GI Diet plan

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GI Diet plan.

There is an interesting story behind the GI diet plan. In 1981, professor of nutrition Dr. David Jenkins was looking at how different carbohydrate rich foods affected the blood sugar levels in people who had diabetes. This lead to an interesting discovery. He found out that, contrary to popular belief, many starchy foods actually affected the blood sugar levels quite dramatically, while some sugary foods had little impact.

From his research, he developed a scale called the Glycaemic Index, which quite simply ranks foods based on the effect they have on blood sugar levels.

The Glycaemic Index (GI) runs from 0 to 100 and usually uses glucose which has a GI value of 100 as the reference. The effect other foods have on blood sugar levels are then compared with this. What this means is that, the GI index tells us whether a food raises the blood sugar levels dramatically, moderately or just a little bit. Foods that have only a slow and small effect on the blood sugar have a low GI value, while those that cause a rapid and massive rise in the blood sugar have a high GI.

Based on the GI diet plan, this is the food that should be taken.

Breakfast: A bowl of porridge made from traditional oats and skimmed milk and sweetened with a little honey. Eat a pear with this.

Mid morning: About 2-3 hours after the breakfast. Eat 1 pot of low fat fruit yoghurt and a banana.

Lunch: A bowl of lentil soup and a Tuna sandwich made with 2 slices of wholegrain bread, a thin scrape of low fat spread and Tuna in brine. Also eat some cherries with this.

Mid afternoon: 2-3 hours after lunch. Take a small pack of low fat crisps.

Dinner: Spaghetti Bolognese that is made from extra lean minced beef and vegetables. Serve it with whole-wheat spaghetti and salad.