Not an American serviceperson but a great way of eating...

The Glycemic Index

Is also spelt, Glycaemic.

• Low GI diets help people lose and control weight
• Low GI diets increase the body's sensitivity to insulin
• Low GI carbs improve diabetes control
• Low GI carbs reduce the risk of heart disease
• Low GI carbs reduce blood cholesterol levels
• Low GI carbs can help you manage the symptoms of PCOS
• Low GI carbs reduce hunger and keep you fuller for longer
• Low GI carbs prolong physical endurance
• High GI carbs help re-fuel carbohydrate stores after exercise

I am excited about GI because Phil has diabetes. He has had it since he was a teenager and grew up with very strict and rigid diet guidelines... Impossible to live with and remain sane. Eg. All carbs are bad so limit them. The thing is people with diabetes need carbs and this teaches people how to eat carbs that give off energy slower. This makes it much easier to control blood sugar levels. Athletes also use it because helps them to maximise the energy they get from certain carbs.

Karen, my "fiance" got into GI stuff for a while, but it has dropped off. I think we adopted things like the right rice, etc which might have helped, but there was no clear indicator that it did much to really help. That's the hard part of help - no quick signs of results. "Can't cram on the farm!"

Shouldn't you be losing the inverted commas now that the weekend is over Mick?

So far, anything GI I eat seems to make me hungry faster...

I mean low GI

Getting engaged isn't over until you say "I do". And that is feeling like a low way away....

What are good low GI drinks that you can have every day. I can't drink too much water without getting bored.  

I was just about to paste this info in which refers to your comment Mick. It's about choosing the bread that will avert hunger the longest, the right rice for you etc...

• Choose slow carbs, not low carbs
• Use the GI to identify your best carbohydrate choices.
• Take care with portion size with carb-rich foods such as rice or pasta or noodles
  to limit the overall GL of your diet.

(Courtesy of the website above) 

Adding lemon juice or vinegar can lower the GI of a meal. Also, fats make foods have a lower GI Eg. Chocolate has quite a low reading. Mashed potato sends blood sugar through the roof while a jacket potato has a lower reading. I just try and remember some of the facts and incorporate it into meals.

Still thinking about drinks... Slice of lemon or lime in water? Add some fresh mint leaves to a jug of water. Fruit juice is terrible and has no nutrients left anyway - they boil it so much. I have heard that fizzy drinks and fruit juice have the same benefits. In other words, limited.

They boil fruit juice??

Did you know? GI was highly controversial when it first came out. It had the diabetes fraternity up in arms. Especially in the US where they were highly skeptical of it. The research has come from UTS (Uni of Sydney) and it's the determination of a lovely scientist there that has seen it become more and more popular. She's a trooper.

They boil fruit juice??

Apparently so. It's a shadow of its former self by the time we pour it into our glasses. Just a glass of sugar. The info came from a friend who has another friend who works for Pepsi. Stop being skeptical! I was too! She is adamant that fruit juice is as bad for us as Pepsi. Or she would probably say, Pepsi is as good for you as fruit juice!

Green tea Mick. Full of antioxidants. The stuff Marty is referring to in his post, "Resveratrol". I am going to try and drink it. I bought tons of leaves and then realised I have no teapot. But it can be purchased in tea bags. Western or Asian supermarkets have a good range.

Maybe you could go to an Asian grocer and buy some cans of drink. There are lots made of green tea. Just watch the sugar content though.

No no, I wasn't being sceptical.... I just couldn't believe they'd do that...

I stopped buying bottled fruit juice a loooooooooong time ago.

Squeeze my own when I want some 

I had a friend who used to make the green tea and keep bottles of it in her fridge instead of just plain water. Brilliantly refreshing summer drink

I've been on a low GI died since December (5 months ago) and i'm loving it.

My main reasons were to

    1) even out concentration and reduce sleepiness during the working day - working so far.

    2)  keep my body spick and span for the future - i'll let you know in 5-10 years.

A friend's mum has been eating a diabetics diet sinceshe was you and supposedly everyone thinks she's 10 years younger than her friends. Before i went on it, i had a full check up to make sure i wasn't diabetic (thought that might be why i was getting tired) and make sure i didn't make myself diabetic by going on it.

After only a few months on it i find that if i do stray to a sugray sweet dessert, 10 minutes later i feel like i'm on drugs with head spins and a slight loss of balance.

Also, not that it was intended, my weight changed for the first time since high school 8 years ago. I've gone from 84kg to 79kg. My attack has been to buy a mini GI index book, learn the basics and then mainly focus meal to meal on cutting out all (most) non-fruit related sugar. Also focussing on trying to eat >70% fruit and vegetables (as a percentage of total food consumed) hasn't hurt eaither.

The best thing is that the more i make better choices, the more i have a deep desire to make even better choices to not waste any of the good work.

Hope this helps people in their approach to it. Let me know if i'm dropping the ball somewhere too 

Well I know GI was not meant to be for the "normal" population and pushed onto us like it has (And used as a marketing tool) GI isn't the best way to judge a food either (eg watermelon has a high GI but is certainly alot more healthy than icecream (Which is lower))

Zarkon, you're right to point out such inconcistencies in GI measurements. The methodology has evolved though now to GL values. This is what should have been used from the start. It's the GI value of a food (the quality of the carbs) multiplied by the actual percentage of carbs contained in the food (quantity). Some books now give GL values but GL should totally replace GI (in a perfect world). It will take time now that marketing budgets have been spent on GI though  =(

GL is a true apples to apples measurement and one that is a lot easier to implement. For me though i focus my food choices on limiting all (glucose) sugar based foods and trying to focus on foods that are very close to their original state (ie i know how they were made and what is in them). Just eat as if you lived in a provincial French town. 

nd drink alot of red wine haha ;P

Always gotta have the wine!

I agree with you two. It is not a perfect science and unless totally understood how a measurement is derived, can be unhelpful. Eg. My comment about chocolate having a low GI. It does not mean it is good for you! That was more to illustrate that fat can lower GI levels - not a good thing but interesting...

I also try and cook from fresh Hugo. That why i know what I am eating. I also try to limit my ingredients but pack in flavour with herbs, mustards, vinegars etc...  

We used to by pasta sauces but realised that they were full of sugar. Now I just make mine from fresh tomatoes.