Hey!
That was me and was from an AOL forum my mom is on. She sent it to me. It is actually a two part post, but I am just putting it all together. I think the original poster is named Peaches or something like that.
Understanding the Glycemic Index (GI) is important if we're going to use it effectively. The GI of any item isn't as important as it's "Glycemic Load" (GL). Both the GI and the GL must be looked at to make good choices, especially when we move forward on Atkins' and are re-introducing fruits, breads, and other grains into our menus.
It's timely that this has come up on the boards now - I've been reading about and researching info on the GI for the past few weeks and have been using the info for my own menus more than I did previously. Understanding the GI and being able to figure out the GL is handy, especially since so many lists out there (and books) only provide information based on the GI and don't get into the GL of foods.
I've seen websites and books that provide what I consider "misinformation" because they're promoting using the GI as your guide without fully disclosing how important it is to not only look at the GI but also the GL of any particular food.
For example, there are many sites out there than promote eating sweet potatoes over white potatoes because sweet potatoes are "low GI" - and this is TRUE, they are low GI - they score 54 on the GI. However, they carry a high glycemic load (GL)- they score a 20.7 on the GL calculation! Yes, I eat sweet potatoes, but I keep in mind these scores these days and plan accordingly my day's menu to accomodate a high-GI and high-GL food.
What does this mean?
Basically the GI (glycemic index) is a measure of how fast glucose, through digestion, enters the bloodstream. Researchers have come to understand over the past decade that the GI of foods eaten directly impact blood sugar and insulin production in the body and can have positive or negative effects - positive effects are seen when one controls the level of consumption of high GI foods and negative effects are seens when one eats high GI foods without much thought, even in controlled calorie and low-fat diets.
Interestingly researchers have also, because of the Nurse's Study, been able to understand that even when someone eats low GI foods, they also can have negative effects because when those low GI foods are high GL (glycemic load) foods they have too many carbs in them by volume - so even though a food has a low GI, it's GL is also important.....actually MORE important because it measures how much carb is actually in the food you're eating!
In the Nurse's Study they found that the least healthy 20% of nurses (with the most heart disease, cancer and other ailments) ALL had HIGH GL diets - even those who were eating "healthy" low-calorie or low-fat diets! The healthiest 20% of the study ALL had LOW GL diets - even those consuming foods considered "unhealthy" like bacon, red meats, etc. So this has led researchers to understand that it isn't always important that a foods eaten be low GI - it also must be low GL for positive effects on overall health long-term.
So what is the Glycemic Load (GL)? Basically it is the measure of how many carbs are actually in the food by volume. The GI is based on consumption of 50g of glucose......foods that are low in carbs generally measure out low on the GI naturally because of how it is measured. BUT, some of these foods carry high GL because even though they're low on the GI because they still contain high amounts of carbs by volume and will release glucose into the blood stream quickly, making them high GL foods!
Because so many charts only have a listing of the GI, it is important to understand how to calculate the GL for yourself. Yup - it requires some math skills, but it's basic math and easily accomplished on a calculator.
How to calculate GL based on GI information:
GL = GI x NET Carbs per serving / 50
For example, the GL of a bagel:
GL of bagel =
72 (the GI of a bagel) x 38 (the net carbs per serving) = 2736
2736 divided by 50 = 54.72
The GL of a bagel is 55 - HIGH
The GI is ranked "high", "medium" and "low"......
Low GI = any number at or below 55
Medium GI = any number 56 - 69
High GI = any number at or over 70
The GL is ranked similarly....
Low GL = any number at or below 10
Medium GL = any number 11 - 19
High GL = any number at or over 20
In the above example, a bagel is both high GI (72) and high GL (55).
On Atkins', out "best bets" are those items that rank low on the GI AND low on the GL. Next best, eaten in moderation, are those that may be medium or high on the GI but are still low on the GL.
