The New Glucose Revolution: The Authoritative Guide to the Glycemic Index -- The Dietary Solution for Lifelong Health

by Jennie Brand-Miller, Kaye Foster-Powell, Thomas M.S. Wolever

In 1999 The Glucose Revolution provided the most authoritative and comprehensive information ever published about the glycemic index—widely recognized as the most significant dietary finding of the last twenty-five years. It instantly became a national bestseller, garnered praise from major health and medical figures worldwide, and has sold more than half a million copies in ten countries, including 300,000 in North America alone. In the past three years, the results of clinical and observational studies, including the Harvard Nurses Health Study, have continued to affirm the dietary benefits of low-glycemic foods and to demonstrate the importance of maintaining blood glucose control for lifelong health. Now, with this completely revised and updated second edition, The New Glucose Revolution will be necessary reading for an ever-expanding audience—people managing diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and everyone seeking to make dietary choices for lifelong health. Completely new to this edition is coverage of the glycemic load, a calculation of the carbohydrate content in a food multiplied by its glycemic index. Also included are extensively expanded tables of glycemic-index values for nearly 800 foods—more than double the number of foods covered in the previous edition—along with their glycemic load values.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Food, Cookbooks, Self Help, Reference, Nutrition

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 10, 2002

About the author

Jennie Brand-Miller AO FAA is an Australian nutrition scientist renowned for her pioneering research on the glycemic index and its impact on human health. She holds a chair in human nutrition at the University of Sydney and has coauthored numerous bestselling books on the topic. Her work has earned her widespread recognition, including the Clunies Ross Medal and the Sir Kempson Maddox Award. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2011 and elevated to Officer in 2022. She is also a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.

Reviews

[David Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book I read to research this post was The Glucose Revolution which is a very good book which I bought from a local bookstore. This book is about the Glycaemic Index of food and how you can use this information to help you eat a healthy diet. This book contains detailed tables of dietary information for various foods and also has lots of recipes. Even food scientists have difficulty working out the GI of specific foods. You should eat lots of low density foods that fill you up as they provide nutrition, all bran and natural yoghurt are examples. There is no such thing as a bad food and all the less healthy foods can be eaten in moderation. In fact when we think of things like carbohydrates & fats as being harmful we need a certain amount. You want food that will be digested slowly so as to give you energy. It's only in the last 1-200 years that people have had more wealth and food has become more plentiful and people have eaten lots of meat and cereal crops like wheat and rice. This has caused an imbalance to our natural diet and certainly most people should eat more fruit and vegetables. This book is particularly useful if you have a health problem like sugar diabetes but it can be used just as well as a prevention of dietary health problems.

[David Waller · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bah!! While it is a great book for understanding the basics of GI, the emphasis on eating so many carbs (especially corn, potatoes and rice) just gagged me. I have never lost any weight eating those particular items. It is possible everyone's body is different to a degree and certain diets work for certain people. Starches have no place in my diet. They blow me up like a hot-air balloon. I stopped reading this book for its lack of worth to my goals.

[Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the time of reading this book I had been a Type 1 diabetic for about 27 years. I had heard of the low carb diet thing, but thought it was all about weight loss because of the Atkins hype. This book helped me understand food and diet SO much and get better results with my glucose levels.

[Sarah Wu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I completely agree. Now if I could only eat like they recommend.

[Lena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really a thrilling read, but did you know that french bread converts to sugar in your bloodstream as quickly as pure glucose syrup?

[Hal Mahaffey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Important concept. Puzzled over recommendation for rice, potatoes and pasta for diabetic diets, but I'm sure that, if pressed, the authors would say "in moderation", which is really true of just about everything. I think they include them just to make the diets more palatable. Still, GI is a good concept to keep in mind when choosing foods, as there is little doubt of its impact on blood glucose.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful!

[Gwen Weddington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good resource.

[Sue Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A simple but helpful insight into the effects of high glucose spikes. And how to prevent them

[Erin Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading it was a bit too technical and dry for me.

