What does the glycemic index refer to?
- October 8, 2007
Glycemic index (GI) was developed in the early 80’s by diabetes researchers. Their discoveries rocked the nutrition world when they found that some foods raise blood sugar as quickly as table sugar does.
Glycemic index measures how high blood sugar rises after eating 50 grams of carbohydrates from a particular food. The higher the glycemic index, the greater the blood sugar response.
Foods high on the list include raisins, rice cakes, instant mashed potatoes, plain bagels, white rice, and corn flakes. Lower glycemic foods are garbanzo beans, brown rice, green lentils, whole grain pumpernickel bread, most dairy products, and semolina pastas.
Glycemic Load
While glycemic index is the blood sugar-raising power of a food, glycemic load (GL) takes serving size into account. Instead of testing the amount of food that contains 50 grams of carbohydrates, it tests a normal serving size, regardless of how many grams of carbs it contains. This results in a more realistic measurement, which tends to be lower than a food’s glycemic index.
But GL values are not always predictable. Many factors come into play, including the amount of protein, fat and fiber, as well as the cooking and processing methods. To further complicate matters, the effects of a high GL diet vary greatly between people, depending on body weight and level of physical activity.
What about those crunchy carrots that you used to snack on? The ones you heard are so high in sugar? In order to eat a 50 gram carbohydrate portion, you’d have to consume a pound of them.
Value?
Glycemic index, by itself, is irrelevant, since we don’t usually eat isolated foods. We eat them in the content of a meal. A food’s GI is influenced by how it’s prepared and what else is eaten with it.
Yet the glycemic index concept may be a useful tool for choosing meals that help you avoid a spike in blood sugar and the resulting rush of insulin that causes you to eat more calories later on. This explains why you get hungry an hour after you eat. But there is no proof that eliminating foods with a higher GI promotes weight loss.
What to do now? Avoid mostly carbohydrate meals or starches without any fiber (like a large bagel for breakfast). Select a balanced diet from a variety of foods, with a focus on nutrient-dense vegetables, fruit, low fat dairy, and lean proteins, which will naturally provide you with a low glycemic load. Choose foods that are closer to their natural state over those highly processed (old-fashioned oatmeal instead of instant, or whole grain crackers instead of white.) Remember, it’s the overall diet that counts and not individual foods.
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