What is a low glycaemic diet?
A low-glycaemic diet focusses on the glycaemic index rankings of food, consuming carbohydrate foods that have a low glycaemic index ranking…

So…
What is Glycaemic Index?
The Glycaemic index is a rating system that measures the type of carbohydrates in food and fits them into a ranking system according to their effect on your blood sugar levels on a scale from 0 to 100. Although many people just think that all carbohydrates are the same, there is in fact different types of carbohydrates which all have their own unique effects on blood sugars. When you consume carbohydrates, your digestive system breaks it down into sugars that enter the bloodstream, this rating system shows how quickly each food will affect your blood sugar level when it is eaten alone. The foods that raise your blood sugar levels quickly are rated higher in the scale compared to foods that raise your blood sugar levels more slowly that you will find have a lower glycaemic index rating.

What foods contain carbohydrates?
Carbohydrates can be found in bread, cereals, fruits, vegetables and dairy products
Different food has different ratings within the glycaemic index. Some foods that have a high GI rating include: Sugar and sugary foods, Sugary soft drinks, White bread, potatoes, white rice. And a few foods that have low or medium GI ratings include some fruit and vegetables and wholegrain foods, for example porridge oats.

What are the benefits of a low glycaemic diet?
Simply, a low glycaemic diet helps warn off illness and disease! It can also help you manage your condition of diabetes. Along with other benefits such as:
- Improve your cholesterol levels
- Reduce your risk of developing heart disease
- Help you stay full longer
- Increase your energy levels
There are always some drawbacks to everything…
The glycaemic index does not provide a complete nutritional picture, do not forget to consider the fat, protein, sugar and fibre being consumed with the foods you are eating as well as the GI rating.
Example: Think about some French fries, if you have a look at the GI of 75, you could think that is better than the healthier option of a baked potato that has a GI of 85 but when you consider all of the factors to a healthy diet, the baked potato fits into a balanced diet a lot better than some French fries! There are many unhealthy low GI rated foods, such as ice cream and chocolate, so make sure you are careful to keep to a healthy balanced diet as well as just focusing on low GI rated foods.
The GI measures the effects of a single food, something many people may forget is that many foods are not eaten alone, and often consumed as a meal and therefore the GI is difficult to predict.
It can be difficult to calculate the Glycaemic Index and does not always reflect the full picture of foods, such as the healthiness of specific foods whilst not considering the number of carbs consumed.
What are the benefits of a good diet and exercise together?
Putting your healthy diet with exercise can benefit you a lot more than just doing one or the other! By combining the both together you will reach benefits such as:

- Happier moods
- Decreased fat storage and weight control
- Normalised blood pressure and cholesterol levels
- Decreased systemic inflammation
- Greatly reduced risk of diabetes, heart disease, gastrointestinal, autoimmune, and neurological disorders
- Increased energy and resilience
By bringing exercise into your daily routine you can improve your metabolism, sleep, strength and endurance, cardiovascular and skeletal health.
So why not join our online fitness sessions 3 times a week to increase your physical activity to complement the healthy diet you are consuming.
Online Fitness session option:
Monthly subscription to access x3 weekly morning 1hr sessions throughout the calendar month:
Monday | 07:30hrs to 08:30hrs (Online) |
Wednesday | 07:30hrs to 08:30hrs (Online) |
Friday | 07:30hrs to 08:30hrs (Online) |
16 years and over: £45 per month
Under 16 years: £25 per month
Process subscription: https://edgetravelworldwide.com/edge-fitness/
Recommendation to find out more about a real-life use of the glycaemic diet:

Sarah, someone close to Performance To Summit has followed her own journey of warning off illness and disease, check out her book ‘The Shock Factor’ to find out about her heart-warming story. To find out more visit: https://sarahsstory.co.uk/
Here are some links below that we have used to expand our knowledge… and that may give you a little more information if you need to find out anymore:
https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/food-and-diet/what-is-the-glycaemic-index-gi/
https://www.healthline.com/health/understanding-glycemic-index
Author: Performance To Summit Team – Dave Pickles & Fay Burrows