Glycemic Index--A Diabetic's Bible?
A long time ago one of my doctors I go to for treating my diabetes showed me a chart of the glycemic index, commonly known as GI table. That was when I was naive and adamant about not acknowledging the fact that I was a diabetic. I did not pay much attention to it. As a matter of fact, I felt quite insulted that he would show me such thing as well as a carb counter chart along with the food pyramid. I hated the fact that I was already counted as a diabetic. It made me feel like I was somehow supposed to be ashamed of the fact. It made me feel depressed that I was stuck forever with this disease and I was never going to be a normal person like everybody else.
As time went by and I learned my lessons through complications arisen from being a diabetic with poor control, I started to read more books and gather information about diabetes and the control factors. I took a clinical nutrition class in search of my answers regarding different foods and their effects on diabetes.
Glycemic index (GI) is a measure of the rate at which different foods are converted in our body and their effects on our blood sugar. It gives values to different foods according to their ability to raise blood sugar in our bodies. The rate at which our body converts any food into sugar depends on the food itself. Complex carbohydrates take time to be absorbed in our bodies and affect the blood sugars whereas simple sugars or carbs dump sugars at a faster rate into the blood, thus raising or spiking the blood sugar. A constant diet of starches and sugar products keep the blood sugar numbers spiking higher, eventually leading to insulin resistance in the body which leads to other complications.
Even though we keep up with a diet that contains low carbs and more fiber depending on the ingredients and other food combinations, we might not be getting all the benefits of having such good foods. So the key is to mix and match the foods according to their starch content. Most processed foods contain high carbs and faster rates of dumping sugars in our bodies.
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There is a very complete online database of glycemic index and glycemic load of nearly 4000 foods at http://dietgrail.com/gid/ .
July 14, 2011 - 4:40pmThis Comment
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February 3, 2012 - 10:48am