
Allulose – this is a rare, natural sugar found in some fruits such as figs, jackfruit and maple syrup.
It is a natural GLP-1 agonist. Unlike fructoseFructose is a simple sugar that occurs naturally in fruits, vegetables and their juices, as well as in honey…., it isn’t turned into fat. Quite the opposite. Consider this experiment on type-2 diabetic rats given a tiny amount of allulose for 12 weeks. They exhibited lower food consumption and increased levels of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), enhancing glucose regulation and appetite control. Additionally, allulose prevented liver triglycerideTriglycerides are a type of fat found in the blood – the body uses them for energy. However, high levels of triglycerides can raise the… (fat) accumulation. “These findings suggest that allulose supplementation can improve metabolic health markers, making it a promising dietary component for managing obesity and type-2 diabetes.” Conclude the authors of the study, Human studies shown the same thing with as little as 4.5 grams of allulose, which is a teaspoon.
Glucomannan fibreFibre is an important part of a balanced diet. There are two type of fibre; soluble and insoluble. Insoluble fibre helps your bowel to pass… – we’ve all heard of the benefit of soluble fibre but this soluble fibre, extracted from the Japanese konjac plant is about 50 times more potent, that is water-absorbing, than oat fibre. This means that a tiny amount of 3 grams, which is a flat teaspoon, lowers the GL of your meal, reduces appetite, promotes regular bowel movements and even lowers cholesterol.
A study in Thailand found that giving 1g of glucomannan before meals significantly lowered the GL, and the need for insulin, in people with type-2 diabetes.[i] Other studies have shown that glucomannan lowers cholesterol[ii] and stabilises blood sugar[iii], which is associated with improving insulin sensitivity. It has also been shown to reduce the amount of food you want to eat in the accompanying meal.[iv] It also promotes a healthy gut microbiome and does just about everything you’d want to help control or reverse diabetes type-2.[v]
It’s also a brilliant aid for healthy weight loss. One study reported an additional 450g (1lb) in weight loss a week when patients took 3g of glucomannan a day. [vi] In a US study Dr Gilbert Kaatz and colleagues gave 73 overweight men and women either 1 gram of glucomannan, taken three times a day before meals, or an identical placebo pill for 60 days.
Those on placebo gained an average of 2.18lbs. Those on glucomannan lost an average of 2.75lbs. So those on glucomannan lost 4.93lbs (2.25kg), almost 5lbs more over 60 days. Further analysis found that most of this weight loss, almost 4lbs (3.86lbs) was actually fat loss. LDL cholesterolLDL is short for low density lipoprotein. It is the “bad cholesterol” which collects in the walls of blood vessels, causing blockages. High LDL levels…, reduced by 3mg/dl in those taking glucomannan.
At the Institute for Optimum Nutrition, we decided to put glucomannan to the test by giving 3g a day to ten overweight people over a three-month period.[vii] None made any apparent change to their diet or exercise regime. Nine completed the trial, with an average weight loss of 3kg (6.6lb) each. A review of all studies in 2005, concluded ‘At doses of 2–4 g per day, glucomannan was well-tolerated and resulted in significant weight loss in overweight and obese individuals.’[viii]
You need about 3g a day, or a flat teaspoonful, for this kind of effect although, for diabetes, I recommend this before each meal, together with allulose, ideally added to water then drunk at the start of, or during a meal. The addition of allulose also improves the flavour, which is not unpleasant. Since glucomannan absorbs water, it is best to stir it into water (no need to then wait0 and drink it so it’s already exposed to fluid. This will fill you up naturally, help reverse insulin resistance, stabilise blood sugar and thus make you feel full and satisfied so it becomes easy not to eat.
A Combination of the Three
There are no studies yet on the combo of these three winners, but my hunch is it will prove to be a winning formula. So do let me know how you get on – customerservice@patrickholford.com
Getting Started
- You’ll need a copy of my Low GL Diet Cookbook to get you started on the low GL road. If you then find yourself less hungry, you can push it a bit further by putting all your eating into a 6-hour window by having an early dinner at 6 or 7pm, then brunch at 12 or 1pm, a mid afternoon snack, then dinner.
- My Hybrid Latté which is virtually carb-free, then becomes a great way to start the day.
- Do make sure to have that glucomannan and ideally allulose before both meals. You can find both in Carboslow.
- Always make sure you are exercising every other day, at least, and including some ‘strength’ or resistance exercise that builds muscles. Even walking up hills, stairs, cycling, swimming or being active as in gardening or playing sports, is better than just ‘flat’ walking.
Further Information
NEW Carboslow with Allulose is now available from HOLFORD Nutrition.
More on going Low GL on this website.
References
[i] S. Chearskul, et al., ‘Glycemic and lipidFats, oils, waxes and sterols are collectively known as lipids…. responses to glucomannan in Thais with type-2 diabetes mellitus’, Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand, 2007 Oct;90(10):2150–7
[ii] M. Yoshida, et al., ‘Effect of plant sterolsPlant sterols are compounds similar to cholesterol which occur in plants. They can help to prevent cholesterol being absorbed in the body…. and glucomannan on lipids in individuals with and without type II diabetes’, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2006 Apr;60(4):529–37; see also H. L. Chen, et al., ‘Konjac supplement alleviated hypercholesterolemia and hyperglycemia in type-2 diabetic subjects: A randomized double-blind trial’, Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 2003 Feb; 22(1):36–42.
[iii] V. Vuksan, et al., ‘Beneficial effects of viscous dietary fiber from Konjac-mannan in subjects with the insulin resistance syndrome: Results of a controlled metabolic trial’, Diabetes Care, 2000 Jan;23(1):9–14; see also V. Vuksan, et al., ‘Konjac-mannan (glucomannan) improves glycemia and other associated risk factors for coronary heart disease in type-2 diabetes: A randomized controlled metabolic trial’, Diabetes Care, 1999 Jun;22(6):913–9
[iv] V. Vuksan, ‘Viscosity of fiber preloads affects food intake in adolescents’, Nutrition, MetabolismMetabolism is a term that is used to describe the chemical reactions that take place within the body’s cells. The body gets the energy it… and Cardiovascular Diseases, 2009 Sep;19(7):498–503
[v] Fang Y, Ma J, Lei P, Wang L, Qu J, Zhao J, Liu F, Yan X, Wu W, Jin L, Ji H, Sun D. Konjac Glucomannan: An Emerging Specialty Medical Food to Aid in the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Foods. 2023 Jan 12;12(2):363. doi: 10.3390/foods12020363. PMID: 36673456; PMCID: PMC9858196.
[vi] D. Walsh, ‘Effect of glucomannan on obese patients’, International Journal of Obesity, 1984;8:289–93
[vii] P. Holford, ‘The Effects of Glucomannan on Weight Loss’, ION (1983)
[viii] J. Keithley and B. Swanson, ‘Glucomannan and obesity: A critical review’, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 2005 Nov–Dec;11(6):30–4
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