The pounds will fall away while you eat delicious meals without experiencing the hunger pangs and feelings of deprivation often associated with dieting. Simply choose one low-GI breakfast, lunch and supper per day from the mouthwatering recipes or alternative suggestions on the following pages.
In addition, every day you can enjoy one substantial low-GI snack, a fruit treat and half a pint of skimmed milk (or unsweetened soya milk, fortified with calcium) in tea and coffee, or simply as a milky drink — plus extra if you are having cereal for breakfast.
This week, as you continue to burn fat, we also teach you how low-GI eating can help you look and feel younger. One of the most basic but effective anti-ageing benefits of the low-GI eating plan is that once you have lost the weight, you keep it off for good. (Dermatologists believe that the yo-yo cycle of regularly losing and regaining weight experienced on most diets speeds up the ageing process.)
But there are also specific low-GI foods that play vital roles in protecting, regenerating and rehydrating the skin, as well as boosting the skin’s smoothness — all of which are crucial in slowing down the ageing process.
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FOODS THAT PROTECT THE SKIN
Whatever the season, ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun and pollution in the atmosphere, which we are exposed to daily, break down collagen and elastin, the protein structures that give the skin elasticity and bounce. This profoundly accelerates wrinkle formation. Research has shown that the antioxidant supernutrients found in many low-GI foods can help to protect the skin from this sort of damage. These are some of the best foods to eat.
Whole-grain low-GI foods
These foods, such as wholemeal pasta, still contain the tough outer bran husk of the grain. This is rich in ferulic acid, a supernutrient made by plants to protect themselves against UV rays: it has been shown to have the same effect on the skin.
Whole-grain cereals, such as the grains in rye and pumpernickel bread, also provide copper, a trace mineral the body needs to make melanin, the skin pigment that helps absorb the sun’s ageing UV rays. Sunflower seeds, peanuts, crab and oysters are other good sources of copper, all of which can be eaten on the low-GI diet.
Corn on the cob
This is also high in ferulic acid, as are strawberries, raspberries, grapefruit, blueberries, apples, avocados, plums and blackberries. Corn can be used as the main low-GI food in meals, while the fruits make excellent snacks between meals.
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Sweet potatoes
Vitamins C and E are both found in sweet potatoes, as well as in blackberries and dark-green leaf vegetables. Of all the powerful antioxidants required by the skin, vitamin C is the most important, as it mops up the damaging free radicals that wreck elastin and collagen. And, since vitamin E helps the body to regenerate vitamin C, they are a crucial anti-ageing double act. Good low-GI snacks include berries, citrus fruits or red-pepper crudités for vitamin C, and nuts and seeds, which are rich in vitamin E.
Carrots
Adding other low-GI vegetables and fruits to your diet, such as carrots, fresh apricots, tomatoes, pink grapefruit and spinach, also helps protect the skin from ageing sun damage, as it nourishes it with the three antioxidant pigments betacarotene (orange), lycopene (red) and lutein (yellow). These collect in the skin and provide what dermatologists describe as a “parasol” effect, deflecting some of the UV rays and giving an estimated permanent sun-protection factor (SPF) of three.
Brazil nuts
A couple of brazil nuts a day in muesli, grated onto salad or in a snack will provide all the selenium the body needs. Selenium is a trace mineral that is essential for making glutathione, an enzyme that makes safe the free radicals inhaled in air pollution and cigarette smoke, which, when left to rampage through the body, break down collagen and elastin in the skin. Other good sources of selenium include shrimps and fresh tuna, sunflower seeds, cashew nuts and walnuts.
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FOODS THAT REGENERATE THE SKIN
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Oats
As well as providing slow-release energy, oats, eaten in muesli and porridge, provide a variety of nutrients and are a dietary source of silicic acid, which is needed to make the spongy cells in the skin that lie between the collagen and elastin. These spongy cells help to give the skin a plump, youthful look and reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles.
Milk
Skimmed milk provides protein, an often overlooked anti-ageing nutrient. Without sufficient protein, the elastin and collagen fibres that keep the skin supple cannot be adequately repaired and renewed. Eating protein at every meal is an important anti-ageing strategy. Other protein-rich foods that can be included in the low-GI diet are lean red meat, chicken, fish, tofu and eggs.
Tofu
As well as supplying protein, tofu (or soya-bean curd) and soya milk provide isoflavones, supernutrients that mimic the action of oestrogen. These help to repair collagen and elastin in the skin, slow down the rate of thinning and produce lubricating oils. Low-GI pulses such as lentils and chickpeas contain lignins, which also have oestrogenic anti-ageing properties.
FOODS THAT REHYDRATE THE SKIN
Oily fish
This great protein food also supplies omega-3 oils, essential oils that, along with the omega-6 oils found in hemp seeds, help keep the walls of the skin cells watertight. Thus skin stays hydrated. One of the first signs of a deficiency in these oils is dry, flaky skin.
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Salads
Low-GI salad ingredients and fruits such as lettuce, baby spinach, cucumber and berries, all have a high water content: they help to maintain the body’s fluid levels and improve the skin’s hydration.
ANTI-AGEING DRINKS
Fiji water
A unique mineral water, which is a naturally rich source of silicic acid.
White tea
Especially rich in EGCG, a powerful antioxidant supernutrient that helps to stop the skin damage caused by pollution and sunlight. Five cups a day can raise levels sufficiently to offer some protection against UV rays.
Pomegranate juice
Full of anthocyanins, the red and blue pigments that strengthen the walls of the tiny blood vessels that supply nutrients to the skin and remove toxins. Anthocyanins can help to stop the formation of spider veins. Pomegranate juice also boosts levels in the body of the enzyme paraoxonase, which keeps arteries clear of fatty blockages, thereby helping to maintain a good supply of oxygen to the skin.
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Are you planning to try the GI diet? We’d like you to keep track of your progress on our weblog. If you’re interested, get in touch by e-mail to women@timesonline.co.uk