Here is a quick list of some of those items that are Low GI and Low GL:
0.5 Cup Tomato Juice (GI=38, GL=4)
1 Slice Muesli Bread (packaged, bread machine made) (GI=54, GL=7)
1 Slice Pumpernickle Bread (GI=46, GL=8)
1 Slice Rye Bread (GI=55, GL=8)
2 Slices Healthy Choice Hearty 7 Grain Bread (GI=55, GL=8)
0.75 Cup All-Bran Cereal (GI=38, GL=9)
8oz Plain or artificially sweetened vanilla yogurt (GI=36, GL=3)
1 Medium Apple (GI=40, GL=6)
0.5 Cup Cherries (GI=22, GL=3)
1/2 Grapefruit (GI=25, GL=3)
1 Kiwi Fruit (GI=53, GL=6)
1 Medium Orange (GI=48, GL=5)
1 Medium Peach (GI=42, GL=5)
1 Medium Pear (GI=33, GL=4)
1 Medium Plum (GI=39, GL=5)
0.25 Cup Prunes (GI=29, GL=10)
0.5 Cup Strawberries (GI=40, GL=1)
0.5 Cup Tomato Juice (GI=38, GL=4)
0.50 Cup Chickpeas (GI=28, GL=8)
0.50 Cup Kidney Beans (GI=23, GL=6)
0.5 Cup Lentils (GI=29, GL=5)
0.25 Cup Cashews (GI=22, GL=3)
0.25 Caup Peanuts (GI=14, GL=1)
0.5 Cup Peas (GI=48, GL=3)
0.5 Cup Carrots - Raw (GI=16, GL=1)
0.5 Cup Carrots - Cooked (GI=47, GL=3)
2 TBS Hummus (GI=6, GL=0)
Medium GI and low GL items include:
0.5 Cup Beets (GI=64, GL=5)
0.25 Cup Cantelope (GI=64, GL=4)
Ryvita High-Fiber Crispbread (GI=59, GL=9)
1 6" Whole Wheat Pita (GI=57, GL=10)
2 Slices Healthy Choice Hearty 100% Whole Grain Bread (GI=62, GL=9)
Low GI and Medium GL items include:
1 Medium Yam (GI=37, GL=13)
0.5 Cup Uncle Bens Converted White Rice (GI=38, GL=14)
0.5 Cup Brown Rice (GI=50, GL=16)
Our message board expert provided this info, thought you may like to have it on hand!
Mom
High GI and low GL items include:
1 Slice 100% Whole Wheat Bread - Regular (GI=73, GL=10)
Many of these items are not appropriate for Induction, but once someone moves to OWL and pre-maintenance, it's good to know which items are available and what the GI and GL is for them. Still keep in mind the carb counts, and choose from those items that a lowest in GI AND GL!
I wanted to add a couple more things to what I posted about the GI and GL.....
The reason why the GL is important (which I did explain but didn't give examples of) is that many items are low GI but very high GL foods....which means that even though a particular food ranks low on the gycemic index, it's affect on blood sugar is very high for glycemic load - how much glucose is actually released into your bloodstream and how quickly this "spike" occurs because of the carbs in a portion by volume.
One good example of how misleading the GI alone can be is a serving of cake (vanilla) made from the Betty Crocker Cake Mix - it scores very low on the GI at 42 (remember, anything under 55 is low)....however, it's GL is unacceptably high at 24 (over 20 is high). What this means is that even though the GI (which tells us how quickly a carb is converted to glucose) is low, the GL - the actual measure of the "load" of carbs your body will have to metabolize - is unacceptably high to eat this on a low-carb diet.
I bring this up because something like "rice" generally scores acceptably on the GI (somewhere between 45 and 60 - making it "low" to "medium" depending on the rice) but in almost every case, the GL is over 20 (some higher than 50) in all cases with only a few exceptions (one which I posted in my last post) - so rice, while touted as a "low GI" food on many lists (and thus encouraged) is NOT a good option unless you seek out those brands of rice which have TESTED OUT low on the GL ranking.
Another favorite item to be promoted as "low GI" is pasta - again it usually scores under 55 - however, it's GL is almost always too close to or over 20, with many brands and types scoring well over 30!
Anything, IMHO, with a GL over 20 simply cannot be considered an "acceptable" food for low-carb or diabetic diets.....even those food items that score between 11 and 19 should be limited.
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