Health Tips for a Better Life

Glycemic Index (GI)

The glycemic index (GI) developed in 1981, is a ranking of foods on a scale from 0 to 100 according to how fast a particular food is likely to raise your blood sugar after eating. This is used to help people maintain stable blood sugar levels.

The glycemic index (GI) compares a 50 gram dose of food to 50 grams of pure glucose (GI value for glucose is 100) and measures the speed at which your body digests the food and converts it to glucose, your body’s primary energy source.

High glycemic foods are those which are rapidly digested and absorbed and result in marked fluctuations in blood sugar levels. They are best consumed during and after exercise, since they enter the bloodstream quickly and are readily available for fueling exercising muscles.

Low glycemic foods enter the bloodstream slowly, by virtue of their slow digestion and absorption they are best eaten before exercise. They provide sustained longer-term energy, and help maintain stable blood sugar levels and insulin levels.

The glycemic index (GI) values are useful as guides to food selection, but the glycemic rating is influenced by the amount of food you eat, its fiber content, fat content or amount of added fat, and the way the food is prepared. Foods high in fat or protein don’t cause your blood sugar level to rise much.

A level of blood glucose of 1.0 g per liter of blood is called glycemia. A blood sugar content around 0.5 g per liter of blood is called hypoglycemia and higher than 1.5 g per liter of blood, hyperglycemia.

On an empty stomach, glycemia is low and will rise after eating but will return to normal levels within one hour, when insulin is released from the pancreas and causes glucose penetration within cells.

Foods that have a low glycemic index (GI) will result in a gradual, weak release of glucose in the blood that stabilizes glycemia. In turn, blood sugar will be constantly available to the brain.

Foods that have a high glycemic index (GI) will result in a high level of blood sugar. This creates a high insulin level that will decrease glycemia resulting in the brains constant need for glucose.

Eating select foods that have a low glycemic index (GI) will maintain normal blood sugar and insulin levels all day long.

Eating three meals a day that stabilizes your blood glucose level will feed your brain properly, energize your nerve cells, and allow you to enjoy astounding changes in yourself and your lifestyle!

Over the past several years, high protein, low carb diets have gained a lot of popularity, but the truth is carbohydrates should be an essential part of your diet. They provide important nutrients, vitamins and provide your body with the fuel it needs to get through the day. The trick is to know what carbs are good for you and what carbs are bad for you. That is where the Glycemic Index comes in.

According to Wikipedia, the Glycemic Index, or GI, is the measure of the effects of carbohydrates on blood sugar levels. Basically, what this means is how your body is able to convert carbohydrates into glucose.
Glucose is a sugar that is found in your blood, hence the term, blood sugar. The GI is based on a scale of 0-100, with pure glucose (which is a reference point on the scale) scoring 100.

Your body feels best when your blood sugar remains constant.

If your blood sugar becomes too low, your body becomes lethargic and you get hungry. If your blood sugar becomes high, your brain signals your pancreas to release more insulin. By doing this, the insulin brings your blood sugar down. At the same time that this is happening, your body is converting the excess sugar into stored fat.

Now, if gaining and storing excess fat isn’t bad enough for you, it can get worse! Those persons with diabetes, both type 1 and type 2, are at a greater risk. Their bodies are unable to process or secret any insulin at all, thus, forcing them to take medication to control their blood sugar levels.

This also puts them at risk for additional health risks. Why is all of this important? By knowing and monitoring your GI, you will be able to stay in better health, thus feeling better and avoiding many health risks.

However, the Glycemic Index alone is not the only important factor.

Many times, the amount of food that you are consuming gets overlooked. You must pay attention to the serving size! When these two parts are combined and managed, then you have much more control over your GI.

Foods that score 55 and below are low on the Glycemic Index are usually good for you. Most fruits and vegetables fall into this category, although you need to pay attention to the size of the food. Foods that score 70 and above are high on the GI and are not good for you. These types of foods include: white bread, potatoes, chips, candy, and pasta. Foods such as bananas and watermelon are high on the Glycemic Index, but do have many health benefits. Eat them sparingly.

How do you monitor your GI? You can always carry around a list of where your favorite foods stand on the GI in case you need to check before you make a choice. Generally, the rule of thumb is to avoid too many carbohydrates. Do not sit down and eat a bag of potato chips, or make a loaf of toast! Of course, there is nothing wrong with eating one serving of carbs at each meal, but again, pay attention to the serving size.

The reason that monitoring your carbohydrate intake works is because that information is readily available on labels, whereas the GI is not. It will take some time to learn where foods stand on the list, but it is well worth the investment. After all, it is your health and well being that is the number one priority. If you are feeling your best, you can do anything! Isn’t it worth your time to make sure?

The good Carbohydrate, compared to bad, cause only a moderate rise in blood level Glucose. These include full grain, brown rice, pulse like lentils dry beans, most fruits (best to eat them first on an empty stomach) and most vegetables, especially if they are rich fibers, such as garlic, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce green beans.

Other foods, which generate relatively low response Glycemic, include white dried pasta, barley, and bread wheat groats full grain. There is affinity between the integration of these foods on a diet Glucose decrease in blood insulin cheat fat (World Rev Nutr Diet, 1990; 62: 120-85).

The key is Glycemic index list (Gl) of carbohydrate, the method of rating ability of a particular type of food to raise the level of sugar in the blood.

