Glycemic Impact Diet Review
Review In a Nutshell
Unlike many diets, the Glycemic Impact Diet is based on credible research — the systematic ranking of carbs on a scale of 0 to 100 according to their impact on blood sugar levels after eating. Low GI diets have many benefits for weight control. This is one of eDiets' new plans, and contains some value-added components such as shopping lists, meal plans and tools to track progress.
How Does It Work?
The Glycemic Impact Diet (GI Diet) is a healthy nutrition plan you can easily follow long-term. It balances unrefined complex carbohydrates with lean protein and healthy fat to help you stabilize blood sugars and increase energy while losing weight.
Who Is It Good For?
This diet can work for anyone. It is especially good for diabetics (of both types 1 and 2), due to the improvement of glucose and lipid levels demonstrated. Also recommended for the obese and people with the potential for heart disease.
Key: Glycemic Index
The glycemic index is a ranking of carbohydrates based on their immediate effect on blood glucose (blood sugar) levels. It compares foods gram for gram of carbohydrate. Carbohydrates that break down quickly during digestion have the highest glycemic indexes. The blood glucose response is fast and high. Carbohydrates that break down slowly, releasing glucose gradually into the blood stream, have low glycemic indexes.
Pros
- Stabalizes blood sugar levels (working to avoid sugar "highs" and "lows"
- Reduces risk for heart disease
- Includes restaurant and fast food options
- Rests on clear scientific background
- Clearly takes needs of diabetics into account
Cons
- Make take some getting used to (transition period)
Further Thoughts
There are several relevant books out that focus on glucose and the glycemic index:
- Brand-Miller, Jennie et al, The New Glucose Revolution, Marlowe & Co., 2002.
- Brand-Miller, Jennie et al, The Low GI Diet Revolution, Marlowe & Co., 2005.
- Gallop, Rick and Emily Richards, Living the G.I. Diet, Workman Pub. Co., 2004.
Our Top Recommendation
Week of: 09-07-2010
eDiets - eDiets sees clearly that diet and weight loss programs are highly individual choices. Instead of a one size fits all approach, they provide a wide variety of choices and plans. We've found that customization, convenience and cost are huge factors for many seeking weight loss, and eDiets excels in all three of these areas. Their website contains solid information on food, exercise, and lifestyle change, member chat rooms, online counselors and nutritionists. Their free diet profile is a great way to get started.