GI Diet - WYE

The Glycemic Index Diet, or GI diet, classifies foods based on their glycemic index, which is basically a rating that tells how quickly the foods raise the blood sugar. Foods with high blood sugar raise insulin levels, which in turn cause the body to store fat. For that reason, on the Glycemic Index Diet, foods considered high on the glycemic index are for the most part avoided.

Foods are categorized into "green" foods and "red" foods based on their glycemic index- like a traffic light, green means go and red means stop. There are also "yellow" foods, or those that should be eaten sparingly. Green foods have a glycemic index of 55 or lower; yellow foods have a glycemic index of 56-69, and red foods are those with a higher glycemic index, over 70, which are said to raise the blood sugar.

Determining which foods are green, red and yellow can be difficult, especially at first. There are books and websites available to help dieters know the glycemic index of certain foods. Green foods include grapefruit, skim milk, and bananas; yellow foods include ice cream, soda, and cantaloupe; and red foods include white bread, breakfast cereals, and mashed potatoes. .

What You Eat
On the first phase of the Glycemic Index Diet, you'll eat only green foods. Some of these foods include:
? Fruits and Vegetables - Cherries, grapefruits, dried apricots, apples, peaches, pears, bananas, grapes, artichoke, asparagus, broccoli, eggplant, cauliflower, celery, tomatoes, plums, oranges, sweet potatoes, kidney beans, lima beans, chickpeas
? Cereals - All Bran, oatmeal
? Rice and Grains - long-grain white rice
? Dairy - Skim and whole milk, ice cream, yogurt
? Breads - Pumpernickel, sourdough, stone ground whole wheat

The next phase of the diet, the life-long maintenance phase, begins to add other foods. Once you get into Phase Two, in addition to green foods, you can start to eat yellow foods, or those foods that have a medium glycemic index. These foods can include:
Fruits and Vegetables - Apricots, figs, pineapples, raisins, cantaloupe, kiwi
Cereals - Raisin Bran, Cream of Wheat, Special K, Puffed Wheat
Rice and Grains - short-grain white rice, couscous
Snack foods - potato chips, corn chips, granola bars
Breads - pita breads, hamburger and hot dog buns, croissants, taco shells
Sweets - muffins, angel food cake
Other - pizza, macaroni and cheese, pea soup

Foods to Avoid
Red foods are those that should be avoided as long as you're adhering to the Glycemic Index Diet. These foods are said to raise blood sugar levels and include, but are not limited to:
Fruits and Vegetables - Watermelon, dates, corn, beets, pumpkin
Cereals - Bran Flakes, Cheerios, Instant Cream of Wheat, Shredded Wheat, Grape Nuts, Corn Flakes, Rice Crispies
Rice and Grains - Wild Rice, sticky rice
Snack foods - Popcorn, Jelly Beans, Pretzels
Breads - Doughnuts, scones, white bread, bagels, stuffing, Kaiser rolls, baguettes

Overall, the Glycemic Index Diet is fairly balanced and healthy. While on the diet, dieters don't count calories or portion sizes. Instead, they are told to divide their plate into three sections, filling half with veggies, a quarter with lean meat or fish, and the rest with whole grains such as brown rice. Unlike many diets, sugars and sweets are not completely cut out of this diet either; it's surprising how many seemingly "bad" foods are actually listed as green on the glycemic index diet.