I've picked up bits and pieces of information from the board regarding insulin, but I still need a few more to complete the puzzle. True or False: High GI foods cause your insulin to spike making fat loss impossible? I think its true but how high is high? This might explain why white bread is generally considered taboo? And last but not least, Post workout shakes or meals: what are they supposed to consist of? Whats in yours, mine is just whey. TIA

nothing is impossible, harder yes. I would suggest using search for many of your questions

When you eat your blood glucose rises. Your body releases insulin to stimulate the cells in your body to absorb the insulin out of your bloodstream and your liver to convert the glucose to glycogen (the sugar store you have to burn your way thru before you start burning fat mainly).
Right now lets make up a few stupid figures. Say normal blood glucose is 10. A slice of brown bread is less processed and takes longer to digest then say a slice of white bread therefor your body may only be able to absorb 2 units of glucose per minute from the brown bread. Your body therefor only needs to release enough insulin to remove 2 units of glucose from the blood stream per minute. Heavily processed foods have far less complex carbohydrate mollecules therefor its takes less time to digest the carbs therefore your body can absorb the glucose faster. Say 4 units per minute. Your body now needs to release enough insulin to remove 4 units of glucose form your bloodstream. When you eat sugary or highly processed foods they pass into your bloodstream extreemly quickly, your body compensates by releasing masses of insulin causing a 'insulin spike'. Problem is when you do this your body releases 2 much insulin so it brings your blood glucose level down to below 10. As soon as your blood glucose level falls below 9 your going to start feeling hungry.
The big problem in western countries now is that kids just eat heavily processed sugar laden things so they are constantly sugar spiking. Your body can start to develope a resistance to insulin (so you need more insulin to get the same reaction, works like drug addiction) and this is called type 2 Diabetes.

I'm not 100% sure what you mean by high GI foods.

As far as post workout shakes/meals I always have a prtein shake after doing weights to help my muscels recover quickly. As far as a cardio session I just try to eat a nice 40carbs/40protein/20fat meal within an hour of finishing, helps keep metabolism nice and high.

Foods with a GI of 80 or less are considered low. Above 80, you'll want to avoid too often.

Here's what I know about insulin. Contrary to what the Atkins folks would like you to believe, insulin is not evil. Insulin is produced when any food is consumed and is a primary catalyst in the creation of body fat. Protein, carbs, fat, whatever you eat - you produce insulin. With higher protein and some fattier foods, insulin is produced in smaller quantities. This is the premise of the Atkins diet. Eat high protein, produce less insulin. And technically, you do. But with any diet, as we all know, it's a function of calories. Eat too many calories in a day (regardless of the composition of the calories) and you'll store fat, or at the very least you'll achieve the steady state of not burning any fat. Fat intake should be carefully monitored because insulin transports the ingested fat for immediate storage as body fat. Surplus carbohydratic calories actually have the advantage because the body has to burn additional calories in order to turn carbohydrate into fat for storage.

I wouldn't use the word "impossible" where insulin & fat burning are concerned, but it doesn't help. If you have a cardio session and then ingest carbohydrates or fatty foods within two hours of he workout, you're not helping your fat burning potential. Those carbs become readily available due to insulin transport in the bloodstream and that becomes the preferred energy source for your body as opposed to the fat stores that you wish to burn to remove fat from your body. That's your digestive system being lazy; why go to the trouble of burning stored fat calories when an energy source is mobilized and right there for use? This is why you want a protein source post-cardio; protein causes considerably less insulin to be produced and the body goes to your fat stores for energy.

Your PWO shake depends on what you've done in the gym. If you're doing a resistance training workout, you should have a PWO within 15 or so minutes of completing the workout (within an hour is acceptable, but for maximum gains, I'd say have one as soon as you can after your workout). It should contain at least 30g's of protein, and if you can, get some glutamine in there for recovery purposes. Some people take creatine post-workout, but I prefer to take my creatine before the workout as it gives me a bit of an energy boost and helps me lift better. If it's a cardio workout, I usually just have a protein shake and avoid carbs for two hours after my workout. Beyond that two-hour threshold, I'll have something lower-GI to eat, again to keep insulin low, such as low-fat yogurt or a sweet potato. Fruits like apples are good also, as they are slower digesting foods and help you feel fuller for longer periods of time, assisting your cardio work in burning stored fat.

That's my time. Sorry for the length, I type fast...

-R

thanks for the info. it helps.