Glycemic Index, Glycemic Load: Discover What Both are All About

Did you know that according the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) women with the highest glycemic load in their diets were thirty-seven percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than women with the lowest glycemic load diets? Pretty startling statistic to me, one to sit up and notice.

Glycemic Index, Glycemic Load

Today you can’t open the paper, a magazine, or even surf the Web without seeing something about diet or a specific diet. We talk about the exponential increase in diabetes type 2 amongst not just adults but young adults as well. We see on television all the ‘Biggest Loser’ shows and take offs. We are extraordinarily aware of weight, diet, and health problems – well many of us are. But at times it may seem like information overload and indeed I must agree that it can be. Bombarded with scary statistics about weight and diabetes, cholesterol and heart disease, and processed foods and cancers many of us become more or less frozen into inaction. I’d like to talk to you here about glycemic index and glycemic load; what they are, what they both mean to you, and how to use these ‘charts’ to stay healthy – without feeling overwhelmed into non-action.

Carbohydrates: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Okay so when it comes to carbohydrates there are basically two types; simple carbs and complex carbs. We’ve been taught that simple carbs are not the best and complex carbs are indeed the better health choice.  But is that the truth? Let’s explore these carbs a bit and find out. Simple carbohydrates consist of foods that contain one or two simple sugars. Foods such as table sugar, candy, jam, chocolate are all simple carbohydrates and as you can see not the healthiest food choices. But there are also simple carbohydrates like apples, strawberries, peaches, and more that are not so bad at all for you. Next comes complex carbohydrates; these are foods that consist of long chains of simple sugars. Foods such as oatmeal, bran, wheat germ and more are examples of complex carbohydrates. Years ago before the glycemic index and glycemic load chart came along it was basically assumed that foods that were simple carbs were to be avoided and foods that were complex carbs were to be chosen. But as you can see by just the few listed examples of simple carbs this isn’t really true. I mean, come on we all know the infamous saying, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Apples, peaches, strawberries are all healthy foods offering an abundance of nutrients the body needs. So to avoid all simple carbs as a rule would mean eliminating these and other healthy simple carbs from your diet. This is where the glycemic index and later the glycemic load were developed. Nutritionists, doctors, scientists and researchers realized that there are simple carbs that are good for you and complex carbs that can cause unhealthy responses in the body.

Understanding Glycemic Index

It all began with the glycemic index so let’s start there. It was discovered that the blood glucose response to certain complex carbohydrates could be very different. So what resulted with the blood glucose with one complex carb could be quite different from the reaction to another complex carb (glycemic load.) There’s a glycemic index (GI) number for virtually every food out there. Foods fall into different categories based on scientific data used on subjects to measure glucose in the blood before and hours after consuming each food.

• High GI = 70 to 100
• Medium GI = 50 to 70
• Low GI = below 50

Generally speaking when you eat foods high on the GI there are faster, more significant increases in blood glucose levels. When you eat foods lower on the GI, the increase is slower and more sustained. In very simple terms GI tells you how quickly the food is converted into sugar. When the glucose levels in the blood rise insulin is produced and secreted. The higher the levels of glucose the more insulin is produced and released. This high amount of insulin being released leads to a sudden and sharp drop in blood glucose levels. This is referred to as hypoglycemia. Eating foods lower on the GI results in less amounts of insulin needed by the body to become stabilized.

Understanding Glycemic Load

Glycemic load (GL) compares the quality of the carbohydrate (GI) as well as the quantity of the carb in the food or meal. So this number tells you not just how quickly the food is converted into sugar but how much is in that food. GL gives the eater a more thorough picture of what particular foods will do to your blood sugar levels. And like GI the higher the food is on the glycemic load rankings the more dramatic the blood glucose increase and the more insulin is needed. The lower the food or meal is on the GL the slower the blood glucose increase and the less insulin is needed by the body to return to stable, healthy blood sugar levels. Let’s look at the example of the tasty watermelon. It’s high on the GI scale but there’s so little carbohydrate in a watermelon it makes it a low ranker on the GL scale.

• High GL = 20 +
• Medium GL = 11 to 19
• Low GL = 10 or less

In many of the fruits and vegetables that are high on the GI scale they come in low on the GL scale. That’s a much more accurate representation of which carbohydrates are healthy for blood sugar levels and which are not. Most all processed, fake foods come in high on the GI and high on the GL. You should avoid process foods for numerous reasons, this is just one more. So by now you’re probably wondering why it’s so important to be concerned about blood sugar levels and insulin production.

Dangers of High Blood Sugar Levels

There are many reasons why you should be concerned about living with consistently high blood sugar levels. The first is increased insulin production. It is now believed that high glucose levels and excessive insulin production (which go hand in hand with high glucose levels) are a precursor to developing dangerous diabetes. It’s vital if you want to stay healthy today and live a high quality pain and disease free life tomorrow you watch what you eat. You must pay attention to how your diet impacts your blood glucose levels. Here’s a short list of foods and their GL. For a comprehensive list of more than 2,480 foods check out this site

There are many charts, scales, and measurements when it comes to foods we should eat and ones we should avoid. If you follow my recommendations to eat plenty (and a variety of) real foods and avoid fake foods you won’t have to pay too much attention every time a new scale or chart makes the news. You’ll be eating from nature the way God intended. You’ll feel the difference in your body, mind, and soul.

Sources

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/foods/grains/gigl.html

http://www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm

http://www.glycemicindex.com/

http://diabetes.about.com/library/mendosagi/ngilists.htm