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.

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.

Among my friends growing up was a girl with Type I diabetes.  She stood out because even the most miniscule amount of sugar wasn’t allowed anywhere near her mouth . . . not cake at birthday parties . . . not a small candy bar after a softball game . . . and certainly not a drop of soda at anytime.  While such strictness undoubtedly helped control her condition, I have to wonder how the rigidity played on her quality of life.

All people with diabetes should “eat healthy,”  yet those with Type 1 diabetes also must measure the quantity, type and timing of their food choices – simply ensuring they eat their daily quota of fruits and vegetables won’t cut it.  Focus on blood glucose and insulin levels is key.

You see, most foods are broken down into glucose by digestive enzymes. The glucose is then absorbed from the intestine into the bloodstream. The hormone, insulin, then takes the glucose from the bloodstream to either use or store for later.  People who do not have diabetes will produce just the right amount of insulin to cope with the rise in blood glucose that occurs after a meal.

People with Type 1 diabetes, however, are unable to produce insulin; instead they must inject it into their bodies.  To keep their blood glucose level close to normal after eating, they must inject just the right amount of insulin to deal with the food they’ve eaten. The injection should be timed right, so that the insulin arrives in the bloodstream at the same time that the glucose is absorbed into their blood-streams.

Too little insulin (for the amount of glucose coming from the digested food) results in very high blood glucose levels or hyperglycemia. Too much insulin (or not enough glucose coming from the digested food) spurs low blood glucose levels or hypoglycemia.  Every food morsel must be balanced, weighed and measured.

Since my grade school days, there have been many advances in blood sugar monitoring and insulin delivery. Knowledge of proper diets have, unfortunately, lagged behind.

Most doctors and dietitians agree that careful monitoring of glucose levels is key to minimizing complications from the disease. The standard diet given to both children and adults is based on a diabetic carbohydrate exchange list which has been shown to be ineffective as many children and their parents struggle to understand or follow the guidelines.

The Glycemic Index diet has proven to be far more effective.  Simply, the Glycemic Index (GI) is a ranking of foods on a scale from 0 to 100 based on the extent to which they raise blood sugar levels after eating.

The group of foods primarily responsible for the rise and fall in blood glucose levels after a meal are carbohydrates. The Glycemic Index provides a ranking of how quickly carbohydrates in food are digested by the body, compared to pure glucose which has a ranking of 100 percent. When carbohydrates are quickly broken down, high levels of glucose are released into the bloodstream very soon after a meal. Some examples of these foods (which have rankings of 70 percent or more) are white breads, potatoes, cornflakes and white rice.

Conversely, foods that contain carbohydrates that break down slowly, and release glucose gradually into the bloodstream, have a low GI (a ranking of 55 percent or less). Examples of low GI foods are most fruits, rolled oats, whole-wheat pastas, basmati rice and legumes. Medium GI foods have a ranking of between 56 and 69 percent.

Studies have shown that the GI diet is an effective user-friendly way of controlling diabetes.   For example, a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that children who followed the low GI diet enjoyed more stable blood sugar levels, fewer episodes of hyperglycemia and generally better quality of life than their counterparts following the CHOx diet.

In addition, a small study published in the issue of Diabetes Care shows that a low Glycemic diet leads to better blood glucose control in children and adolescents with Type 1 diabetes.  Researchers found that the youngsters’ blood glucose levels were in their target range 66% of the time when they were eating low-GI meals but only 47% of the time when eating high-GI meals—a notable difference. The children also required less insulin.

Moreover, a new study has found that eating a high glycemic index (GI) diet may cause faster progression to type 1 diabetes in those people with a genetic predisposition.

Researchers at the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes in Colorado studied whether dietary glycemic index are associated with the progression of islet autoimmunity to type 1 diabetes. Islet autoimmunity occurs when the body develops antibodies to the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas — it is just one step away from Type 1 diabetes.

Investigators studied eating habits of 89 children seen as genetically predisposed to diabetes.  The results published online in the Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism, found that 89 children developed islet autoimmunity and 17 subsequently developed type 1 diabetes.

While GI levels were not related the development of islet cell autoimmunity, eating a high GI diet did result in a faster progression to type 1 diabetes in children who already had islet autoimmunity.

For these reasons, the GI diet can help prevent the onset of type I diabetes, and definitely make afflicted children healthier with excellent quality of lives so they can even enjoy some occasional birthday cake.  For more information, consult glycemic index chart to better understand food interactions and hidden glucose values.

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.