Glycemic Index: the Key to What to Eat and What to Avoid

The term "Glycemic Index" sounds a complicated term, but it is simply refer to a measurement used to measure the rise in the blood sugar after eating a food that contain carbohydrates. A food's glycemic index is the precent by which it raises blood sugar compared to glucose and is expressed on a scale of 0 to 100.

A food with glycemic index < 55 and less is low, 56 to 69 is medium, and <70 and more is high.

Glycemic Index is useful for people with Diabetes to control blood sugar, as well as people with obesity who trying to manage their weight by lowering cholesterol and triglyceride level. For individuals with diabetes, the American Diabetes Association says glycemic index may help to fine-tune blood sugar, but the amount of carbohydrate food contain is more important than its glycemic index.

Although the glycemic index is not perfect to be used as nutritional assessment tool, it still be useful for controlling blood sugar level. Whenever the rate of conversion the t food into glucose increase, the more insulin relased making it hard to dissociate fats due to the presence of insulin.

To sum up, people should aim for food with low glycemic index and nutrient-dense food when they plan their meals.

Common Carbohydrates and their Glycemic Index (GI):