Some carbohydrate – especially those that were processed, such as most types of white bread and rice – can cause an increase in weight, while other types can eat relatively large quantities without having to worry about the number of kilograms, the weight appears on the monitor.

Glycemic impact of different types of food is not an idea of Michel Montiniik only.

In 1976 determined that a professor Philis. Park (Phyllis A. Crapo) and the crew of his, when they found that blood levels Glucose  changed with the group participants, when they were given different types of food. Like many others in those days and today, Montiniik Use GI of carbohydrate in order to help monitor the disease Diabetes fight against it, but he soon found that the patient got weight significantly.

Professor Jenny Brand Miller (Jennie Brand Miller) one of the authors Glucose Revolution (Hodder & Stoughton, 2000) also invested many years in the GI research.

She believes that the carbohydrate depresses supernatural work of appetite, and that all of carbohydrate foods, the cost-Gl lowest satisfying are most able to prevent attacks hungry for long periods of time anymore. She also contends that the Glucose camouflage insulin in the blood and that also is involved in the location of body fat storage. According to the theory of Brand Miller regulation the Glucose  blood helps fire fat  more efficient in  body.

Studies show that who can eat  food with a low GI loss more weight from the the one how eat food with high Gl, even when the same amount of calories different types of food. the research findings that in  South – African, in which participants share Gl groups of high and low Gl. Amounts of calories, fat, protein, carbohydrate fibers were identical, the only difference was the Glycemic index list.

A lot of misinformed rice lovers believe that white rice is a lot better than brown due to the misconception in some areas that brown rice is food for the poor, animals or the peasant. What these people do not know is that, brown rice is a lot better and healthier than white rice. Brown rice is considered as the most balanced amongst all cereal grains.

Contrary to what most people believe that rice is nothing but carbohydrates, the glycemic index rice value in general, particularly the brown rice, does not only contain carbohydrates but fats, minerals, vitamins and protein as well. These unpolished rich contains high amount of fiber, protein, flavor, minerals and anti-oxidant phytochemicals compared to white rice.

Other known healthy whole grains include barley, rye, corn, millet, oats, buckwheat, quinoa and wheat berries. The the glycemic index rice value, specifically of brown rice is far more superior that that of the white rice, as well as in terms of nutrition and health benefits.

Worldwide, the number of type 2 diabetes patients have gone to 90% and the pathology is due to inadequate production of insulin in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas by the beta cells or can also be due to the cells’ incapability to use produced insulin. Some of the risk factors included in the development of diabetes are high-fat and high simple carbohydrate diet, smoking, obesity and lack of exercises. Eating white rice, which has high glycemic rice value due to the fact that it is basically starch, has proven to be one of the causes of diabetes.

Based on the glycemic index rice value , white rice easily breaks down and converted to glucose compared to brown rice, and this may cause a drastic elevation of your blood sugar level and a dramatic insulin reaction.

If you are not aware, then you should know that the index can be used to indicate how fast a certain food may cause your blood sugar to rise after consuming it. Using the glycemic index, you will know that the lower the value, the healthier the food is. The glycemic index rice value, particularly of a brown rice which has a GI value of 55 is lower compared to the GI value of white rice which is at 70. The white rice’s GI value may even go up and reach 87 when parboiled.

All foods listed in the glycemic index chart are compared to pure sugar which has a value of 100. This gives the foods a comparative basis for all the GI of various foods. If you are to opt for brown rice which has a low glycemic index rice value , then you are definitely opting for a better health. This is also true for those who want to control and maintain a normal health.

The glycemic index for foods was invented by a person called David Jenkins. Thomas Woleover is also the founder of the glycemic index for foods. The purpose of the index is to classify food that has high amount of carbohydrate. It classifies the food based n the simple or complex carbohydrate structure. By referring to the index, one will know which food raise the glucose level of the food at the fastest rate. When the glucose level is raised, the individual has a higher risk of developing diabetes. Therefore, it is no good to eat foods that are rich in carbohydrates.

Foods are given a scale in between one to one hundred. Glycemic index for foods are originally invented to provide a guide for the diabetic patients.

Diabetic patients cannot eat foods rich in carbohydrate otherwise their conditions can become fatal. Eating starchy and sweet food will cause the person to become obese. If you are overweight, you must have eaten a lot of processed foods that are rich in carbohydrates. It is important to lose weight so that you can maintain a healthy lifestyle. One way to lose weight is to eat food with a low index rating. If you are not sure which food has low GI, you can refer to the glycemic index for foods.

Many online websites have databases which allow you to check the glycemic index for foods. The online websites do not charge fees for users who want to search the database.

Generally, maintaining a low glycemic diet means you cannot eat cake, bread and muffins for breakfast. Bread is a common breakfast food but it is starchy and contains a lot of carbohydrates. Instead of eating bread, you should eat oats and bran cereals. Cereals that contain a lot of sugar should be avoided. Your meals should consist of vegetables such as salad, green leaf vegetables, and tomatoes. Potatoes are not recommended in the diet because they have high carbohydrate amount. Pasta and noodles can be eaten in moderate amount. If you plan to eat salad for your meal, make sure you dress it with the vinaigrette sauce.

Many people attempt to count the scales given by the glycemic index for foods . Actually, you don’t have to do any calculation. All you need to do is to eat a healthy diet. As long as you are eating a healthy diet, you are maintaining a low glycemic diet.