The GI diet is made up of a combination of low GI foods and GI simply means Glycemic Index. The GI diet plan is an easy to follow, healthy way to lose weight and keep it off.
The diet is divided into phases, phase one and phase two. Each phase has a list of permitted foods, which are colour coded by a traffic light system.
Green foods have a low GI and are the only foods to be consumed during phase one which, depending on how much weight you have to lose, should last approximately six weeks.
Below are examples of foods with a low GI included in phase one -
Breakfast: Porridge, Home made Muesli or All Bran with either skimmed milk or soya milk. Apples, pears, grapefruit and plums.
Lunch: All fish and seafood, skinless turkey breasts, Quorn, high fibre bread, soup, soft margarine, fat free mayonaise.
Dinner: Long grain rice, brown rice, back bacon, fish, pork tenderloin, skinless chicken breast, boiled potatoes, peas, mushrooms.
The yellow foods have a medium GI and should be slowly introduced during phase two. Then there are the red foods which should generally be avoided altogether, these include baked potatoes, white bread, white pasta, whole milk, baguettes, easy cook rice, ice-cream and processed meats.
The Glycaemic Index (GI) measures the speed at which food is digested and then convert into glucose – glucose is your body’s energy source. The diet is based on the fact that food with a low GI will leave you feeling fuller for longer and food with a high GI will be converted into glucose far quicker which will leave you feeling hungry again in no time.
Although it may not be immediately evident how glucose affects weight loss it actually plays a key role in helping dieters lose weight. Once the body has converted the starches and sugars (carbohydrates) from your food into glucose it is then distributed to the body’s cells where it will either but used up or otherwise stored as fat.
When the body releases glucose into the bloodstream a hormone known as insulin is responsible for ensuring the glucose is sent where it is needed. When we eat food with a low GI the insulin has time to think about where the glucose is best needed and so it stays at a fairly stable level.
However, when we consume foods with a high GI the body has to react quickly to prevent causing us any harm, which is why a large level of insulin is released into the bloodstream. It is this surge of insulin which causes the glucose to rapidly transfer to fat stores and overtime this will contribute to weight gain.
Low GI: foods with a value of 55 or less – porridge oats, barley, tomatoes, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries lentils, pulses and beans, oranges, grapes, apples, pears, peaches, custard
Med GI: food with a values between 56 to 69 – basmati rice , new potatoes, sweet potatoes granary bread, Weetabix, Shredded Wheat, wholemeal pasta, honey, ice cream, jam.
High GI: foods with a value over 70 or more – cereal, white and wholemeal bread, sugar, banana, watermelon, grapefruit juice, baked potato, mashed potato, parsnips, brown rice.
Although it is impossible for Love Life Hate Diets to list every food included on the GI Diet overall this is an excellent weight loss plan for people with long term weight loss goals. Once you understand the theory behind the diet you’ll soon pick up which foods you can and cannot include on your GI Diet and best of all, if you stick to the low GI plan this diet works.
A weight loss diet such as this is a diet which really allows you to lose weight and keep it off unlike many of the quick fix diets such as the Grapefruit Diet and the Maple Syrup Diet.
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