Glycemic Index: What It Is And What Affects It Has On Food

Hello everyone! So I don’t believe I have mentioned this on my blog before but tomorrow I am off to volunteer as a Health Care Professional in the Nutrition Team at DYF (Diabetes Youth Families) Camp de los Niños until the 15th. DYF was founded in 1938 by UCSF physician Dr. Mary B. Olney. As can be found on their website, DYF’s mission is “to improve the quality of life for children, teens and families affected by diabetes. The organization provides education and recreation within a supportive community, encouraging personal growth, knowledge and independence” (dyf.org). For more information, please click here. As a Health Care Professional Volunteer, I will be assisting in daily functions of diabetes management, including that of blood glucose monitoring, diabetes education, carbohydrate counting and so much more! I am so incredibly thankful for this opportunity and I can’t wait to share my experiences with you when I come back! Hence, I thought it was appropriate to make a post related to glycemic index. I’ll try to keep this post as short and brief as possible and explain it the best I can. Feel free to leave any comments/ask any questions!

As I have learned in the Nutrient Metabolism class, glycemic index (GI) is a system that measures, on a scale from 0 to 100, according to how much a carbohydrate-containing food raises one’s blood glucose levels. These foods are ranked relative to a standard or reference food, which is typically white bread or glucose. It is important to note that glycemic index is a ranking for single foods and not a meal.

Foods with a low GI will have a lesser effect on raising blood glucose levels compared to foods with a high GI. Hence, the higher the GI, the more it will raise and affect one’s blood sugar and insulin levels.

The affects of glycemic index on food depends upon many factors. This includes how the food is processed, cooked, how long it has been in storage, and more. Generally, fiber and fat lowers the glycemic index of a food. The longer a food has been in storage or is ripe, the higher is its GI. The same is true for processed and the variety of a food. For instance, processed foods typically have higher GI than non processed foods.

Individuals with diabetes use carbohydrate counting as a way to manage blood glucose levels. The use of GI also helps in achieving normal blood glucose levels for individuals who need to monitor what they are eating.

The following is information listed on The American Diabetes Association’s online website http://www.diabetes.org. Please click here for a direct link to their website on GI and for further reference.

Common Low Glycemic Index Foods at 55 GI or less:

• Most fruits and non-starchy vegetables

• Pasta

• Roll or steel-cut oatmeal, muesli, oat bread

• 100% whole wheat bread

• Sweet potatoes

• Corn

• Yam

• Beans and nuts (ex. baked beans, black beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, soy beans, cashews, peanuts)

• Juices (ex. canned tomato juice)

• Hummus

Common Medium Glycemic Index Foods at 59-69 GI:

• Rye and whole wheat pita bread

• Brown, basmati, or wild rice

• Quick oats

• Honey

Common High Glycemic Index Foods at 70 GI or more:

• Pretzels

• White bagel

• White bread

• Corn flakes

• Gatorade

• Fruit Roll-Ups

• Baked russet potato

Also, I found a list of GI for more than 100 common foods on Harvard University’s Medical School online website, which you can find here.

Note: These pictures were not taken by me. I simply found them online via Google’s search engine. Please click on the image for the original source.

#health #healthtopics #glycemicindex #food