The GI Diet: a guide for catering professionals

The GI - or glycaemic index - diet has been one of the most hyped diets over the past couple of years.

With even supermarket giant Tesco producing its own guide, chances are some of your customers will be following it. This article gives a brief overview of the diet and how it might affect your restaurant...

What is the GI Diet?
Rick Gallop, author of the best-selling book that sparked the trend, sums it up as follows: "Developed by Dr David Jenkins, a professor of nutrition at the University of Toronto, the GI measures the speed at which foods are broken down by the body to form glucose, the body's source of energy.

"High GI foods break down quickly and leave you looking for the next food fix. Low GI foods break down more slowly and leave you feeling fuller, longer. It is these low GI foods that form the core of the diet."

Jenkins' glycaemic index ranks foods on a scale of 0-100, based on the impact they have on blood sugar levels. He found that many starchy foods affected levels quite dramatically, while some sugary foods had little effect.

Gallop's GI Diet simplifies this into a traffic-light system, whereby a red light indicates high-GI foods that people should seek to avoid if they want to lose weight, a yellow light indicates medium-GI foods that can be eaten occasionally, while green indicates foods that can be eaten "as much as you like".

Most GI diets also recommend cutting down on fat, especially saturated fat. Foods with lots of fibre have a low GI rating, as the fibre helps slow the absorption of carbohydrate into the blood.

Give me some examples...
Low GI foods include:

• Low-fat yoghurt
• Cherries
• Red lentils
• Milk
• Fettucine
• Boiled carrots
• Sweetcorn

High GI foods include:

• Steamed white rice
• Boiled parsnips
• White bread
• Mashed potatoes
• Chips
• Watermelon

So what will GI diet followers eat when they go to a restaurant?

A guide to GI published by The Times in 2006 recommended opting for multi-grain, sourdough or rough country-style bread instead of baguette or ciabatta, low-GI vegetables or salad instead of chips, and either skipping dessert or eating a small portion of low-GI ice cream. One glass of wine is actively encouraged, once adherents have reached their target weight.

Tips for dining out included:

• Olives instead of the bread basket
• Drinking a glass of water with lemon or lime juice with or before meals
• Vegetable soup or salad for starters
• No dressing on salad, but adding vinegar at the table instead
• Simply grilled or roasted lean meats, such as steak, chicken or game
• Grilled or baked fish
• Water-rich dishes such as stews and casseroles
• Coffee or herbal tea with a small piece of chocolate instead of pudding
• A small piece of cheese with grapes or an apple as another alternative dessert

Suggested restaurant starters included:

• Parma ham with melon
• Crudités with guacamole
• Mussels in a non-creamy sauce

Suggested mains included:

• Clam pasta with green salad
• Goulash with multigrain bread
• Seared tuna with boiled new potatoes and steamed vegetables
• Chargrilled squid with a large mixed salad and country-style bread

And suggested desserts:

• Bowl of fresh berries
• Fruit compote
• Poached pears

Where can I get more information?

GI tables and further details can be found on the following websites:

weightlossresources.co.uk

The Times GI guide

Sunday Times GI guide

Daily Telegraph GI guide

BBC article

Rick Gallop's GI diet website

Official GI website and GI database

Tesco GI diet