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GI Diet

Health Articles | Health Products | Nutrition and Diet | GI Diet

What Is The Glycaemic Index? by Jane Thurnell-Read

It used to be thought that complex carbohydrates (starches) were absorbed more slowly than simple carbohydrates (sugars). In other words it was thought that if you ate a slice of bread, the body would turn the starch into sugar (energy) more slowly than if you ate a piece of chocolate. This was based on the assumption that as complex carbohydrates had larger molecules they would be harder to digest. Work by Professor David Jenkins has shown that some starch foods give an equivalent blood-sugar response to some simple sugars.

From this work he developed the glycaemic index. This index is a measure of foods effect on blood sugar. Glucose has a G. I. Value of 100.

Foods with a high glycaemic index will tend to lead to a rapid surge in blood sugar levels and mean that the pancreas has to work harder. So is that important? It is because if you eat a lot of high GI foods, you will run the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. You are likely to have difficulty controlling your weight and may suffer from mood and/or energy swings. If the food is rapidly converted into sugar (energy), the blood sugar levels will peak rapidly and then drop off quickly, leading to symptoms such as sleepiness, jitteriness and a desire to eat again. If you eat low glycaemic foods the sugar enters your blood stream more slowly and drops off more slowly.

Heres some examples of the GI index of foods:

Apple: 38
Banana: 55
Biscuits: 62-79
Bread, white: 70
Bread, wholemeal: 69
Carrots: 49
Chocolate: 49-68
Grapes: 46
Low fat yoghurt: 33
Milk: 27-32
Orange: 44
Parsnips: 97
Pasta: 32-41
Peanuts: 14
Peas: 48
Porridge (not instant): 42
Potato: 56-83
Rice Cakes: 82
Rice, brown: 76
Rice, white: 87
Sausages: 28
Sports Drinks: 70-80
Sugar (cane and beet): 65

You can see there are some surprises. Parsnips and rice cakes have an extremely high GI index. This doesn't mean you should stop eating these, and substitute chocolate instead. This is because there are other reasons to eat some of these high GI foods (nutrients, fibre, etc.), but if you want to:

• stabilise your energy levels

• reduce your mood swings

• reduce the risk of getting hypoglycaemic symptoms

• reduce your desire to snack

choose the bulk of your foods from low glycaemic ones.

Copyright 2007 Jane Thurnell-Read Online Nutritional Supplements Health Shop

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