How does eating low GI food help you?
Low GI foods may help you:
- Improve your blood glucose levels.
- Increase your feelings of fullness and reduce your appetite.
- Help with weight loss.
- Improve your blood fat levels.
- Reduce your risks of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancer
In addition to these significant health benefits, a low GI diet has also proven to aid people:
- Who have normal weight but excess abdominal fat
- Who have been told they have pre-diabetes, "impaired glucose intolerance"
- Who have high levels of triglycerides and low levels of HDL cholesterol
- Who suffer from polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
- Who suffer from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
When making the change to a low GI diet, there are four key points to remember:
1. GI relates only to high carbohydrate foods.
There are three main nutrients in food, protein, fat and carbohydrate. Meat, chicken, eggs and fish are high in protein. Butter, margarine and oils are high in fat. Bread, rice, pasta, cereal, fruits, vegetables, fruit and yoghurt are high in carbohydrate. GI can only be measured in foods that contain carbohydrate.
2. GI is not intended to be used by itself.
When choosing foods it's important to consider the overall nutritional value of food, including its kilojoule, saturated fat and fibre content — in addition to its GI level. The GI level alone will not determine whether it is a healthy choice.
3. There is no need to eat low GI foods only.
Although eating low GI foods for each meal can be a great benefit to the body, these foods should not be consumed at the expense of all other carbohydrate foods. When you eat a combination of low and high GI carbohydrates, like baked beans on toast or potatoes and corn, the final GI value of the meal is medium.
4. When you shop, look for authentic GI symbols on food.
Foods with the authentic GI logo have been accepted into the GI symbol program. This program helps consumers make informed choices using the glycemic index and good nutrition.
The use of GI is recommended by some of the world's leading authorities in nutrition — including the World Heath Organisation, the Food and Agriculture Organisation, Diabetes Australia and many more.
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