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Let me state up front that while I believe the glycemic index is a very important tool for those of us with diabetes, I truly believe the glycemic load is a better tool. But the glycemic load uses the glycemic index in its calculation, therefore understanding the GI is also an important concept.
To get the absolute best research material for this subject, I will be quoting a lot of material from the official website of the International GI Database which is hosted by the University of Sydney. That web address is www.glycemicindex.com
This website is an extraordinary research tool with a plethora of information about the glycemic index. I truly invite you to visit this site if you want to know more about this topic. As I stated, all of my research was done on this extensive website.
The glycemic index (GI) is a ranking of carbs on a scale from 0 to 100 according to the extent to which they raise blood sugar levels after eating. The ranking is as follows:
Food with a GI of 55 or less is considered a low GI food
Food with a GI of 56-69 is a medium GI food
Food with a GO of 70 or higher is a High GI Food
Foods with a high GI are those which are rapidly digested and absorbed. This results in a yo-yo effect in blood sugar levels. Low-GI foods are digested and absorbed in a gradual way. This produces a much more even rise in blood sugar and insulin levels. Research has proven this much more beneficial to the health of those with diabetes. Low GI diets have been shown to improve both glucose and lipid levels in people with diabetes (type 1 and type 2).
Weight can be controlled much better with a low GI diet. Low GI foods are absorbed slowly which helps you feel fuller longer. The impact on your blood sugar is minimal and you will see a reduction in insulin levels and insulin resistance.
Recent studies from Harvard School of Public Health indicate that the risks of type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease are strongly related to the GI of the overall diet. In 1999, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recommended that “people in industrialized countries base their diets on low-GI foods in order to prevent the most common diseases of affluence, such as coronary heart disease, diabetes and obesity.”
I found it very interesting how a GI value for a particular food is determined. According to the GI website, “To determine a food's GI value, measured portions of the food containing 50 grams of available carbohydrate (or 25 grams of available carbohydrate for foods that contain lower amounts of carbohydrate) are fed to 10 healthy people after an overnight fast. Finger-prick blood samples are taken at 15-30 minute intervals over the next two hours. These blood samples are used to construct a blood sugar response curve for the two hour period. The incremental area under the curve (iAUC) is calculated to reflect the total rise in blood glucose levels after eating the test food. The GI value is calculated by dividing the iAUC for the test food by the iAUC for the reference food (same amount of glucose) and multiplying by 100.”
There is now a push by some to have terms like “sugars” and “complex carbs” removed from a nutrition label and replaced with “Total Carbs” (carbs minus dietary fiber) and “Glycemic Index.” The main problem with this concept is that are very places who conduct legitimate GI calculations.
The Human Nutrition Unit at the University of Sydney has been at the forefront of glycemic index research for over two decades and has tested hundreds of foods as an integral part of its program.
Foods with a GL 10 and below are considered low GL
Foods with a GL between 11-19 are considered medium GL
Foods with a GL 20 and above are high GL Foods.
Because the glycemic load of a food looks at the food as a whole and not just the carbs, the same food can have a high glycemic index, but an overall low glycemic load, making it better for you than it originally might have appeared.
I was so pleased to see the following on the GI website:
“Glycemic load or GL combines both the quality and quantity of carbohydrate in one 'number'. It's the best way to predict blood glucose values of different types and amounts of food.”
This validates my hypothesis about the GL.
The formula to calculate GL is very simple:
GL = (GI x the amount of carbs) divided by 100
Note: The amount of carbs is the Total Carbs minus the Dietary Fiber. And this is specific to an amount of food.
Let’s take for a calculation as an example:
The GI of Wonder Bread is 70. One slice of Wonder Bread has 15 carbs with 1 carb of dietary fiber.
So our formula would be:
70 times 14 (15 carbs minus 1 dietary fiber) divided by 100.
This equals 9.8
Wonder Bread has very little impact on your blood sugar.
https://www.dietreviewvideo.com/2017/07/10/glycemic-index-diabetes-things-to-know/
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