Glycemic Index Diet

There is a Glycemic Index Diet, that is a new way of eating, based upon the Glycemic Index. It is one my favorite lifestyle solutions for your food choices, because it is just a guide to healthy eating, and there are many benefits that will help you with weight control and weight loss. You won’t get skinny quickly, but you will learn how to eat for health!

Remember, in the Glycemic Index, carbohydrate foods are categorized into green light foods that are a go, yellow light foods that signal caution, and red light foods that you should stop or eat sparingly. You can guess that all sugar laden foods, and processed foods fall into the red light category! Surprise!

Please review, my full Site Disclaimer! It is always recommended to get a physical, before you are planning any major dietary changes, in the event that you have diabetes, or any undiagnosed medical problems that you are unaware of.

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There are many benefits of the Glycemic Index Diet (G.I. Diet):

• Low G.I. diets, help people lose weight, and control weight.


• Low G.I. diets, improve diabetes control, and also Insulin Resistance


• Low G.I. diets, can reduce the risk of heart problems


• Low G.I. diets, can help reduce your cholesterol levels


• Low G.I. diets keep you fuller longer, because you are eating more fiber


• Low G.I. diets, reduce hunger and cravings, because your blood sugar is under control


• Low G.I. diets, give you more physical endurance, because you do not have huge blood sugar swings

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What is not to like about this way of eating? Don’t we all want these benefits in our lives? If you want to be healthy, this is a great way of eating to add to your healthy diet habits!

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How to Incorporate the Low G.I. Diet into your Life:

• Use breakfast cereals based on whole grains, like non-processed oats (steel cut), barley, and bran


• Use 100% whole grain breads, stone-ground flour, or sour dough breads


• Learn to love all types of fruits and vegetables, and use the half plate rule


• Eat tons of new vegetable salads, with a vinaigrette dressing (Trader Joe’s Fat Free Balsamic Vinaigrette, or make your own), and use the half plate rule


• Reduce the amount of potatoes in your diet


• Use Basmati rice, or brown rice


• Try new whole grains like quinoa, whole wheat couscous, and pasta

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This is a lifestyle solution, but does not mean that you can never eat your favorite red light foods ever again. Do not do that denial thing! Most of us eat several foods at one time. These foods combine together to give you a “Glycemic load” total. If you want to sneak in a red light food, you can eat a healthy meal, with a small serving of a higher glycemic food, and not completely send your blood sugar spiraling. It would be much better to have a small dessert with your meal, than on an empty stomach. You can learn many eating tricks, which I love on this diet!

One problem that you could have from this diet, is that there are some foods that will be lower on the Glycemic Index, like nuts, but are fairly caloric. If you decided to eat a large quantity of nuts, you might gain weight. You would still need to limit a few of the lower G.I. foods. I think it does help give you an understanding about how carbohydrates are used in your body, and how they can cause your blood sugar to spike, and drop quickly. I believe everyone needs to learn to eat healthy carbohydrates, to help to reduce food cravings.

Recommended Books

I would recommend any of Rick Gallop’s books on the Glycemic Index Diet.

• The G.I. Diet
• Living the G.I. Diet
• The G.I. Diet Clinic - This is my favorite, because it is a 13 week plan for permanent and healthy weight loss. He includes all of the information that you need to get started, as well as: meal planning, behavior changes, emotional eating, eating out, and many very practical helps, which I love! It is a learning tool that can teach you to make healthy diet habits.

Here are a few of Rick Gallop's Tips:

• Clean out your pantry, cupboards, and grocery food lists of high G.I. foods


• Replace high G.I. foods with low G.I. foods


• Choose dense, whole grain breads vs. white, light breads


• Select high fiber breakfast cereals like oats, barley, or bran, instead of high sugar cereals


• Eat fewer sweets and refined sugar products – soft drinks, desserts, candy bars

In addition to these simple steps, use the low Glycemic Index list above, while shopping or eating out. The shift to low Glycemic Index foods, will give you a fighting chance to improve your health.