The glycemic index diet, originally developed for diabetics to control their blood sugar, is now a widely-accepted method for healthy and safe weight loss.
It has gained popularity among dieters because it is easy to follow, yet doesn’t make you feel hungry, deprived, or tired. Moreover, it also has several benefits so you can discuss your meal plan options with a physician or nutritionist.
How does the Glycemic Index Diet help you lose weight?
The foundation of the diet is simple: dieters are allowed to choose the foods they want to take into their diet, ensuring that they select carbohydrate foods with a low GI (glycemic index), such as vegetables, fruits, and beans. These foods have higher nutrition value, high in fiber, and are healthier, as compared to food with higher GI.
On the glycemic index diet, you can enjoy a variety of delicious food including pasta, noodles, Basmati rice, salad with vinaigrette dressing, wholegrain breads, sourdough bread, and all types of fruits and vegetables.
On the contrary, high GI foods promote the rise of blood sugar and set off a domino effect in hormonal changes, making you feel hungry faster because they are broken down by the body faster too.
Since the goal of the glycemic index diet was originally to regulate blood sugar in diabetics, it is therefore very effective in helping you lose unwanted pounds as well.
Benefits of the Glycemic Index Diet
The glycemic index diet is very appealing even to non-diabetics because it is a healthy approach to a long-term lifestyle where you can eat tasty food you love and prevent weight gain.
It also has significant health benefits such as reducing the risk of heart disease, improve levels of blood cholesterol, and improve your overall physical endurance.
Furthermore, if you are in pre-diabetic stages or simply want to take precautionary measures, the glycemic index diet is a great diet to incorporate into your lifestyle, allowing you to control your blood sugar level.
The glycemic index diet is also a sustainable form of weight loss because the characteristic of the low GI carbohydrates helps you feel fuller not only faster, but also for a longer period of time. Taking low GI foods increases your stamina and keeps you energized without overeating.
The best thing about the low glycemic index diet is that it does not restrict you to a particular meal plan. Instead, you have the freedom to eat whatever you like as long as they have low GI.
In order to have faster and more effective weight loss, nutritionists also highly recommend adding a regular exercise regimen on the diet.
Are there side effects?
Unlike with other diets, there are no known side effects to the glycemic index diet. It was first and foremost formulated by nutritionists and doctors.
However, there are fruits with low glycemic index which contains allergens. If you are allergic to them, avoid them and look for other low GI foods as substitutes.