[Bruce Gumbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have type 2 diabetes issues then you should read this book. A carb is not a carb and the American Diabetes Association refuses to pay head to the sold research explained in this book that has been around since the early 80's. There are newer editions of the book out there but this is a good start on learning about Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load and what they can do to help you control your blood sugar issues.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had no idea that Rice Krispies were so high on the GI. I thought I was doing relatively good by not feeding my kids obviously high sugar cereals like Fruit Loops and Coco Puffs. Apparently not. Having had gestational diabetes the concept of eating low GI foods is appealing to me, hopefully to prevent the onset of Type II Diabetes, and I am constantly trying to improve our family's nutrition. It's also good information for me managing Parker's diet since he can't break down medium chain fats for energy and seems to go through sugar lows if I don't give him low GI - complex carbs regularly throughout the day. My only quibble with the edition of the book I read was I didn't like the way they laid out recipe ideas. They were written in paragraph format instead of listing ingredients and then providing instructions like most recipes are written.

[Kendall · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading the "Abs Diet" I was curious to read more about the glycemic index. It assigns a value to pretty much every type of food(w/ carbohydrates) based on how quickly your body can break it down.
For example, fruits/vegetables have a low GI number and thus take longer to digest because they are more complex than simple sugars. And then foods highly processed or made with simple sugars (white bread, candy, etc), which not only breaks down fast leaving you more hungry, but requires a high level of insulin.
And a high level of insulin over a long period of time is what causes Type 2 diabetes! Very interesting stuff, though a little boring at times.

[Ligaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book that introduces the reader to the concept of the glycemic index and eating a low-GI diet. I was searching for an updated version but this 3rd edition is the most up-to-date copy. Lots of studies are referenced. Most if the book deals with the science of the GI. There are also about 60 pages of recipes. It SEEMS like this way of eating would be easy to implement. Something that I will keep in mind on my weight-loss journey.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a short and concise description of the glycemic index (GI), why it's important, what foods have higher or lower GI, and how you can improve your health by observing a low-GI diet. Since I'm prediabetic, the knowledge is of importance to me, and it explains why my single successful diet worked.

[Cindy Dalfovo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting things, but awfully repetitive and some suggestions that are disputed, like repeating a thousand times to have a low-fat diet.
I discovered a few things about the best foods to keep a steady sugar level on my blood, but I wish they had gone deeper about the effects of sugar.
It could have been a much smaller book, really. I pretty much skipped the recipes section.

[Trink J.]

Healthy eating (with recipes) to maintain steady glucose levels in blood, stave off hunger and diseases like diabetes and obesity. Gives whole background and touches on specific topics, even how this can be used for children. Tables worth the price along.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good refernce book for people trying to eat foods that have a low GI/GL index. I also liked how it provided simple preperation ideas. The book is set up so you can just locate a food or you can read through the book.

[Darlene Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly a reference and cookbook, but very thorough in the explanation behind using the glycemic index in food planning. Helpful for anyone planning to be serious about glycemic index eating. I only wish it had more menu plans.

[Elena Traduzioni Oceano Mare · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poco convincente. Anche le ricette che ci sono in fondo al libro in alcuni punti sembrano andare contro quello che e' stato spiegato. Carote cotte???!! Come mai, se hanno un indice glicemico altissimo una volta cotte? No, no, io suggerisco di leggere il libro di Montignac a chi e' interessato.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this off paperback swap when we were working on diet for N...also J has a major family history of diabetes, so we figured the whole family could benefit from the info. The recipes at the end were delightful.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really in-depth, science-based handling of a topic I'd been only peripherally familiar with prior. I read an older edition, but I think I will track down the most recent edition, as cutting-edge nutrition has a way of needing several editions to get things exactly right.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great info on a healthy way to eat especially for the diabetic.

[Garbacik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting. Seems like solid nutrition - more whole grains, less processed food.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a dietbook junkie --I buy them in search of solutions.
The GI index is explained in this book, and how to lower sugar levels.

more of a cookbook than I diet how-to.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good tips about better carb choices when you're trying to control your blood sugar.

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book would be better in a non-kindle format...also, the authors jumped around a little too much for my likeing!

[Lynette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I even tried a recipe in it that used butternut squash (I don't like squash) and it was AMAZING and tasted like something you would get in a restaurant.

[Rainbowgardener · Rating 4 out of 5]

More on how to live a long healthy life. More good science and this one comes with lots of good recipes for how to cook low glycemically. How and why to switch to low GI living.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

more depth than the previous book, but not a ton of science