Our friend Deming emailed with a link to an interview on CBS’s This Morning programme with Dr. David Ludwig from Boston’s Children’s Hospital where he discusses a new study on the effects of a low glycemic diet.
To quote from the CBS website:
The study, published on June 27 in The Journal of the American Medical Association, says that low-glycemic diets that compliment a person’s changing metabolism are the best at helping keep the pounds off.
It’s better to view the video before reading the text. Dr Ludvig is clear and concise.
The Glycemic Index— a measure, on the scale of 1 to 100, ranking carbohydrates according to their effect on our blood glucose levels and thus their post-meal impact.
The Glycemic Load–a measure of the impact of the glucose in a single portion of food.
Speaking for myself, the GI and the GL have been good friends as guides to everyday eating. Though I now take a pill a day, I credit them ( and regular exercise) with allowing me to control the condition for six years without medication.
Robin Ellis 
As I was reading the post, the story came on the TODAY show from New York! Now to get to your video. Thanks for this!
food for thought/thought for food from the Mayo Clinic on
the merits of a low-glycemic approach:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/glycemic-index-diet/MY00770
Thanks for posting that survey Phil. It describes GI throughout the piece as a diet.
For me the GI and GL are not diets–which are notoriously unreliable–they are rather an encouragement to a way of eating that is ongoing–for life if you like and that is where their value lies.
The glycemic index is the blood sugar response to a single food. The glycemic load is the blood sugar response to a meal containing a mixture of foods and results in very different responses than you would expect with single foods. High glycemic response foods when combined with low glycemic response foods may respond with lower numbers than expected, which shows no particular foods need be vilified as we rarely eat large doses of single foods. This is why it is recommended that each person test their blood sugar responses regularly to determine how their bodies respond to particular foods and meals. Factors such as regular exercise will change a person’s ability to clear glucose from their bloodstream more quickly and efficiently after meals. I recommend a personalized approach.
Thanks for that Katherine. I totally agree about the need for a personalized approach.
Just found out that steroid tablets eg. prednisolone can cause diabetes as a side effect.