What is Glycemic Index?

The Glycemic Index (GI) is a scale that ranks carbohydrate –rich foods by how much they raise blood glucose levels compared to glucose, in the last 2-3hours. There is a lot of misunderstanding about the GI.

Eating higher GI foods produces a rapid increase in blood glucose levels, triggering the pancreas to produce insulin. Insulin causes the body to attempt to store excess glucose. If the digestive system pumps more glucose in to the blood stream, quicker than the insulin can move it into the muscles (or glucose stays more longer time in the blood), then the body will convert the excess glucose into fat.

So, it is a good idea to know more about GI and better to choose foods with a low GI rating (than choosing foods with high GI).

Uses of Glycemic Index:

1. To control your blood glucose levels.
2. To control your cholesterol levels.
3. Control your appetite.
4. Lower the risk of getting the heart disease.
5. Lower the risk of getting the type-2 diabetes.

Choose the foods wisely:

Try to choose low to medium GI foods more often (than high GI foods).

1. Foods of low rank are: GI of 55 or less.
2. Medium rank: GI of 56-69.
3. More rank: GI 70 or more.

Other important diet considerations:
The GI is not the only criteria when selecting the foods as the total amount of carbohydrates, but also,
1. The amount of fat: Fats from cold-water fish, olive and flax oil are beneficial.
2. Fiber and protein are also important.

WE should minimize eating saturated fat and better to take more fiber in the diet.

Cooking, food-processing and age, are all affects food’s GI.
Ex. Pizza keeps glucose up longer than any other food and glucose was still high even after 4-5 hours.

Foods with low Glycemic Index:

Soya Beans, Bengal gram and Grapes.