GL Diet

What is the GL Diet?

The GL diet reduces sugar (and all simple carbohydrates) to help balance our blood sugars. This reduces sugar cravings, balances our mood and stops the desire for snacking.

What are the benefits to the GL Diet?

This is a very healthy way to look at your food plus you’ll get energy boost and lose weight. There is far too much sugar in western diets. Reducing simple carbohydrates, increasing complex carbohydrates, good fats and proteins will bring long term good health.

How does the GL Diet work?

Let’s start by explaining GI also called Glycaemic Index. GI is a measure of how food effects your blood sugars, with a high glycaemic index (GI) cause a massive and sudden spike in blood sugar that falls just as rapidly, leaving us craving more carbs. In contrast, foods with a low GI keep blood sugar levels steady so we don’t get the sudden dips that cause cravings and overeating. However, the GI doesn’t take into account the amount of carbohydrate contained in a typical serving of food.

That’s where the Glycaemic Load or GL comes to the rescue The GL considers both the GI rating of a food AND the amount of carbs found in a typical serving of that food. This means foods like bananas, which have a high GI and are typically off limits; actually have a low GL because they contain only small amounts of carbs in a typical serving.

In contrast, foods like pasta – which have a low GI, actually have a moderate to high GL because they contain a lot of carbs in a typical serving. The key to losing weight is to choose foods with a low GL and avoid those with a high GL.

Eating foods with a low glycemic rating, like berries, seeds, nuts, rye bread, chicken and fish means a steady blood sugar rating and this transfers into better energy levels, fewer food cravings and less fat.

Things to help with the GL diet

Going into any diet is a big step, so make sure to do your research first.  Check out Patrick Holford "Low GL-Diet" cook book. There are many vitamins that may help with the GL diet as well. A small selection can be seen below.