Diabetes Basic: What is Glycemic Index?

What is Glycemic Index?

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Hello, I'm Ty Mason from TheDiabetesCouncil.com, researcher, writer and I have type 2 diabetes. Today I'm going to answer the question, what is glycemic index? But before we get into that, make sure you download my free diabetes management book which also includes a diabetes grocery shopping guide (foods to eat and avoid).

As a person with diabetes there are certain terms and tools we all need to know about in order to help keep our blood sugar under control.

One of those tools is the glycemic index.

The glycemic index, or GI, measures how foods raise blood glucose. These foods are then ranked based on a comparison with a reference food. The reference food is pure glucose with a GI of 100.

Glycemic Index is basically a scale of 0 to 100, with higher values given to foods that cause the most rapid rise in blood sugar.

Glycemic Index values are determined experimentally. Foods are eaten by test subjects and blood samples are taken at different intervals.

The “inventor” of the Glycemic Index is Dr. David Jenkins. He and his associates at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, Canada performed the earliest studies on the subject.

There has been an effort more recently to update the Glycemic Index by Jennie Brand-Miller and her associates at the Human Nutrition Unit of the University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia.

A 2016 study by the Brigham and Women's Hospital, found that individuals who eat many high GI foods are more than twice as likely to develop diabetes. It is believed that the high insulin demand generated eventually can exhaust the pancreas, leading to the onset of diabetes.

Additional evidence suggests that lower GI intake may aid weight control. One study found that overweight teenagers who ate a low-GI breakfast were less hungry and ate 45 percent fewer calories during the day than they did after eating a high-GI breakfast.

Further research indicates that low-GI foods may provide a weight-loss advantage over high-GI foods, even when caloric intakes are equal.

The theory behind the Glycemic Index is simply to minimize insulin-related problems by identifying and avoiding foods that have the greatest effect on your blood sugar.

When looking at the GI number, those with 55 or less are considered “low”, those with a GI between 55-70 are medium and over 70 is high.

The GI is a good tool for deciding what foods or how much of a food to eat. There are many charts and books with the GI of hundreds of foods in them.

Of note, I personally feel the Glycemic Index is a great tool, but the Glycemic Load is an improvement on the GI. Look for our video, “What is Glycemic Load” for a more detail explanation.

I hope this answered your question what is glycemic index. Don’t forget to get your diabetes management book.

Let me know if you have any other diabetes related questions.


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