What Is The Glycemic Index

Carbohydrates are one of the most consumed nutrients in the world. Carbohydrates are also recommended by many nutritionists as vital nutrients for the body. Carbohydrates come in two forms.

1. They are complex sugars such as oligosaccharides or polysaccharides. Complex sugars are generally thought of as being healthy and better for you to eat. Examples of complex sugars are whole grain cereals, legumes or wheat bread or pasta. One thing to note is that not all sugars are complex carbohydrates.
2. There are simple sugars as well and they are called monosaccharaides. These carbohydrates are the easiest to break down and are an instant source of energy.

What is to be understood is that sometimes simple sugars can be bad for you. Simple sugars bring up the amount of sugar in your blood stream. We all need glucose in order to give our cells the energy it needs to work. However, some foods have a higher glycemic index than others and can cause all sorts of problems such as high blood pressure. Also, if your glycemic index is too low, it too can cause problems.

The glycemic index is important because it can help us keep a track of the sugar that is in basic food items. Sometimes even food that is expected to have a low glycemic index such as a sweet potato can increase your blood glucose level. The glycemic index is used to tell us this vital information.

What exactly is the glycemic index?

The glycemic index is a numerical system used to rank food in order of their glucose level. This is how high and fast these food can raise the glucose level in our body. Some foods have a very small glucose level so it is expected that the blood glucose level will not rise more than what is needed. However, some foods, especially sweets, have a high glucose level and can significantly increase the glucose in our blood stream. This is particularly good way for people with diabetes who need to know how much glucose their foods have before eating it. Also, many nutritionists use the glycemic index to determine what diabetics can eat from what they cannot.

What if you eat less food with a high glycemic index?

Some foods we know have a lot of glucose and can bring blood pressure up quickly. However, these foods and condiments are things that people tend to enjoy such as cotton candy, cake or ketchup among many others. The glycemic index does not mainly focuses on the quantity of the food but the quality of the food. One thing about the glycemic index is that it cares little for the quantity you eat because it only measures 50 grams of food at a time. So even if you eat less than 50 grams or double it to 100, the glycemic index will still remain the same.

Despite this fact, however, it is a logical explanation that if you eat less of something you would more than likely take in less glucose than if you were to eat three times the amount. However, 50 grams of food is the average intake and food with high glucose level should not be eaten regularly.

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