1 July 2007

Your Success Stories

‘I wish more American companies would adopt your ‘G’ symbol’ – Abby
‘When I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, I began researching everything I could get my hands on, and luckily I came across your website. Living in the US, my doctor sent me to diabetes education classes, but I was appalled to discover that they are not saying a word about GI, telling me privately that there isn’t enough evidence, that it is very individualised, etc. I told them the very same things could be said about the meds they are willing to talk about and that changing one’s diet in this way does far less harm than ingesting medicine. Apparently, the American Diabetes Association refuses to make GI part of their education, which I consider to be tantamount to malpractice. I have sent a lot of information to the diabetes educators at the local program and told them they should start supplementing the old information given out on diet with the newest information. I myself have seen a marked drop in my blood glucose levels thanks to this information and I anticipate that if I can keep it up I can delay for a very long time my need to use medications. I wish more American companies would adopt your ‘G’ symbol, but perhaps Americans are just too tied into the needs of the fast food and pharmaceutical companies.’

[GI SYMBOL]

‘The low GI diet has been a lifestyle change for us, but refreshingly simple and easy to put into practice’ – Darryl

‘We read about the low GI diet in a newspaper at the turn of the year and then found out more by looking at various internet sites. It all sounded too good to be true – but on 8 January we decided to give it a try. Despite both my wife and I being pretty fit a decade ago, the advancement to early middle age had taken its toll on our weight being ably assisted by poor diet, takeaways, snacking, long working hours and lack of exercise. The scales tipped a shocking 301 pounds for me and 238 pounds for my wife and neither of us could believe how much we had let ourselves go and as a result our health was beginning to suffer - out of breath, sweating, poor sleep, acid stomach on a daily basis, aching ankles - a death sentence if we didn’t take back control!

So here we are, some 16 weeks later and neither we nor our friends can believe the difference! First we have to say how easy it has been to stick to a low GI diet and how much we have begun to enjoy our food - real food without all the stodge! We eat a wide variety of really tasty dishes, we eat well and rarely have either of us felt hungry. Every now and again we have a treat and we can still even enjoy a bottle of wine with friends in moderation. We go to restaurants but stick to a few basic rules - but the flexibility afforded by a low GI diet means we can still sensibly choose from a number of enticing dishes on any menu. In particular my wife has tried many different diets in the past but all of them have left something to be desired and she has after a short period of time found them to be restrictive and unfulfilling.

[SCALES]

The low GI diet has been a lifestyle change for us, but refreshingly simple and easy to put into practice. So what are the results after 16 weeks? I have lost a very pleasing 62 pounds and my wife 43 pounds! We have not really increased the level of exercise we do, but we feel more energetic, the aches have gone, I have not had a single acid stomach attack, we are more positive and mentally more alert and we are getting much better quality sleep. We would never have believed anyone who said this would make this difference to our lives in just 16 short weeks - it has been so easy and we know we will not only get down to our goal weights in the next 6 months but more importantly be able to sustain what we have done whilst really enjoying our food. Tell your friends (we have ) and they are all now converts because of our enthusiasm – if we can do it – anyone can!’

‘The great thing about the low GI diet is that it is not restrictive. It has given me more freedom in what I eat and more energy’ – Veronica

‘I lost almost 20 kilos on the low GI diet. I had tried various diets before low fat, detox etc. but it never made any difference to my weight and they were often quite restrictive in what they allowed you to eat. So I could never keep them up for long. It took one year to lose the weight, with once a week exercise and now 2 years later I still have not regained the weight. My diet is varied, enjoyable and does not make me gain weight. The great thing about the low GI diet is that it is not restrictive, you can eat most foods, you only need to modify your diet slightly, like eating grainy bread instead of white bread. I find low GI foods taste better too. Oat biscuits are great. It has also allowed me to eat lots of foods that I would never have eaten before as I thought they were too fattening. It has given me more freedom in what I eat and more energy.'

Inspire others. Share your GI story.
success story

We'll send you a free copy of The Low GI Diet Cookbook or The Low GI Vegetarian Cookbook if your story is published.

[COOKBOOKS]

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

My husband and I have been on the Glycemic diet for a few months, and both of us have lost weight and feel much better. My husband no longer has acid reflux (he had been taking Prilosec faithfully for many years). Shirley

Anonymous said...

I have also been dabbling with low GI foods for quite a few months. In approx 6 months I have lost 6 kilograms and and happy with my 65kg weight.... I could lose another 5kg, but I am not worried. I will continue to eat this way and slowly but surely I will lose any excess kilos. Happy eating all! P.S Found a great mash potato replacements. Use chickpeas and onions instead..Tastes great

Anonymous said...

Re reflux: We asked dietitian and co-author of The New Glucose Revolution Kaye Foster-Powell about this. She said that the pregnant women who consult her (with gestational diabetes) commonly say their heartburn and reflux are non-existent after they change their diets. 'It is also quite common in the Type 2s I see. I’ve not linked it to low GI foods in particular, just a result of healthier, lower fat eating and a healthier digestive system. But then you never know,' said Kaye

Anonymous said...

More on reflux. We asked a gastroenterologist what he thought. Here's his suggestion:
'There are a number of possibilities, but perhaps the most likely is an effect of hyperglycaemia - we have shown that marked hyperglycaemia increases transient lower oesophageal sphincter relaxations [Am J Physiol 2004:286;G797-803]; while physiological hyperglycaemia had no effect in this study, this is likely to reflect the experimental design used.'

Anonymous said...

For the last six weeks, I have been watching the GI numbers and total saturated fat very carefully. Along with regular some exercise, I find that the weight is coming off at about 0.5Kg/week and the fasting glucose is usually less then 5.8
I feel great and realy enjoy my food. My wife & daughter are also enjoying the healthier food.

An interesting note, is that when I go through the supermarket check out the GST component of the food bill is usually $0.00.
Because the low GI foods have had no processing you avoid the 10% GST
On more then one occasion the checkout operator commented, "That
is a very healthy selection of food you've got there". It gives you a buzz!

Lee
Geelong