The G.I. Diet (Glycemic Index) is the truly simple, healthy way to achieve weight loss without going hungry. As importantly, it will help you maintain that weight loss and this is how you will eat for the rest of your life.

What is the glycemic index?

Not all carbohydrate foods are created equal, in fact they behave quite differently in our bodies. Choosing low GI carbs - the ones that produce only small fluctuations in our blood glucose and insulin levels - is the secret to long-term health reducing your risk of heart disease and diabetes and is the key to sustainable weight loss.

All diets will let you lose weight so why do 95% of them fail? The answer is simply that people cannot sustain them because:

1. They feel hungry or deprived
2. Diets are too complex with measuring and counting of calories, grams, blocks, points etc.
3. They don’t feel healthy

Thousands of people go through a time of struggle and battle with several diets and weight loss programs and then discover the Glycemic Index Diet and achieve their desired goals. But remember, the Glycemic Index Diet is not perfect.

Developed by Dr. David Jenkins, a professor of nutrition at the University of Toronto, the G.I. measures the speed at which foods are broken down by the body to form glucose, the body’s source of energy. High G.I. foods break down quickly and leave you looking for the next food fix. Low G. I. foods break down more slowly and leave you feeling fuller, longer. It is these low G.I. foods that form the core of the diet.

Most high G.I. foods such as those made from white flour are heavily processed where the essential nutrients have been stripped away. Conversely, low GI foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, whole grains, lean meat/fish and low fat dairy are rich in nutrients essential for your good health

The G.I. Diet makes all the calculations for you by listing all foods in three traffic light color categories: red light foods which you avoid if you want to lose weight; yellow light listings are foods that are to be used occasionally; and green light foods – eat as much as you like.

What are the Benefits of the Glycemic Index?

Eating a lot of high GI foods can be detrimental to your health because it pushes your body to extremes. This is especially true if you are overweight and sedentary. Switching to eating mainly low GI carbs that slowly trickle glucose into your blood stream keeps your energy levels balanced and means you will feel fuller for longer between meals.

• Low GI diets help people lose and control weight
• Low GI diets increase the body’s sensitivity to insulin
• Low GI carbs improve diabetes control
• Low GI carbs reduce the risk of heart disease
• Low GI carbs reduce blood cholesterol levels
• Low GI carbs can help you manage the symptoms of PCOS
• Low GI carbs reduce hunger and keep you fuller for longer
• Low GI carbs prolong physical endurance
• High GI carbs help re-fuel carbohydrate stores after exercise

How to Switch to a Low GI Diet The basic technique for eating the low GI way is simply a “this for that” approach - ie, swapping high GI carbs for low GI carbs. You don’t need to count numbers or do any sort of mental arithmetic to make sure you are eating a healthy, low GI diet. Use breakfast cereals based on oats, barley and bran Use breads with wholegrains, stone-ground flour, sour dough Reduce the amount of potatoes you eat Enjoy all other types of fruit and vegetables Use Basmati or Doongara rice Enjoy pasta, noodles, quinoa Eat plenty of salad vegetables with a vinaigrette dressing

In short, the G.I.Diet will not let you go hungry or feel deprived. It is simplicity itself for as one journalist put it ‘if you can follow a traffic light, you can follow this diet’. Finally it will not harm your health like many of today’s diets, but rather will actually reduce your risk from heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, colon and prostate cancer. With recipes, snacks ideas, pull out shopping list, pantry and dining out guides, the G.I. Diet will be the way you will eat for the rest of your life.

Have a great day and God bless!