Product Description

"The Original International Gi Diet Bestseller, Now Revised And Updated

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10429 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
It's rather a relief to discover that The GI Diet is not, after all, an in-depth investigation into the secrets of the US Army's mess halls and field rations. This GI stands for Glycemic Index, the latest thing in weight-loss thinking. Encouragingly based on his own efforts to lose weight, the introduction explains how Rick Gallop worked his way through diet after diet. Single-food diets (grapefruit, cabbage) he rejected as unsustainable; high-protein/low-carb ones unreliable and potentially dangerous (sorry, Dr Atkins). None of them worked in the long run. Finally he stumbled across the theories of nutritionist Dr David Jenkins, and the GI Diet, the new Only Diet That Works, was born. Essentially, the Glycemic Index measures how quickly carbohydrates are digested and release their sugars into the bloodstream. Foods with a high GI rating release glucose rapidly, their energy is rapidly burned up and hunger quickly returns. The Chinese meal syndrome, where you're hungry half an hour later, is the perfect illustration of this. Low-rated slow-release foods, by contrast, provide long-term energy and tend to require the body to do more work to convert it. Oats, beans, barley and similar foods high in soluble fibre represent the ideal forms of low-GI food. Fats are likewise differentiated into the familiar saturated (bad), unsaturated (good) and polyunsaturated (best).

Naturally, there is more to it than this rather obvious-sounding core precept. Rick Gallop has constructed an entire dietary plan around it, with a introductory weight-loss period followed by a less severe maintenance diet (in this, rather like the Atkins Diet but much less onerous and restrictive). There are long lists of foodstuffs graded by GI rating, a selection of (rather basic) recipes and suggestions for exercise regimes--the latter including some interesting Pilates-like strengthening routines--so the whole thing becomes more of a lifestyle plan. The most telling evidence for its effectiveness, says Gallop, is that it worked for him and everyone he has persuaded to stay the course. Judging by the collection of excited testimonials from satisfied newly thin users, it could very well be worth a try.--Robin Davidson

The Sun
For people who never want to diet again...the pounds will drop...only diet you'll ever need.

The Evening Standard
...you can stabilise your blood sugar levels, feel healthier and lose weight.

Customer Reviews

13lbs in 2 weeks and still losing!
I was very sceptical about trying yet 'another diet'. Over the years I have tried every diet under the sun and I was about to resign myself to the fact that I was meant to be fat forever, when I came across Rick Gallop's book. I read the book from cover to cover and felt very insipred by Rick's own weight loss and everything he said made sense. I craved refined foods, white bread, white rice, pasta, biscuits and cakes and I desperately needed these foods to survive throughout the day (or so I thought) so it was a great challenge to cut out these foods and I wondered what the heck I was going to live on.
Fortunately I memorised the green section of the book, which contains foods you can eat freely and I ate a couple of the amber options too. In 2 weeks I have lost 13lbs and I feel so much healthier already (and I haven't even exercised yet). I know its early days and I am eating a lot of the same things over and over again, but I find I am never hungry. I have 3 meals a day and fill up on snacks of fruit, muller light yoghurts, salad vegetables and when I really need chocolate I eat the dark 70% cocoa stuff and after eating 2 squares, it puts me off eating anymore, as its so bitter, but it does the trick and stops my chocolate craving.
I feel like a drug addict which has been weaned off refined foods. I also felt like this when I tried the Atkins diet at first, but after a week on that, I thought I was going to have a heart attack, as I constantly had heart burn from the rich fatty foods and I was bored because I couldn't snack on fruit and veg. (Just a note about Atkins - my friend lost 5 stone quickly on that diet but her kidney has now collaped as a result of too much protein and not enough water, so be careful with Atkins as the side effects are not fully known yet!)

Luckily the GI diet advocates eating low fat healthy food combined with restricting the carbs, so it seems a more sensible approach to dieting.

I would recommend giving this a go, even if you only do it for 2 weeks, you could be well on your way to losing a stone and I guarantee you will instantly feel healthier.

The only concerns I have is that I might get bored with eating the same things all the time, but I am looking forward to the GI recipe book being published in November, perhaps this will motivate me to carry on and give me some fresh ideas.

Great DIET! Ricks other book- 'Living the GI diet' is better
Ricks way of presenting the GI diet is brilliant. easy to understand and easy to follow. I have tried many diets in my time, and this one is THE BEST. By far. The only diet I have followed where you don't feel hungry, and unlike diets (such as Atkins), you actually feel you are eating HEALTHILY! BUT... BEWARE!... Rick has 3 books out. And I've bought all of them. I was VERY disappointed (so much so that I'm writing this here review) that they are mostly repeats of the same information. My advice would be to buy 'Living the GI Diet' Only, as It's the most useful, with the 1st half of the book explaining the diet, and the remaining half being a collection of Extremely helpful and delicious recipes. DONT BUY ALL 3 BOOKS!!

Happy eating!

Lose weight in an enjoyable way and feel healthier.
I purchase this book just after Christmas 2002 when I made the same discovery as thousands do at this time of the year. I OVER INDULGED and it showed.I could not believe how much weight I had put on and resolved to do something about it this time. I happened to see a review of the book in a daily paper and decided to find a copy.

Putting to one side my thoughts on the price of paperbacks in general I liked the simple style of this book and most importantly the food choices advocated. I found the book very well written and easy to follow. The more I read, the more I was amazed and came to understand why I had previously found it difficult to control my weight and how relatively simple it should be to correct this now.

What followed was even more amazing. In five weeks losing one stone in weight and an inch and a quarter off my waist. I could not have wished for more, and am now almost at my target weight and feeling a lot better in myself. In the five weeks following this book I have never once felt hungry.

I would heartily recommend this book and am grateful to the author for its production.