What is the ultimate diet? It’s a claim that is so often made. I believe it should be based on sound scientific evidence, be easy to follow, safe to use and it should work! My choice is the glycaemic load (GL) diet and this extract from my book The 7-Day GL Diet will help you to lose a few pounds for Christmas if you follow it for a week. But once you feel the benefits of eating well and losing weight, you may want to carryon. It doesn’t have to be a short-term quick fix — it can be a way of life.

The GL diet is a more sophisticated version of the glycaemic index (GI) diet. The GI diet is based on distinguishing between “good” and “bad” carbohydrates. Good carbohydrates are low in sugar, or release their sugar slowly, providing energy throughout the day. High GI foods — for example, sweets and most types of chocolate — are digested quickly, which means that your energy levels soar but then soon dip, causing lethargy and hunger.

The problem with the GI diet is that some very healthy items are excluded, for example, parnsips, watermelon, pumpkin and broad beans. It measures the glycaemic effect of the amount of food you’d need to give you 50g of carbohydrates, which, for example, would be a whole watermelon. The GL diet, however, lets you eat them because it works out the GI of a normal portion size.

A GL score is the glycaemic index for a normal portion of food; for example, a slice of watermelon not the whole melon. Three slices of bread, a high-carb food, contain about 50g of carbs, but to get this from parsnips, a low-carb food, you’d need to eat 500g — a huge quantity. Eating this amount would send blood sugar sky high, which is why parsnips have a high GI rating of 97 buta low GL rating of 7.8.

Because the GL is based on the quantity of food which you are likely to eat, it is a more realistic reference than the GI.

Seven-day GL menu plan

This plan includes three meals and two snacks a day to prevent hunger pangs, as well as ensuring that nutritional needs are met. Eat every four hours to help balance blood sugar levels.

DAY 1
Breakfast 2 slices of ham, 2 slices of cheese and sliced beefsteak tomato, pepper
Snack 25g dark chocolate (at least 70 per cent cocoa solids)
Lunch Carrot and coriander soup
Snack Oatcake with cream cheese and tomato
Dinner Avocado and prawns

DAY 2
Breakfast 2 boiled eggs, low-GL toasted bread (see left), olive oil-based spread
Snack Small handful of almonds
Lunch Microwaved sweet potato with cream cheese and side salad
Snack A nectarine or peach
Dinner Spicy chicken fillet salad with a balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing

DAY 3
Breakfast 1 tbsp of plain, natural, sugar-free yoghurt, topped with strawberries and a small handful of pine nuts,
Snack Small handful of sunflower seeds
Lunch Tomato and herb soup
Snack A rye crispbread with sugar-free peanut butter,
Dinner Pan-fried tuna steaks with tomato sauce

DAY 4
Breakfast Unsweetened muesli from health-food store with milk or soya milk and a handful of chopped dried apricots
Snack A small pot of cottage cheese
Lunch Egg mayonnaise salad
Snack Handful of cherries
Dinner Fast fettuccine Bolognese

DAY 5
Breakfast 3 lean bacon rashers, 1 egg and 1 small tin of reduced-sugar beans
Snack Handful of pine nuts
Lunch 2 rye crispbreads topped with hoummos
Snack An apple
Dinner A Greek salad

DAY 6
Breakfast Chopped peach, apple and grapes in a bowl topped with a dollop of unsweetened plain yoghurt
Snack A couple of pieces of individually wrapped cheese
Lunch Open sandwich with low-GL bread, layered with ham, salad and coleslaw
Snack Oatcake with spread
Dinner Pesto salmon

DAY 7
Breakfast 2 rye crispbreads topped with cottage cheese and sliced pear
Snack Handful of grapes
Lunch Prawn salad with coleslaw
Snack 25g dark chocolate (at least 70 per cent cocoa solids)
Dinner Grilled gammon steak with poached egg, peas and a mixed side salad

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GOLDEN RULES

Get organised Decide which day you want to start the seven-day plan and stick to it. Get everything you need for at least the first three days and get rid of high-GL food.

Bread Always go for the darkest, grainiest bread; it will have more fibre, be less processed and have a lower GL than white bread. Choose rye, soya or pumpernickel, as they score below 10 on the GL scale.

Portion sizes The GL diet is based on “average” portions but that doesn’t mean you need to start weighing everything. A good rule is that each meal should not be more than you can fit into your cupped hands.

Try pouring dried pulses into your hands and then place it in a measuring jug for an idea of volume. Where oatcakes, crispbreads or slices of bread are mentioned in the plan, men should have up to four oatcakes/crispbreads or 2 slices of bread; for women, two oatcakes/ crispbreads or one slice of bread.

Get active You will lose more weight if you increase activity levels by 30 minutes a day.

SNACK IDEAS

Out for dinner? Stick with basic chicken or fish dishes, with salad or vegetables.

Nigel Denby is a registered dietitian and qualified chef. His book The 7-Day GL Diet, published by Harper Thorsons (£6.99), is available from Times Books First at £6.64; p&p is free. Call 0870 1608080 or visit www.timesonline.co.uk/booksfirstbuy. You can join the online Diet Freedom Club, a community of low-GL followers, for £7.99 a month, at www.dietfreedom.co.uk

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