The Glycemic Index (GI) diet has become very popular in recent years, but the GI ranking system has been around since 1981. Several books have been written about how well the GI diet works, but is it really a diet or a change in how you live?
The glycemic index measures how much sugar a food has.
The glycemic index was made by Dr. David Jenkins at the University of Toronto in Canada to measure how quickly foods break down in the body to make glucose. It was first made to help diabetics control their blood sugar levels, but it was soon used to help people trying to lose weight control what they ate and how much they ate. The key was to slow down how quickly food turned into glucose. The body's natural source of energy is glucose. When the food is broken down, it gives you a rush of energy, but when it is burned up, you feel hungry and tired.
Foods are classified as high, medium, or low GI based on how quickly they raise the blood sugar level after being eaten. On the glycemic index scale, low GI foods have a score of less than 55, medium GI foods have a score between 55 and 70, and high GI foods have a score of more than 70. High GI foods break down quickly in the body and make you feel hungry again soon after eating them. Low GI foods take longer to digest and absorb, so you feel fuller for longer after eating them.
Foods that have a high GI are:
White flour products like white bread, croissants, and doughnuts; heavily processed foods like corn chips, potato chips, or pretzels; high-sugar foods like cookies, rice krispies, and ice cream; high-starch vegetables like potatoes and parsnips; and high-sugar fruits like watermelons, dates, and other dried fruits.
Foods with a medium GI are:
Most kinds of pasta; rice; some fruits, such as mangos, apricots, and raisins; and some vegetables, such as baked beans.
Low GI foods include:
Most fruits and vegetables; legumes; cereals high in fibre and low in sugar; low-fat plain yoghurt, whole, low-fat, or skim milk; whole grain breads.
The Low Glycemic Index Diet
The goal of the low GI diet is to change the way you eat so that most of the foods you eat come from the low GI food group. These foods take longer for the body to turn into glucose. This mostly does two things:
Produces a more even level of glucose throughout the day, so you don't have those times when your glucose level is high, followed by lows.
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Lessens how often you want to eat and how hungry you are.
When these two things work together, the dieter can eat a well-balanced meal and avoid "energy slumps." Whole grains and foods that haven't been processed take longer for the body to turn into glucose. This makes you feel fuller for longer. It also stops the cravings that cause people to eat too much or eat things that aren't on the eating plan.
But the diet shouldn't be based only on the glycemic index, because foods with a low GI aren't always healthy. Foods should be chosen based on how healthy they are as a whole. The glycemic index is affected by a number of things, such as the amount of nutrients in the food, how much it is processed, how it is cooked, how it is mixed with other foods, or how ripe the fruit or vegetable is.
High-fat foods have a low GI because they don't break down as quickly as high-carb foods. That doesn't mean you should eat high-fat foods to stay within the index. Whole milk, for example, is lower on the list than fat-free or low-fat milk.
Foods that don't have carbs, like fresh meat, chicken, fish, eggs, and cheese, are not ranked by the glycemic index. But it also includes meat and dairy products that have been processed. Even though they aren't ranked, the best foods for a healthy low GI diet are lean or low-fat meats that have been trimmed of visible fat, skinless poultry, fish, and low-fat dairy products.
Also very important is the amount of nutrients. Between dates or watermelon and a bag of crisps, the obvious choice is the fruit, even though watermelon is considered high GI because it is high in sugar and crisps are considered low GI because they are high in fat and slow down the absorption process.
Also, keep in mind that the glycemic index only ranks individual foods, not whole meals. The overall GI value of a meal depends on how the foods are put together and can't be accurately measured, but the main idea is that if you eat low GI foods, the overall GI value will be lower.
The low GI diet doesn't make you lose weight quickly. Instead, it makes you lose weight in a steady, steady way. People who follow this plan say they have more energy, which makes them more likely to work out.
So, the low GI plan is either a diet or a way of life. Most experts agree that it is a diet plan that leads to changes and becomes a way of life. Eating low GI foods makes sense for controlling and keeping your weight, keeping your energy up, and eating healthy.
