Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load

In this overview, I would like to help you to avoid the confusion with these two terms. A lot of my clients told me that they found that carrot has glycemic index sometimes 91 and sometimes 1. How could this be true? Well, it is not! We are talking about two different terms here.

So, what is the Glycemic Index (GI)?

The glycemic index is a sort of value that classifies foods as they affect our blood sugar. This system was created by Dr David Jenkins in 1981.

The GI is determined by measuring the blood sugar for 2 hours after eating certain foods. In order to compare the influence of different foods in the blood sugar, it has been valued by glucose. Sometimes, dextrose is used instead of glucose because its GI is 100 exactly like pure glucose.

The GI of the meal depends on several factors such as the amount and type of carbohydrates, the presence of fat and pH. Reducing food acidification automatically reduces the GI of meals. Fat and fibre have a similar effect, which hinders the process of absorption of carbohydrates and thus reduce the glycemic index.

Of course, simple digestive carbohydrates have a greater effect on blood sugar. On the other hand, complex carbohydrates are digested more slowly and thus release blood glucose slowly.

The glycemic index as a value has some disadvantages like:

• The effect of food on blood sugar differs from man to man. Also, at the same person during multiple tests, we can get different results. This is dependent on the initial level of blood sugar, insulin resistance and many other factors.
• The GI of a mixed meal cannot be calculated by summing up the value of the glycemic index of the particular foods that compile it.
• The glycemic index is determined for a meal with a predetermined amount of carbohydrate (50 grams). A larger or smaller amount of carbohydrate can cause a different glycemic index.

Glycemic load (GL)

The glycemic load of the food results if we multiply the GI of the food on its carbohydrate content and divide by one hundred.

GL=(GI / 100) x (the number of carbohydrates in the food)

In practice, this means that a low glycemic food if consumed in large quantities may have a high glycemic load while a food with a moderate or high glycemic index if consumed in small quantities will have a low glycemic load.

The glycemic load and glycemic index are used by diabetics, athletes and people who their main goal is to lose weight. Now, the important thing that needs to be clarified is that the glycemic load refers to the number of carbohydrates consumed by an individual in combination with the glycemic index. Also, It has thus been found that certain foods with a high glycemic index have low glycemic loads, as they contain little carbohydrates.

The rapid growth of sugar in the body has these following negative effects:

• Because of the rapid growth of blood sugar, a sudden increase in insulin is taking place. That stores a large part of the blood sugar in the form of fat. Because of this, in the rapid growth of blood sugar, we get excess fat in the body. Especially around the waistline.
• The body stops using fat as a source of energy and it saves fat in the body.