The BioFit Diet  App

What is a glycal?

A glycal is a calorie stored as fat. The number of glycals in a meal depends upon how much you eat (calories) as well as the type of food you eat (glycemic load). The glycal is calculated from a formula developed by Dr. Jeffrey S. Dunham, Medical Director of BioFit Medical Group, and is based on the latest medical research.



Where can I find more information on glycals?

The glycal is a novel concept developed by Dr. Jeffrey S. Dunham. It reconciles the latest research that indicates glycemic load is as important as calories when trying to lose fat. The derivation and conceptual basis of the glycal will be published in an upcoming book written by Dr. Dunham.



What are the serving sizes of the foods listed?

The serving sizes are listed at the bottom of the first page of the app. The exact amounts are listed under each food selected.



Does the BioFit Diet™ work for both men and women?

Yes. The app is for both men and women.



The number of calories stored as fat (glycals) is driven by insulin, and is the same in men and women. The distribution of the fat, however, depends upon the sex hormones.



Men store fat mainly in the belly, while women store fat in the breasts, buttocks and upper thigh areas. After menopause, women will start storing fat in the belly (like men).

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Why can’t I find every food?

The glycemic load of a food (which is used to calculate glycals) is determined experimentally by measuring the blood sugar levels of volunteers after they eat a particular food. Information regarding glycemic load is not available for all foods, since there are only about 1900 foods that have been studied to date. The most current and comprehensive list was published in 2008. The link to the article is given below and you can download the list in PDF format.

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For foods not on the list, we have estimated the glycemic load by using the glycemic load of a food on the list with a similar nutritional content (fat, protein, carbohydrates and fiber).http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/31/12/2281.full.pdf+html



What do the numbers mean?

The numbers are the servings of the particular food choses, and are defined at the bottom of the first page of the app. You can change the number of servings by pressing the + or – buttons. You can choose 1/4, 1/2, 1, 2, 3, etc. servings of each food.

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How do I search for a food?

You can search for a food by touching the "Search for Food" button and then typing the name of the food. One-word searches work best.



Can I save a meal and track the number of glycals I’ve eaten?

We plan on adding a save and track feature in future updates of the app.

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Is there a bar code scanner?

We plan on adding a bar code scanner in future versions of the app. The bar code scanner will estimate the number of glycals in a food by the nutritional content.

 

If when I eat a meal is important, can I enter the time I plan on eating the meal?

You can change the time of your meal by touching the time signature under “Your Meal Stats” after calculating the meal.  The default time is the current time, which the app reads from your iPhone or iPad.

 

How many glycals a day can I have if I want to lose weight?

Generally, if you stay in the green, you'll be losing fat.

 

The total daily glycals allowed will depend on your age, sex, weight, height, how many hours you sleep at night and how fast you want to lose fat.

 

For an average middle-age female who sleeps 7-8 hours a night, limiting total daily glycals to 100 will lose about 1 pound of fat every 10 days, and limiting total daily glycals to 50 will lose about 1 pound of fat every 5 days.

 

I have only green foods in my meal.  Why is it rated red?

The calories in a meal stored as fat (glycals) depend upon how you combine different types of food; it's not simply the sum of the glycals of each food eaten alone.

 

You need insulin to store fat, so if the glycemic load of a food is 0 (like bacon and eggs), no fat is stored no matter how many calories of that food you eat.

 

However, when you a add food that has a high glycemic load (like wheat toast) to that high calorie meal, then the insulin surge you get from the toast will store a portion of the calories in the bacon and eggs (as well as the wheat toast).

 

Wheat toast eaten alone is a green since there are only 65 calories in a slice. Even if you store 30% of those calories as fat you're only storing about 20 calories.

 

Therefore, you can have 3 green foods in a meal and it can be rated green, yellow or red, depending upon how you combine them.  Similarly, a meal containing a yellow food will always give a yellow or red rating, and a meal containing a red food will always be rated red.