What is the Glycemic Index?

The glycemic index, or GI, is the measure of the effect of one individual food on blood sugar levels. Knowing a food's glycemic index is especially important to people who are living with diabetes and high blood sugar levels.

Foods with carbohydrates that break down quickly during digestion and release glucose rapidly into the bloodstream have a high glycemic index. Foods with carbohydrates that break down more slowly during digestion, and release glucose more gradually into the bloodstream, have a low glycemic index.

Glycemic index levels for foods are determined by testing 10 people ingesting a fixed amount (50 grams) of digestible carbohydrate, and then measuring their blood glucose levels over the next two hours. On a different occasion, the same 10 people will consume an equal-carbohydrate portion of glucose for the reference food and their two hour blood glucose level will be measured. The average GI is then calculated by a formula, and the 10 GI values are averaged to find the final GI value for the test food.

Low glycemic index food ranks in the GI range of 55 or less, and includes most fruits and vegetables (except potatoes and watermelon), grainy breads such as pumpernickel and mixed grain, legumes and beans, milk, yogurt, whole and minimally processed grains and products low in carbohydrates like cheese, nuts and cooking oil.

Foods in the medium GI range is 56-69 and includes some whole wheat products, basmati rice, sweet potatoes, ice cream and table sugar.

The high range of the glycemic index is 70-100, 100 being pure glucose, and includes foods like corn flakes, white potatoes, watermelon, some pastas, white bread, dark rye bread, breakfast cereals, and most varieties of white rice. Watermelon is a nutritious low fat food, but it ranks high on the glycemic index because it is not fibrous and doesnt control the release of glucose as well as other fruits do, such as cherries, dried apricots and grapefruit.

Eating foods with a low glycemic index might help to lose weight, but experts point to research that has shown people who ate a reduced-fat high glycemic diet lost about the same amount of weight, indicating that a broad range of healthy diets can lead to weight loss. However, people who eat many high glycemic index foods tend to have greater levels of body fat, as measured by the Body Mass Index (BMI). High BMIs are linked to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

The glycemic index is not the only way to determine if your food choices are healthy, but it will give people with diabetes and pre-diabetes a good idea of which foods will spike or stabilize their blood sugar.

Eating a diet that focuses on foods in the low glycemic index range can help people to lose and manage weight, increase the body's sensitivity to insulin, reduce the risk of heart disease, improve blood cholesterol levels, reduce hunger and keep a full feeling longer, and improve diabetes management.

Eating high glycemic foods is best to re-fuel your carbohydrate stores after strenuous exercise. Awareness of the different effects foods have on the body can make a worthwhile difference in your quality of life and comfort, so the next time you eat, investigate GI and notice what happens!

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