Glycemic index: it helps you, but it can deceive you

Is it necessary to look at the glycemic index of foods? Does it only benefit people with diabetes? Is a diet without high glycemic index foods healthier?

I wish nutrition was so simple that you could answer “yes” or “no” to those questions. In reality it is much more complex and depends on many variablesBut before we get into the subject, let’s start at the beginning.

Glycemic index and glycemic load: what a mess!

The glycemic index (GI) is a parameter that measures how fast and how much Carbohydrates from a food enter the blood in the form of glucose. And it is compared with the result that would be obtained by ingesting the same amount of pure glucose, to which we give a value of 100.

Thus, if a food has a GI of 30, it means that it increases blood glucose by 70% less than the same amount of glucose would.

When is the glycemic index high or low?

There are lots of tables of foods valued according to their GI on the internet, but if you want to have that information, it is better to turn to a reliable source, such as the Harvard tables.

In general, we consider that food has a low, medium or high glycemic index when it falls in these intervals:

high GI: between 70 and 100medium GI: between 40-55 and 70low GI: below 40-55 (depending on which source we consult, it tells us 40 or it tells us 55).

The glycemic index of 53 common foods

FOOD

Glycemic index (glucose = 100)

FOODS HIGH IN CARBOHYDRATES

white wheat bread

75 ± 2

Wholemeal bread

74 ± 2

cereal bread

53 ± 2

corn cake

46 ± 4

boiled white rice

73 ± 4

Brown rice, boiled

68 ± 4

Barley

28 ± 2

Sweet corn

52 ± 5

spaghetti, white

49 ± 2

Spaghetti, whole wheat

48 ± 5

Rice noodles

53 ± 7

couscous

65 ± 4

BREAKFAST CEREALS

Cornflakes

81 ± 6

Porridge, oat flakes

55 ± 2

millet porridge

67 ± 5

Muesli

57 ± 2

FRUITS AND FRUIT PRODUCTS

Apple

36 ± 2

Orange

43 ± 3

Banana

51 ± 3

Pineapple

59 ± 8

Mango

51 ± 5

Watermelon

76 ± 4

peaches in syrup

43 ± 5

Strawberry jam

49 ± 3

Apple juice

41 ± 2

Orange juice

50 ± 2

VEGETABLES

potato, boiled

78 ± 4

Potato, instant mash

87 ± 3

French fry

63 ± 5

carrot, boiled

39 ± 4

sweet potato, boiled

63 ± 6

Pumpkin, boiled

64 ± 7

Banana/green banana

55 ± 6

Vegetable soup

48 ± 5

DAIRY PRODUCTS AND ALTERNATIVES

Whole milk

39 ± 3

Skimmed milk

37 ± 4

Frozen

51 ± 3

Yogurt with pieces of fruit

41 ± 2

soy milk

34 ± 4

rice milk

86 ± 7

LEGUMES

Chickpeas

28 ± 9

Jewish

24 ± 4

Lentils

32 ± 5

soybeans

16 ± 1

SNACKS

Chocolate

40 ± 3

Popcorn

65 �� 5

potato chips

56 ± 3

soda/soda

59 ± 3

rice crackers

87 ± 2

SUGARS

Fructose

15 ± 4

Saccharose

65 ± 4

Glucose

103 ± 3

Honey

61 ± 3

But it is relative: also look at the glycemic load

In addition to the GI, it is important to know another concept: the glycemic load (GL).

the GC It is obtained by multiplying the GI by the carbohydrates present in a specific amount of food.

that we It serves to put the IG in perspectivealthough to understand it nothing better than an example.

Let’s take a food with a high glycemic index such as a boiled potato (82). When assessing its glycemic load and seeing the amount of carbohydrates it has, we see that the glycemic load of a 150-gram serving remains at 21.

The same it happens to us with several fruits: even if they are fruits with a high glycemic index, the amount of carbohydrates they contain per serving is small and that makes its glycemic load negligible.

Is the case of the watermelonwith a high GI (72) and yet a GL of 4 for a 120-gram serving.

Does it make sense to choose foods based on the glycemic index?

Should not be the main criteria or defining to choose food. The glycemic index does not give us an indication of how healthy a food is or is not, which is why we should be guided when choosing our food.

A product can have a very low glycemic index and be completely unhealthy, such as a sweetened soft drink. Or you can have it higher and be a healthy food for daily consumption, such as any fruit.

Food Combination Influences Glycemic Load

Besides, looking at the glycemic index of a single food doesn’t make much sensesince in general we eat several foods together.

A refined cereal, with a high glycemic index, mixed with a lot of vegetables and cooked with a good frying in olive oil, will significantly lower its glycemic response, as it will look cushioned by fiber and fat.

I mean, yeah It’s not just the serving size and the amount of carbs per serving.that a certain food has, but there is also another third modifier parameter of the impact on glycemia: the rest of the ingredients that accompany it.

And that’s not all, we should also add the different individual responsewhich causes the metabolism of carbohydrates to have important variations from one person to another.

So is it the fiber, is it the fat, or is it the glycemic load?

All this: a healthy diet, which is by definition rich in fiber since it includes plenty of fruits and vegetables, legumes and whole grainsit will probably be a low GL diet.

But it’s hard to know if its benefits are due to the former or the latter. For this reason, many entities, including EFSA, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) or the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, are cautious with this method and consider that it can lead to confusion and unfortunate approaches. And also the formulas to calculate the GI, can contain many errors.

In fact, the ADA states that it is difficult to distinguish between the effect of fiber and that of the GI, and that the latter can have great individual variations and is also closely linked to the type of food chosen, as we mentioned.

So it seems more sensible to focus on good food choices, rather than on the IG they have. Or, in any case, a combination of both criteria that protects us from prioritizing unhealthy foods just because they have a low GI, or banishing healthy foods just because their GI is high.

In any case, people with diabetes or insulin resistancewhich are the ones that could benefit the most from taking these parameters into account, should be correctly instructed in their use by health professionals in order to benefit from it.

Tips to reduce glycemic load and control blood sugar spikes

If you have diabetes, choosing foods with a low or moderate glycemic index can help you keep blood glucose more stable.

These indications can help you when considering your diet:

Accompany your meals with a good amount of greens and vegetables.Prefer whole grainsand that they are not what predominates on your plate. Avoid adding sugar, honey or syrups to your food. Avoid sweets, pastries, ice cream, etc., as well as sodas and other sugary drinks.Always prefer thewhole fruit before juice.Prefers whole milk rather than skimmed, always natural, unsweetened.Prefer pasta “al dente” instead of overcooking it. Don’t binge: it’s better divide food into several servings throughout the day. Choose foods rich in healthy fats such as avocado or nuts, or add extra virgin olive oil to your meals. physical activity.