Blood sugar is one of the most important health variables. The optimum situation is when your body maintains a moderate and constant level of blood sugar. However, consumption of different foods has different effects on the level of blood sugar. Glycemic index is used to determine this effect of foods on the blood sugar so that you can plan your meals carefully.
What is glycemic index?
Glycemic index is a number measured on a scale from 0 to 100. It is a rank allotted to a food item. This number is based on glycemic response, i.e. how fast the carbohydrate in the food is transformed into blood sugar in your body. Higher the glycemic index, faster is the food converted into blood sugar. This means if you consume a lot of food with high glycemic index, the level of blood sugar in your body will rise sharply.
What is glycemic load?
Of course the amount of the food that you consume also influences the amount of blood sugar that is generated. So, glycemic load is the total increase in blood sugar by the total amount of that food. It is calculated as follows:
Glycemic load = Glycemic Index /100 X Net carbs
Where, net carbs = total carbohydrates – dietary fiber
This concept was developed by Dr. Walter Willet and his colleagues at the Harvard School of Public health.
How is glycemic index determined?
In order to determine the glycemic index of known foods, human subjects were asked to fast overnight. Then they were fed carefully regulated portions of selected foods. Their blood was then tested for blood sugar levels at specific time intervals. This gave an idea how much the blood sugar rose. The food was accordingly assigned a rank which became its glycemic index.
Importance of glycemic index
Why should you need to know the glycemic index food list? It has been found that this measure has serious implications for health.
When the blood sugar level rises too much or too fast, the brain sends a signal to the pancreas. It begins to secrete a hormone called insulin. Insulin converts the excess sugar in your blood into fat. This brings down the level of blood sugar to normal and your body can function at an optimum level again.
When you consume a lot of food which can increase the level of your blood sugar, it tends to shoot up very quickly. In response, the pancreas ends up secreting too much insulin. This in turn can reduce the blood sugar level beyond the optimum limit and your blood sugar falls.
Hence, when you consume a lot of food with high glycemic index, a cycle begins in your body. You experience an initial rush of energy as the blood sugar rises. Then when too much insulin is secreted and the blood sugar falls too low, you experience fatigue, lethargy and hunger. Increased insulin also converts the blood sugar into body fat which leads to weight gain.
The problem is even worse for diabetics whose natural physical system for control and response of insulin is impaired. Since diabetes prevents the proper production of insulin, eating food with high glycemic index will drive up the blood sugar but the body cannot produce the necessary insulin to control the blood sugar. In extreme cases this can lead to diabetic coma.
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