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.

Starting the glycemic index diet is a lot easier with some structured help to get going on the right track.  Interactive (online) plans are the cheapest way to get started – and the provider that consistently ranks #1 from our readers is eDiets – preferred by 55% of readers of GlycemicEdge.com.

We get a lot of emails from those wondering how the eDiets program works.  They offer a free profile analysis featuring their Glycemic Impact diet plan – but what can you expect when you sign up?  We tested it last week…

Part 1: Signing up for their Free GI Diet Profile Analysis

Pretty easy and clean process.  Includes realistic goal setting and timeframes for when you want to hit your weight loss goal.  Also includes BMI (body mass index) calculations.

Part 2: Inside eDiets: Progress Charts (your Diet Dashboard)

We love this.  It puts all your key data into one place – including starting health points, goals, daily calorie guides, BMI levels (original, current, and goal BMI).  Visual display of your weight loss by date.  eDiets also provides a sliding bar and customized interactive health plans for exercise to accelerate your daily/weekly weight loss goals.

Part 3: Shopping Lists and Glycemic Index Specifics

This is where the real planning and help begins.  Plans and guides specific to the Glycemic Index plan – our favorite is their interactive shopping list.  It’s printable (makes it easy to hit the grocery store with low GI approved foods), plus eDiets has pre-planned low GI Meal Plans that are pre-approved to be GI friendly.

The shopping list includes categories for meat, frozen foods, produce, canned, dry goods, fruits/juices, and more (like candy – yes, candy….)

Part 4: Glycemic Index Interactive Plans and ‘jumpstart’ guides to get started

Overall, we continue to be really impressed by eDiets interactive plans.  They’re cheap (about $4/week – a real bargain compared to most of their competitors) and make a huge difference — especially if you’re just getting started or thinking about getting started on a low GI diet but need help to see how it works and pick the right foods on an ongoing basis. We would like to see even more recipes and videos is one of our few gripes.

Also – eDiets (like NutriSystem, MediFast, and others) now offers a delivery plan that includes the Glycemic Index.  So whether you go the online plan (do it yourself shopping) or delivery (autopilot – everything is done for you) it’s a great choice to get started.  Click here to get a free GI diet profile to test it out yourself.

Glycemic Impact Diet Meal Plan

This plan is a GOOD Match if:

• You crave sugar and sweets
• You have low energy

Might NOT be a good fit if:

• You prefer to only eat 1-2x/day
• Want fast food choices

There’s been a buzz of activity lately surrounding the glycemic index diet. New food certifications making it easier to identify low GI (good carbs / choices) are finding their way to store shelves.

This month’s issue of GI News shared a number of interesting developments, including a new facelift for the GI certification symbol. Look for it on supermarket shelves and select food items — though it’s not as easy to find yet as we would like to see.

For the rest of us who are enjoying the health benefits of a low GI lifestyle, stay up to date on food low or high GI foods by viewing the glycemic index chart or following a managed online glycemic index diet, like the one promoted by eDiets.

The program manager for NutriSystem contacted us today and made a coupon available for 1-Free week of Glycemic Index compliant meals.

NutriSystem is back promoting a ton of specials and have really been focused on the glycemic advantage programs.  In case you haven’t tried them, NutriSystem offers packaged (translation – frozen / prepared) meals that are of surprisingly good quality.  Most of our readers have expressed extremely good reviews for their quality and taste.

Worth a shot if you’re looking to go the convenience approach – it really is comparable in price to buying and preparing your own food (especially if you’re struggling to diet and bring food to work, etc.)

Anybody else notice the Danielle Fisher spot for NutriSystem?  No idea if she actually did the plan or not – but she definately looks great!

I admit, I used to watch that show – seems like it was on constantly.  NutriSystem seems to be touting the celebrity endorsements these days, from Marie Osmond to Dan Marino and the groups of football retiree’s – they like to name drop to grap your attention.  Fortunately, their plans really are excellent – and they offer some good discounts that can get you 2-weeks free to try their program (if you buy a month).

Definately worth a shot – NutriSystem does offer a Glycemic Index based plan and like all their programs, it’s “diet on auto-pilot” – meaning they mail you the food and you just need to eat.  No shopping, preparation, etc. – it’s actually about the same costs as buying it yourself if you itemize your grocery bill.

Wonder if Topanga did it that way?  Probably not!

Ingredients:

4 sweet potatoes

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

6 tablespoons chopped mixed herbs (mint, parsley, cilantro, oregano)

1 garlic clove

1 tablespoon capers

2 teaspoons clear honey

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 tablespoon light cream cheese

pepper

Place the potatoes on a cookie sheet and cook in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 1 – 1 1/4 hours until tender.

Cut 3 slices into the flesh of the chicken and place the herbs, garlic, capers, honey, mustard, and oil in a food process or blender to combine.  Rub this mix over the chicken, cover and let stand in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes for the flavors to cultivate.

Heat a griddle until hot, drizzle the remaining oil over the chicken, place the chicken on the griddle and cook 3-4 minutes on each side.

Cut the sweet potatoes open, spoon in some cream cheese, and season with plenty of pepper.  Serve with chicken and enjoy!

Putting My Family on the Glycemic Index Diet…  And Living to Tell About It.

