GI Diet Guide

Heard about the glycemic index? If you've been left feeling confused, not to mention hungry and still overweight by other diets, perhaps the GI Diet or one of its relatives could be the one for you.

Celebrity fans of the glycemic index (GI) way of eating are rumoured to include Kylie Minogue. If it could give you a bottom like hers, you'd be mad to not give it a whirl, wouldn't you?

I've got lots of time for this kind of diet because it's easy to follow and live with. It works for vegetarians, too. The GI diet is basically pretty healthy and I've seen people achieve great results with it. So what's it about?

Originally developed during research for diabetes, the glycemic index is a measure of how quickly you digest various foods and convert them into your body's energy source: glucose. Glucose, or sugar is rated at 100 and everything else gets scored against that. So cornflakes come in at 84, for example, while oatmeal is 42. Eating low GI foods means you're satisfied for longer, while those with high ratings on the index not only make you feel hungry again quicker (cue snacking), but also trigger off various processes that lead to fat formation and fat storage. However, that's not the whole picture. The GI Diet, to take one of my favourites (by Rick Gallop) also promotes eating a combination of low GI foods that are low in sugar and fat, therefore calories too. Foods are rated red light - avoid, amber - eat occasionally and green - as much as you want. Is this starting to make sense?

The GI Diet also recommends playing with balance of your plate, which is not a circus trick, but still a clever kind of juggling. It means creating a mix on your plate that is a little different to mainstream healthy eating guidelines, of 50% vegetables, with another 25 per cent of meat or fish and the remaining 25% rice, pasta or potatoes. As far as serving sizes go, moderation and common sense are encouraged, but suggestions such as 100 g (4 ounces) of meat and 40 g (1.5 ounces) of dry weight pasta are given. Fruit and vegetables tend to be unlimited, though they have to be the green-lighted ones. For instance, boiled new potatoes are 56 on the index, while a baked potato is 84.

What might your breakfast look like on the GI Diet? Here's a taster:

You could have fresh fruit, although not all fruits are green-lighted. Melon for example is out as it's quickly digested. As juice is processed and therefore digested more quickly, whole fruits are better.
Porridge and sugar-free bran cereals are allowed, as is wholemeal bread that is labelled stoneground - this means less of the fibre is separated, i.e. it'll take longer to digest. A bread serving is one slice and to be eaten sparingly.
You can have skimmed milk and low or no-fat yoghurts, with artificial sweeteners to keep the calories down.
No butter is allowed, so you have to shop for non-hydrogenated soft margarine.
Spreads such as reduced sugar or sugar-free jams are fine. What you can't have are sausages and regular bacon (a bit of leaner back bacon or lean ham is fine), full fat dairy products, white refined produce, such as baguettes, muffins and croissants and dried fruit or fruits that are canned in syrup. My only real gripe as far as the breakfast goes is that coffee isn't allowed - well, only the decaffeinated sort. This is due to caffeine increasing insulin production and reducing blood sugar levels, which makes you hungry.

Overall, the diet is supposed to be a way of eating for life, rather than using as a short-term diet. As it's healthy and easy to follow, that doesn't present a problem. Yes, there are things you have to cut out, some temporarily and some long term, but in truth, they're things that ultimately don't do you health or weight any good anyway. The diet also endorses exercise - an essential in my book! So, yes, this one gets the green light from me.


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