GI News—January 2009

• We are what we drink
• Low GI diets better than high cereal-fibre diets for type 2 diabetes
  
• Shed pounds without pangs with feel full foods
  
• The lowdown on low carb beer
• Healthy curves: GI as important as carb quantity in managing glucose spikes
  
• Prof Trim counts the ways (and the costs) of losing weight

If you are making New Year resolutions, focus on your health not weight loss. Don’t severely restrict food intake, don’t skip breakfast, don’t skip meals, don’t drop whole food groups, don’t follow fad diets – that’s all asking for trouble. Instead, adopt some simple lifestyle manoeuvres to maximise your muscle mass and minimise your body fat such as eating more fruit and vegetables, opting for lean protein and making sure your meals come with the good fats and smart carbs. And if you do need a bit of belt tightening, you are not alone says Prof Barry Popkin in his new and immensely readable book, The World Is Fat, where he looks at the fads, trends and policies that are fattening the human race. In Food for Thought he suggests that perhaps nothing has contributed more to our weight gain than the clash between our drinking habits and our biology.

Good eating, good health and good reading.

GI News Editor: Philippa Sandall
Web Design and Management: Scott Dickinson, PhD