It’s been well over a year since we posted a detailed review of the flow & features interactive GI diet plans provide.  Online plans like the one featured by eDiets make it easier to jump start a weight loss plan by getting starter guides, interactive menu’s, and more.  Costs are about $4/week.  If you’re looking for convenience, you can also find glycemic index delivery plans.

Let’s take a closer look at the sign-up process and features provided by eDiets.  They’ve also offered 25% off to Glycemic Edge readers if you’re interested.

The sign-up process is painless.  The usual Q&A involving your age, height, and weight.  eDiets also asks some good questions about the type of foods you like and can live with (lifestyle), as well as targets and time frames (goals).  These are good as they offer well over 20 nutrition plans to choose from – we’ll select their glycemic impact plan of course for our discussion…

The profile page allows you to drill down into more detailed information about the plan, how it works, and how you’ll be using it.  They also discuss support points and have details on fitness plans.  Surprisingly, they don’t show any glycemic index food values or glycemic index chart information.  They do however provide glycemic friendly foods, menu’s, and shopping lists — so you get the result without having to watch the label.  This is good for many, keeps it easy – but we’d like to see a more thorough education on “why” and “how” the foods we’re selected and how they interact.

Once you’ve selected your plan and enrolled, you’re free to explore.  They have a wealth of sections to assist you – including News, Diet, Shopping lists, progress meters, Tools, Behavior trackers, Fitness planners, Recipes, and a community section for support and forums for those also starting out on the plan.

The fitness planner is an interesting feature.  It’s nice to have, has actual demo’s and instructions – focused on cardio and light resistances.  None of this is customized to the GI diet, it’s the same across all their plans.

The meal planner is where you really get down to business.  Here is where the speed of an online GI diet plan assist helps – allowing you to plan and print daily meals for up to weeks at a time.  Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, and dinner – all GI friendly foods.

Tracking your progress is also easy – with detailed progress and weight loss charts that demonstrate where you are compared to initial goals, your calculated body mass index (BMI), and your complete history since starting.  Think of it as a virtual check in.  We wish they showed more detail, such as what an average plan would be, or an easier trendline to compare if the exercise level increased so you could predict future results.

Browsing their recipe guide and printable shopping lists are the 2 features we like most.  It makes choosing the right foods, without having to lookup GI food scores on your own, a bit easier.

Overall – despite a few areas we would like to see improved – getting help with an interactive glycemic index diet plan makes sense for a lot of people.  This will work best if you combine it with some research and nutrition planning from sites like Glycemic Edge.

If you want to give eDiets a try – be sure to use their 25% off coupon offer available here.

I love bread.  No, that’s an understatement.  I could live on bread.

glycemic index bread

Unfortunately, bread doesn’t always love me.  Most breads found at grocery stores are made from highly refined flours (“enriched”).  The breads are digested so rapidly that they cause a huge spike in blood sugar – which is exactly what we’re trying to avoid when following a low GI diet.  It’s also why you feel so hungry so quickly…  And is partly to blame for me eating 3/4 of the loaf…  by myself.  At one sitting.  Oops.

Luckily, you can follow a glycemic index friendly diet and still enjoy the pleasure of bread.  It’s not a carb restrictive diet like Atkins or phase I of South Beach, the glycemic index is a nutrition plan that picks the right kinds of foods that keep you energized, feeling full, and avoid huge spikes in insulin and blood sugar from the digestive process.

Which breads are GI friendly?!

Two words – whole grain.  Actually there are a number of varieties of stone ground and and other higher density grain varieties that are excellent as well.  See below for a short list and check out our glycemic index chart.

low gi bread

• Whole grain bread.  Look for real whole grains, not enriched or simple “whole wheat”.  The more grains and as ’seeds’ or ‘particles’ the better.  In general this slows the digestion and allows for a lower GI score.
• Rye bread.  I actually really like rye bread.  It’s great for sandwiches, and like whole grain it contains ‘bits’ of grains which allows for a low GI score of 50.
• Sourdough bread.  The slower fermentation process used with sourdough and it’s acidity levels make it a much better choice than white or enriched wheat.  The thicker crust and organic acidity make for a great mix.
• Soy breads.  Some soy breads are really good – others are a more acquired taste.  Worth a shot – you might love it.
• Pumpernickel and whole wheat pita bread.  These are also high in fiber, and have some good versatility in baking or as a side dish.

lower gi bread

You can find many of these at your local grocery stores, but take care to check the label.  A lot of bakeries are also catching on and riding the healthier whole grain wave of breads.

Even a small change from white bread (yep, I love it too – but switching to these was much easier than I thought) to whole grain bread may reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.  See study from the American Diabetes Association involving the glycemic index and bread & dietary fiber.

The general rule is to not only look for whole grain breads, but you want the bread to be modestly grained – meaning not finely refined and ground.  Simply put, even whole grain bread isn’t always low GI – if it’s ground to a fine dust and contains few or no visible, coarse grains – it’s going to have a higher GI content.

So ‘look for the grains’ – literally.  Visually inspect the bread before you buy it.

Now I’m hungry…  !

If you’re interested in learning more or beginning a glycemic index diet, our readers recommend eDiets (online GI diet program).  Save 25% off Coupon.