Foods on the GI Diet

GREEN GO!

CARBS: Granary bread, rye bread with grains, wholewheat tortillas, soy bread, All Bran, porridge oats, barley, bulgar wheat (aka taboulleh), quinoa, buckwheat, glass noodles, egg noodles, new potatoes, yams, pasta.

FRUIT: Apples, dried apricots, avocado, berries, cherries, grapefruit, citrus fruits, pears, plums, prunes.

VEGETABLES: All except those listed in orange/red columns.

PROTEINS: All fresh meat, fish, shellfish plus processed foods (burgers, sausages, fish fingers).

PULSES: All beans (except broad beans), lentils - and any products made from them like tofu, hummus, falafel and unsweetened soya milk.

DRINKS: Water, tea, herbal tea, milk.

OTHERS: Yoghurt, cheese, nuts, seeds, olives, chocolate (though remember, calories count).

ORANGE CAUTION!

CARBS: Brown bread, fruit bread, pitta bread, high fibre bread, sourdough, muesli, wheat cereals (like Weetabix), couscous, soba noodles, udon noodles, crisps, sweet potatoes, basmati, brown and white rice.

FRUIT: Fresh apricots, bananas, melon, figs, red grapes, mango, papaya, canned fruit, raisins, sultanas.

VEGETABLES: Beetroot, corn, sweetcorn, peas.

PROTEINS: There are no medium GI proteins.

PULSES: There are no medium GI pulses.

DRINKS: Fruit juices, wine, squashes.

OTHERS: Ice cream, biscuits, cakes.

RED STOP!

CARBS: Bagels, white/French bread, flaked cereals, honey-coated cereals, puffed cereal, mashed potato, jacket potatoes, chips, any rice that takes less than 20 minutes to cook.

FRUIT: Watermelon, dates.

VEG: Parsnips, pumpkin, swede, turnips.

PROTEINS: There are no high GI proteins.

PULSES: Broad beans.

DRINKS: Cola, fizzy orange, sports drinks, beer.

OTHERS: Boiled sweets, doughnuts, popcorn, rice cakes.

GI SURPRISES

Pasta is a low-GI food - many people think all white foods are a no-no in GI diets, but because the flour in pasta is high in protein it does not convert quickly to sugar in your body.

Flake breakfast cereals (like Corn Flakes) are always higher in GI than noodle-shaped ones (like Weetabix) - that's why All Bran is a low GI food, but flaked bran types are not.

Adding vinegar to a food lowers its GI - the acid slows the rate at which any food converts to sugar by around 30 per cent. Squeezing lemon juice over a dish also works.

Eating a low GI breakfast cuts the amount of calories people tend to eat over the rest of the day by half. If you change nothing else about your diet after reading this, do change your breakfast.

New potatoes are the only low GI potato. The reason? They're picked early in their growing season so they have lower levels of sugary starches than other spuds.

OTHER HEALTH BENEFITS

1 It may reduce your cancer risk - low GI eating is linked to a lower risk of breast, pancreatic and colon cancers.

2 It helps your heart - people who eat lots of high GI carbohydrates have 76 per cent more triglycerides (a harmful form of fat) in their body than low GI eaters

3 It may reduce Alzheimer's risk: Korean researchers found swapping high GI rice for other wholegrains cut levels of a harmful amino acid called homocysteine in their blood that is believed to be a major contributor to Alzheimer's.

4 It might cure acne. Research from Colorado State University found high insulin levels increase levels of male type hormones in the skin - something linked to the development of spots.

5 It may reduce stroke risk. Switching one portion of carbs a day from high GI to low, cuts risk of stroke by 40 per cent in women, say Harvard researchers.

Here is the website, where i found this information...If you would like to read more about this!

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news-old/2005/05/23/the-gi-diet-made-easy-115875-15548206/