Glycemic, glycemic, glycemic. Does it matter?
Yep, they both start with ‘glycemic’! That’s one hint that they’ve got something to do with sugars and carbs.
Not just how much sugar is IN foods, but more importantly, how it affects your blood sugar levels.
Generally speaking, diets that are high on the glycemic index (GI) and high in glycemic load (GL), tend to increase our risk of heart disease and diabetes.
Fun Fact: Starches like the ones found in potatoes and grains are digested into sugar; this is because starch is just a bunch of sugars linked together. Digestive enzymes in the body break those bonds so that the sugars become free. Those sugars then affect your body the same way that eating sugary foods do.
Glycemic Index (“how fast”)
Of the two terms Glycemic Index (GI) is the one that is most common and that most people would have heard of before.
It “indexes” (or compares) the effect that different foods have on your blood sugar level. Each food is then given a score from 0 (has no effect on blood sugar) to 100 (big effect on blood sugar). Foods that cause a fast increase in blood sugar have a high GI. The reason for this is that the sugar in these foods is quickly processed by your digestive system and absorbed into your blood. They cause a “spike” in your blood sugar.
So, it would stand to reason that pure glucose is given a GI rating of 100. Right down on the other end of the scale is the humble chickpea with a GI rating of only 10.
In regards to the GI anything under 55 is considered low; moderate is 56-69, and 70+ is considered a high GI food.
Remember, this is not a measure of the sugar content of the food, it is a measure of how fast a carbohydrate containing food is digested and how fast it raises your blood sugar.
How the carbohydrates in a food affect your blood sugar level is dependent on different components of the food. Things like fibre and protein can actually slow the release of sugar into the bloodstream; this can make even a high-sugar food, low on the GI scale.
The reason lower GI foods are better at keeping your blood sugar levels stable is because they don’t increase your blood sugar level as fast.
POP QUIZ: Have a guess at which food had a GI of more than 100, think of something super-starchy….
White potatoes! They have a GI of 111!
Glycemic Load (“how much”)
The glycemic load is different.
Glycemic load (GL) isn’t about how quickly your blood sugar “spikes”, but it looks at how high that spike is. Basically, how much the food increases your blood sugar.
GL depends on two things. Firstly, how much sugar is actually in the food. Second, how much of the food is typically eaten.
Low GL would be 0-10, moderate GL would be 10-20, and high GL would 20+.
Example of GL and GI
So, let’s compare average (120 g) serving of bananas and oranges:
Food | GI | Serving size (g) | GL per serving |
Banana, average | 48 | 120 | 11 |
Oranges, average | 45 | 120 | 5 |
Excerpt from: Harvard Health Publications, Glycemic index and glycemic load for 100+ foods
As you can see, the banana and orange have just about the same GI.; this means they both raise your blood sugar in roughly the same amount of time.
However, the average banana raises the blood sugar twice as high (11) as the orange does (5). So, it contains more overall sugar than the same amount of orange.
I’m not saying we should stop eating bananas of course, a GI of 11 is still quite low so be sure to keep eating whole fruits! 😀
What does this all mean for your health?
Some people should be more aware of the effects that foods have on their blood sugar than others. People who have diabetes or pre-diabetes conditions like insulin resistance need to be aware of the glycemic index and glycemic load of foods they are eating regularly.
The GI and GL are just two factors to consider when it comes to blood sugar. There are some high GI foods are actually pretty good for you but to reduce the impact they have on your blood sugar you should pair them with high protein or high fibre foods.
Conclusion
The GI and GL of your foods is something you should be aware of, especially if you have blood sugar imbalances or diabetes.
If you are at risk of heart disease or diabetes, it is a good idea for you to swap out some higher GI/GL foods and replacing them with lower GI/GL foods.
Oh, and you should definitely give the low GI recipe below a try 😉
Low GI Mediterranean Salad Recipe
Serves 2
1 cucumber, chopped
½ cup chickpeas, drained and rinsed
½ cup black olives
¼ red onion, diced
½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp basil
½ tsp oregano
Salt & pepper to taste
Place cucumber, chickpeas, olives, red onion & cherry tomatoes together in a bowl.
Add remaining ingredients to a jar (to make the dressing) with a tight-fitting lid and shake vigorously.
Add dressing to salad and gently toss.
Serve & enjoy!
Tip: If you want to add more fibre and healthy fat add some chopped avocado to the salad
References:
http://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/glycemic_index_and_glycemic_load_for_100_foods
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/food-beverages/glycemic-index-glycemic-load
Deb says
Thanks for that, I found it really interesting. I don’t have diabetes but i certainly tick a lot of the boxes that say i should