The Glycemic Index (GI) explained

All low Glycemic Index diets are based on the principle of balancing blood sugar. Only carbohydrates significantly affect blood sugar and insulin levels. Therefore the more processed a food is, the higher its Glycemic Index level is likely to be.

Let's first explain the word processed. If you pick a tomato from your garden and eat it, it has received no processing at all. When you make mashed potato it undergoes 3 processing steps: peeling, boiling and mashing. Therefore mashed potatoes have a higher Glycemic Index than boiled, and canned tomatoes have a higher Glycemic Index than raw ones.

Foods that are highly processed are the foods that cause the highest rises in blood sugar and insulin levels. This is because high levels of processing strip food of the vitamins, fibre and minerals that your body needs to work with in order to stay healthy.

It has also been demonstrated that by simply following a Low Glycemic Index diet, you are more likely to lose weight naturally and keep it off.  Enzo and I are going to help you make better choices for the body, brain and therefore the health of yourself and your family.

Blackberry and Apple Crumble (Crisp):  GI 45	Glycemic Index (GI) Find GI food values at your fingertips

We are not dieting fanatics by any stretch of the imagination. For example, I have just eaten 4 very small packets of peanut M & M's when quite obviously 1 packet would have done - but what can I say - they were there!

Enzo and I are partial to Kentucky Fried Chicken and Chinese Takeaway. We are not about to give that up any time soon. We are not going to assume that you want to lose weight, but that you would like a more positive relationship with food. That you want to avoid that world of over processed food without having to do away with the odd treat, and that you would like to provide your family with the means by which they too can learn that food is not the enemy - that it's necessary for good health. That it's about maintaining the human body you have been given.

Imagine if you continued to put cheap petrol (gas) and oil in your car. Or on occasion forgot to put oil and petrol (gas) into your car. What would you expect to happen? Your body is more complex than your car and requires a maintainance program tailored especially for it and for you.

Glycemic numbers

Enzo and I are not here to promote the counting of calories or indeed the counting of anything. But for your information the following numerical categories are the most common among low Glycemic Index diet plans:

• Low - 0 to 55
• Medium - 56 to 70
• High - 71 to 100

What we want to do is give you the positive news about food. Guess what - you CAN EAT it! One of the basic maintainance requirements of your human body is that it requires and needs protein. You'll find this is the following foods:

• Meat
• Poultry
• Fish
• Cheese
• Eggs

How much energy does your body really use every day? Take Michael Phelps for example. His exercise routine for the Olympics demanded that he ate huge amounts of food everyday in order for him to compete. If you are not Michael Phelps, but Joe Bloggs who sits at a desk all day, then your body will require considerably less to run than his. And we all know that if you eat like Michael Phelps and live like Joe Bloggs you are more likely to become very famiiliar with the following words: OBESITY - DANGER - HEART DISEASE - DIABETES.

Enzo's Carrot Cakes - made with fresh carrot and cinnamon  GI 36	Your calories in your control Calorie tracker for iPad

Let's put it another way, just to press the point home. If you drive your car really fast every day, your car will require more petrol (gas), more maintainance and you may be more likely to have more accidents. But if like me (not Enzo), you are a careful driver who every now and then likes to drive fast, then you will use less petrol (gas), have less driving tickets and overall be more economical to run, unlike Enzo.

What's normal?

So what may be normal for Michael Phelps, is abnormal for you. What is normal for you may be abnormal for me and so on. All you really need to understand is that your body has a natural requirement for adequate quantities of particular foods included certain fats.The health of your body depends upon an adequate intake of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and fibre. Therefore one of the keys to eating healthily is variety. Eating a variety of fruits, vegetables, proteins and fats is an important way of ensuring your body gets the range of nutrients it needs.

Some foods pack a variety of nutritional needs in every bite and have a low Glycemic Index, take the following for example:

• Nuts
• Seeds
• Peas
• Beans
• Grains
• Milk

This does not mean that you can pig out on nuts, or beans or drink gallons of milk. Let's say you fancy some chips (crisps), the more you eat the higher and higher the overall glycemic index will be. If you eat chips (crisps), pour them into a small bowl like I do and drizzle them in vinaigrette, this will have the effect of lowering the over Glycemic Index. But be sure to stop at the small bowl, so eat them slowly. Once your body knows that it is receiving food, it will begin to feel less hungry, this is the reason to keep your portions small. If you listen to your body you will begin to hear it tell you that it's full. For the same reason any foods that your body needs to work hard at converting into energy is a really good food.

Addressing the excuses

"I have children so tempting snacks are always around." I'm sitting here after Holloween with a bowl full of handy bite size Snicker bars, M & M's and Twix. I can't keep my hands off of them and that's the truth. OK you have a few approaches to this:

• Remove all snacks from the house:

Of course this may involve the whole family spending a day eating them unless you have the willpower to throw them all away. You may not view this as an option because you've spent your hard earned dollar on them. The solution -  don't buy any more snacks. Once the whole family has gorged themselves on the Halloween stash, it is probably a good time for a family meeting to offer reasons why you will no longer be buying snacks. Show the whole family the ingredients listed on each packet. Let's take Snickers as an example:

Contents: peanuts, milk, egg and soy product .. may contain almonds

That what is says on this 2 inch long Snicker packet. Obviously these are not on the list of 'Can't Have's' just as long as you can control the urge to eat more than 1 at a time (she says while picking sliding the rest of the M & M's to one side). Why not select low Glycemic Index treats and portion out some Snack Packs. Also you should try to eat something every 2 hours.

• Get Cooking

Getting rid of your yummy snacks is not the end of the world. See it as a teaching opportunity. The kids can make their own cookies, their own snack packs and not only will they be expanding their culinary horizons and have control over the contents, but in the long run they will save a large amount of money.

So you see, you have options and solutions. Don't punish yourselves. Eat well, eat often and eat modestly.

Enzo's Power Bars  GI 39 - 50

If you are not losing weight on your low glycemic index plan

Keep in mind that many people have a low level of tolerance for carbohydrates, even the 'good' or Low to Medium Glycemic Index ones. If your low GI plan allows a level of carbohydrates which is too high for you as an individual, this may stop you losing weight. If this happens, try substituting the higher carbohydrate items for lower carbohydrate foods.

For instance, instead of wholegrain bread, substitute bread made with flours made from healthy, low carbohydrate flax seeds, almonds, soya beans, hemp or sesame seeds instead of high carbohydrate wheat, rye or corn.