June - Healthy eating try GI foods

Eating healthily is easier said than done, but the old adage "you are what you eat" is even more relevant in a world in love with deep-fried, grilled and fast, fast food.

One alternative that's caught on in Britain is GI food - not the grub that soldiers eat but glycaemic index food.

The glycaemic index measures the ability of a carbohydrate food to increase the level of glucose in the blood. A food with a high GI will cause a fast rise in blood sugar.

Having a high blood-sugar level over a long term can damage the small blood vessels in the heart, brain, kidneys and eyes, increasing the risk of disease.

Since the body takes longer to absorb the carbohydrates from low-GI foods, your blood-sugar level remains steadier between meals. Foods with low GI - which also fend off hunger - include apples, oranges, pears, beans, peas, pulses and lentils, porridge, bran cereals, sugar-free custard and peanuts.

High-GI foods include white and wholemeal bread, brown and white rice, corn flakes and baked and mashed potatoes.