LOW GI has become the buzz term in dietary circles. But what does it actually mean and how do you put it into practice?
The glycemic
index as a ranking of carbohydrate foods according to their effect on
the blood glucose levels. Foods are ranked from zero to 100. Less than
55 causes blood sugar levels to go up rapidly and they are the ones
that cause all the health problems.
At recent meta-analysis by the
University of Sydney found that diets with high GI increased your risk
of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The study also found a link
between a high GI diet and high blood pressure, gallstones and some
types of cancer.
The key message from this study is that the GI of
your diet is a powerful predictor of disease risk. Grandma was right:
you are what you eat.”
Adopting a low GI is not nearly as
complicated as it seems. Most refined and processed carbohydrates are
very high GI (and often high in fat as well) as well as foods such as
potatoes and white bread. Low GI foods include cereals based on oats,
barley and bran, breads withwhole grains, basmati rice and plenty of salad vegetables.
Making it even easier is the GI symbol that can now be found on a range of low GI foods.
The GI symbol indicates that a food has had its GI measured properly and meets all the nutritional group.
For more information about low GI food, check www.glycemicindex.com.