Gabriela Radulian, Emilia Rusu, Andreea Dragomir and Mihaela Posea
Nutrition Journal 2009, 8:5doi:10.1186/1475-2891-8-5

Abstract

The persistence of an epidemic of obesity and type 2 diabetes suggests that new nutritional strategies are needed if the epidemic is to be overcome. A promising nutritional approach suggested by this thematic review is metabolic effect of low glycemic-index diet.

The currently available scientific literature shows that low glycemic-index diets acutely induce a number of favorable effects, such as a rapid weight loss, decrease of fasting glucose and insulin levels, reduction of circulating triglyceride levels and improvement of blood pressure.

The long-term effect of the combination of these changes is at present not known.

Based on associations between these metabolic parameters and risk of cardiovascular disease, further controlled studies on low-GI diet and metabolic disease are needed.