What You Should Know About the Glycemic Index

Jul 24
19:04

2008

Mario Carini

Mario Carini

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You may not know it, but the terms Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load are important to you even if you are not diabetic. Chances are you're already on the road to developing diabetes in the near future.

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If you are like many,What You Should Know About the Glycemic Index Articles you are ignorant of what Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load means. But you should be concerned about these terms and what they mean to your health.

In fact you may already be on the road to developing cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

Simply put the food you eat is converted into glucose. The pancreas produces the insulin that acts as a key that opens the door so glucose can be absorbed into the cells of the body where it can be used for energy. For many type 2 diabetics the cells have become resistant and do not absorb glucose even when there is plenty of insulin around to do the job.

It is estimated that upwards of a billion people exhibit some form of insulin resistance. Called syndrome X, their pancreas produce more than enough insulin to move glucose but their cells are showing some form of insulin resistance. That requires the pancreas to produce excess insulin to get blood sugar into the cells. But age and a diet high in processed food is guaranteed to bring on diabetes.

So even if you're not diabetic you should still pay attention to the terms Glycemic index and Glycemic load

So what is GI, GL and why should you care?

The Glycemic Index is a measure of how fast the food you eat is converted into blood sugar.

The Glycemic Load measures the amount of food that is eaten to produce high levels of glucose. In other wors, you can raise your blood sugar by consuming greater quantities of food though they may have low GI values.

Highly processed and refined foods such as white bread, sugary breakfast cereals, cookies and cakes rank high on the glycemic index. High GI foods lead to high spikes in blood sugar and it is those high spikes and a slow decline that can lead to damage to the heart and kidneys and other vital organs of the body.

High fiber foods, on the other hand, lead to a slower rise in glucose. The pancreas does not need to produce massive amounts of insulin to get rid of excess sugar. Fruits, vegetables, nuts and whole wheat breads rank low on the scale and are healthier alternatives to high glycemic foods.

Watermelon has a high GI. So avoiding it may sound like a good idea but watermelon has only 6 grams of carbohydrates in half a cup. This is where the GL comes in. 2 slices of watermelon will not significantly create a rise in blood sugar. GL takes into account the amount of calories consumed. Along with GI you have a good standard to determine which foods are best and which you need to avoid.

A GL rating of 20 or more is considered high, 11 to 19 in the medium range.

A slice of whole wheat bread has a GI of 69 which measures in the medium to high range, but it's GL is only 9.6 for that one slice.

Take a look at the GI for a can of any soft drink. The GI is 68 and the GL is 34. Clearly that one can is high on both scales.

Since most of the food you eat likely ranks high on both GI and GL it makes sense to replace them with high fiber foods that won't spike your blood sugar. Simply replacing your typical junk food will go a long way toward maintaining blood sugar levels.