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Dietary glycemic index and the regulation of body weight

  • Published:
Lipids

Abstract

Prevalence rates of overweight and obesity have risen precipitously in the United States and other developed countries since the 1960s, despite comprehensive public health efforts to combat this problem. Although considerable attention has been focused on decreasing dietary fat and increasing physical activity level, the potential relevance of the dietary glycemic index to obesity treatment has received comparatively little scientific notice. This review examines how the glycemic and insulinemic responses to diet may affect body weight regulation, and argues for the potential utility of low glycemic index diets in the prevention and treatment of obesity and related complications.

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Abbreviations

GI:

glycemic index

GL:

glycemic load

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Children’s Hospital, 300 Longwood Ave., 02115, Boston, MA

    David S. Ludwig

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  1. David S. Ludwig
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Correspondence to David S. Ludwig.

Additional information

Revised from a paper originally published in the Proceedings of the Nutrition Society of Australia (Vol. 24, pp. 286–293) with permission of the Nutrition Society of Australia.

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Ludwig, D.S. Dietary glycemic index and the regulation of body weight. Lipids 38, 117–121 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-003-1040-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-003-1040-x

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