Dieters can use the glycemic index to know which foods are likely to produce insulin, a substance which causes the body to store carbohydrates as fatty tissue. Research does indicate that diseases such as type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease are strongly related to the GI of a person's overall diet.
A food formula originally conceived to help diabetics is poised to become the next diet trend.
While, of course, this probably has as much to do with the dieters as the diet, those eager to fight the flab remain ever-hopeful and are turning to other methods that appear to hold more promise.
And the latest of those, the "glycemic index," just happens to be one of the foundations of the low-carb diet.
The index is a ranking of carbohydrates (on a scale from 0 to 100) based on their immediate effect on blood-glucose (blood-sugar) levels.
The importance of this is that high blood-sugar levels lead to the production of insulin, a hormone that causes the body to store excess carbohydrates as fat.
The GI was developed for helping people with diabetes choose foods that would not cause big swings in blood-glucose levels.
Eat a carbohydrate that is lower in sugar and contains fiber --- blueberries, for example --- and the amount of glucose entering your bloodstream comes at a slower and more steady rate.
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That's not the only potential benefit: Not only do people who follow the index tend to lose weight, but researchers have found that it can reduce the amount of LDL (the so-called "bad") cholesterol.
In addition, recent studies from Harvard School of Public Health indicate that the risks of diseases such as type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease are strongly related to the GI of the overall diet.