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| Part 1: Breaking the Cycle | Part 2: The Low GI Way |
The Low GI Way
THERE'S something a little bit different about the low Gl diet.
It may be a highly fashionable way to lose weight at the moment, endorsed by many celebrities from Naomi Campbell to Sir Steve Redgrave, but this is no faddy regime - it was originally designed by medical professionals to help control the blood sugar levels of diabetics.
To non-diabetics, perhaps this link sounds alarming. But it seems that eating the low Gl way can benefit everyone, from those suffer-ing from conditions such as polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), fatigue and sugar cravings (all symptoms of insulin resistance) to people simply wanting to shift those pesky pounds or rejuvenate themselves.
Its premise is relatively simple. The glycaemic index (Gl) measures the speed at which glucose is absorbed into the bloodstream. The scale ranges from 1 to 100, with all foods being compared to glu-cose's score of 100 and divided into high Gl, medium Gl and low Gl categories.
High Gl foods (such as those containing refined flour or lots of sugar) can trigger the release of large amounts of the hormone insulin, which encourages the body to store the glucose as fat. Eating high Gl foods can also cause an increase in appetite which can leave you diving for yet more doughnuts.
Low Gl foods, however, have the opposite effect — they contain carbohydrates which are dissolved slowly in the gut and release sugar into the bloodstream gradually, keeping you feeling fuller for longer. This category includes beans, sweetcorn, basmati rice, oat bran and many vegetables.
Of course, not all foods contain carbohydrates. Although fats and proteins don't have the same immediate effect on blood sugar, these are taken into consideration by the low Gl diet too - the fat content of dairy and meat products is noted, with preference given to mono- or polyunsaturated fats such as avocado and olive oil and lean proteins like fish and chicken.
The result is a practical, tasty diet, rich in nutritious, normal foods, as you can see in the sample food plan below. "People find this such an easy plan to stick to," says dietician Elana Hirschowitz, who works from her home in Shenley, Hertfordshire, and specialises in low Gl diets. "The more you do it, the more your insulin lowers and the more your cravings [for sugar] stop.
"You reverse the vicious circle and the great thing is you're not missing out on a single food."
Reproduced with kind permission of Limited Edition Magazine.