Obesity -- it is as much the scourge of the developed world as poverty is of the Third World. Thousands in the developed world have been desperately -- and rather unsuccessfully -- trying to shed their pounds, even as thousands in the underdeveloped world have been trying to put some fat into their bodies.

The World Health Organization says that the United States is now the fattest country in the world. Ask anyone who has tried to burn away those calories. It's easier to look for the proverbial needle in the haystack! And they will tell you that there are no shortcuts in a fat loss regimen.

There are many causes that contribute to weight gain. Often, it may not only be the intake of food. Hormonal factors, side-effects of medical conditions, and many other factors cause weight gain. Recent research has shown that the increased amount of chemicals and toxins in the environment is a factor contributing to obesity.

Dieting and fat burning exercises are often considered the only solution for fat loss. But such a regime should be tailor-made for your body composition and lifestyle to be effective. However, many people do not follow professional advice and cause more harm to their body than good while on a fat loss regime.

This is where we need to look at the new low-glycemic standard of healthy eating. Glycemic indexing basically measures by how much a given food raises blood sugar and insulin response. This is important because the rate at which your blood sugar rises after eating is important in managing your weight.

High-glycemic food causes many negative effects, including weight gain. They increase your appetite, and raise fat in your body system by increasing triglycerides. However, a low-carbohydrate diet is not necessarily a low-glycemic diet as is the popular misconception. Such a diet will only lead to more fat in the body.

So what is a low glycemic diet? Fruits and vegetables are low-glycemic food, and you should include them most in your daily diet. However, it is often not quite possible to stick to such a diet.

That is where glyconutritionals or glyconutrient supplements come in. Glyconutrients are a class of sugars that are found in fruits and vegetables and are necessary to keep the body ticking along perfectly. The are needed to some the fundamental biochemical process of cell-to-cell communication in the body, and tone up the immune system.

Eight of these essential sugars have already been discovered and six of these are not available in our daily diet. Taking glyconutritional supplements made from fruits and vegetables helps in two ways: they help you maintain a low-glycemic diet and also keep your body strong while on a fat loss regime.