This is a relatively new diet, conceived by a cardiologist Dr. Arthur Agatston and a dietician Marie Almon as a way to help his patients prevent heart disease and stay healthy. It became known as a weight lose diet only in the beginning of 2000.

The idea behind this diet is the glycemic cycle happening in our bodies when we eat. When we consume sugars and carbohydrates, the body produces insulin to break the sugars down. The more sugars we eat, the more insulin is produced.

The doctor theorized that this causes a cycle; we eat sugars, insulin breaks it down and when there is no more sugar to break down, we feel hungry and eat again. If we prevent the spike in insulin production we will avoid the hunger feeling that causes us to eat more of that same food.