When it came to taking care of myself and my family, I thought I was on task.  We were all relatively healthy and my two young girls were growing like the overactive weeds in my neglected garden.  There were, however, a few hitches in our suburban paradise that I chalked up to simply living “life in the fast lane.”

The first hiccup would occur in mid afternoon when I would become overwhelmed with a kind of fatigue that no amount of coffee or diet soda could overcome.

When my fog finally cleared and it was time to make dinner, another snag appeared – my kids turned into tattling, slapping, hair-pulling, screaming and crying monsters.   Many evenings I would dive headlong into a glass of wine while the meth amphetamine-driven romper-room ensued.

After dinner, all was calm on the suburban front until the evening news when my husband would help himself to a huge midnight snack that rivaled dinner. These nightly meals disturbed his sleep, digestion, and at times his disposition.

Relief came the day I learned about the Glycemic Index (GI) Diet from my fitness trainer.   At first glance, it seemed to benefit diabetics more than typical folks like us.  Yet, as I studied the diet more, I realized it was the key to a bliss-filled home.

Simply, the Glycemic Index (GI) is a ranking of carbohydrates on a scale from 0 to 100 based on the extent to which they raise blood sugar levels after eating.

High GI foods break down quickly during digestion, causing blood glucose levels to increase quickly, and then drop suddenly. Examples include most breakfast cereals, white bread, short-grain rice, potatoes and most crackers.

Low GI foods consist of carbohydrates that slowly break down during digestion, gradually unleashing glucose in the bloodstream. Examples are whole-grain breads, most fresh fruits and vegetables.  For a more comprehensive list of both high and low GI foods, you may visit http://www.glycemicedge.com/glycemic-index-chart

Eating high GI foods pushes your body to extremes making you feel either very full and highly energetic, or, decidedly tired and hungry.  Low GI carbs slowly release glucose into your blood stream maintaining balanced energy levels and longer feelings of satiety.  The GI diet can also:

• Help you lose and control weight
• Lower your risk of heart disease
• Reduce cholesterol levels
• Prolong your physical and mental endurance

As matter of fact, an Australian study published in the March edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, examined the diets of almost two million (1,950,198) healthy men and women worldwide.  The findings were astounding: high blood glucose led to heightened risks of type-2 diabetes and heart disease, and certain cancers.

Other studies indicate that a high-GI diet may increase infertility, risks of stroke and Premenstrual Syndrome in women.

Yet the thought of radically switching the diets of my already finicky family made me wan to stick my head in the sand. Instead, I began making small, gradual changes.

I didn’t count grams; as matter of fact, I didn’t really count anything at all.  Instead, I followed these simple guidelines:

• Bought breakfast cereals with barley, bran, and oats
• Used breads with whole-grains, stone-ground flour or sour dough
• Reduced the amount of potatoes we ate
• Added a fruit or vegetable to every meal and snack we ate
• Cooked with basmati rice
• Mixed whole-wheat pasta with regular noodles
• Ate plenty of salad vegetables with a vinaigrette dressing.

Some other tips and tricks I followed were:

Mixing – When you combine high-GI foods with low-GI foods in one sitting the final GI value will be medium.  Therefore, it’s acceptable to combine rice and lentils or even apple slices with potato chips.

Al Dente – When foods are cooked for a long time, their structures change causing the particles to swell into soft, gelatinized blobs that are easy to digest.  The faster a food is digested the higher the GI-value will be which is why al dente pasta has a lower GI than the overcooked variety.

Acids – Acidic foods reduces the rate at which food is broken down and lowering its GI value.  Vinegar, lemon juice, lime juice citrus fruits, and sour dough bread are great examples of acidic low-GI foods.

Fibers – Such fibers as oats, beans and apples slows digestions and lowers foods GI levels.

On the home-front, I first replaced all potato chips and other processed starches with peanut butter on apple slices, orange slices and small chunks of cheese for my kids’ after school snacks.   Within a few weeks, I noticed that the early evening fights and tantrums had decreased to a few manageable squabbles as their blood sugar levels remained relatively.

In addition, complex carbohydrates found in many low-GI foods boost levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that produces calm and happy feelings. High-GI foods create quick mood boosts followed by quick crashes that leaves you sad and agitated.

According to recent studies, low GI diets benefit kids in other areas as well. Research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that children raised on diets high in refined sugars had lower-IQs than those raised on low-GI diets.

I quit my early morning bagel habit for a whole-wheat English muffin.  By lunch time, I wasn’t so ravenous for high-GI carbs like French fries and white pasta.  Soon after, my mid afternoon fatigue disappeared.  High-GI foods I was eating caused sudden peaks and valleys in my blood sugar making me crash.  With this new eating plan, my gradual insulin rises give me more even amounts of energy.

As an added benefit, I even lost a few pounds since low-GI foods keep you satiated more and hungry less.

Gradually I started making low GI dinners using salads, whole-wheat pasta, and lean meat, fish, and chicken. For wonderful low-GI recipes, visit Glycemic Index or http://www.glycemicindex.com.  As a result, my husband is no longer ravenous and his late-night forages into the refrigerator have markedly decreased.

Low GI foods benefit every member of a family.  They enable you to feel satiated longer so you can maintain a healthy weight, and provide your body and brain with more consistent energy throughout the day. They can also help prevent major health problems endemic to the United States.  Suburban bliss has never felt so good.