Glycaemic Index or Glycaemic Load

/2 Comments/in /by

I am sure many of you have heard of the term low GI/ low Glycaemic Index foods. Many people know that they are good for you but most don’t know what foods they include or why they are good for you. I will explain the reason below, but if you just want to skip all the jargon and find out what you should and shouldn’t be eating I have attached a table at the end!

The term Glycaemic Index is a ranking system which shows how quickly glucose (sugar) is released into the blood stream. It was originally devised to help diabetics regulate their blood glucose levels, but since then we have discovered that it is incredibly productive in helping with weight management and regular training.

When we eat any type of carbohydrate our body breaks it down into simple sugars. These simple sugars are essential to our bodies function, but the problem today is the type and amount of carbs we are consuming. When these simple sugars are released, Insulin is secreted to regulate the blood sugar levels by helping transport them to various parts of the body, such as organs, muscles and the brain where they are needed. When these reserves are full the remaining simple sugars are stored as fat and as I have mentioned before we have an unlimited number of fat cells, so these never get to capacity! When a large meal or a sugary food is eaten this causes a large influx of insulin to be released at once.

The only problem with the GI is that is does not take into consideration the amount of Carbohydrate is in the food. So for example watermelon and a bagel have the same GI of 72, but the bagel contains much more carbohydrate per 100g than the watermelon, so Glycaemic load is introduced. Glycaemic load is the amount of carbohydrate contained in the food, and therefore is a better indicator of how much insulin and at what rate it is released. The two tables below are a good indication of the GI and GL of foods, and the ideal is to consume low GI and low GL foods.

The other thing to take into consideration is how you are eating these carbohydrates?? Are you eating them the same time as fats? Protein? Fibre? How has the food been prepared/ cooked?

All these factors also affect the GI and GL of a food. If you want some more information please ask me at your next session and I will be happy to talk you through the details to take it to the next step, but for the time being the table below is a good start.

 

 

Gylcamic Index Range   Gylcamic Load Range  
  High   Above 85   High   20 and above
  Moderate   60-85   Moderate   11-19
  Low   Below 60   Low   10 and below

 

Food Index Load Food Index Load
Sugars     Grains and Grain products    
  Glucose   100   10   French Bagguette   95    15
  Sucrose (sugar)   68   7   White Bread   73   11
  Fructose   19   2   Wholemeal bread   73   10
  Honey   55   10   Wholegrain rye bread   50   6
Fruit       Chapatti   63   32
  Mango   51   8   Fruit Loaf   54   8
  Papaya   59   10   Ryvita   69   11
  Watermelon   72   4   Bagel   72   25
  Pineapple   59   7   White Spaghetti   38   18
  Strawberry   40   1   Instant Noodles   47   19
  Banana   52   12   Wholemeal Spaghetti   37   16
  Kiwi Fruit   53   6   Rice Noodles   61   23
  Grapes   46   8   Rice Crackers   91   23
  Orange   42   5   Puffed Rice Cakes   82   17
  Apple   38   6   Brown Rice   55   18
  Plum   39   5   Basmati Rice   58   22
  Pear   33   4   Long Grain White Rice   56   24
  Unsweetened Apple Juice   40   11   White Rice With Miso Soup   61   17
  Unsweetened Orange Juice   52   12   Plain Sponge Cake   46   17
  Unsweetened Pineapple Juice   46   15   Banana Cake   47   18
  Dried Apricots   32   10   Doughnut   76   17
Cereals

Pulses    
  Puffed Rice   67   13   Baked Beans   48   7
  Cornflakes   92   24   Butter Beans   31   6
  Alpen Muesli   55   10   Chick Peas   28   8
  Kellog's Special K   84   20   Blackeye Beans   42   13
  Shredded Wheat   67   13   Haricot Beans   38   12
  Porridge Wheat   58   12   Kidney Beans   28   7
  Weetabix   74   16   Lentils   29   5
Diary Products       Soya Beans   18   1
  Ice Cream   61   8 Vegetables    
  Yoghurt   36   3   Parsnips (cooked)   97   12
  Low Fat Fruit Yoghurt   33   10   Potato (baked)   85   26
  Whole Milk   27   3   French Fries   75   22
  Skimmed Milk   32   4   Potato (new)   57   12
  Soya Milk   44   8   Yam   37   13
Beverages       Beetroot (cooked)   64   5
  Coca Cola   63   16   Sweet Corn   54   9
  Orange Fanta   68   23   Sweet Potato   61   17
  Lucozade Original   95   40   Peas   48   3
Sweets and Snacks       Carrot   74   3
  Corn Chips/ Nachos   63   17 Ready Meals and Snacks    
  Potato Crisps   54   11   Margerita Pizza   80   22
  Milk Chocolate   43   12   Spaghetti Bolognaise   52   19
  Mars Bars   65   26   Macaroni   47   23
  Snickers   55   19   Sushi   52   19
  Popcorn   72   8   Crunchy Nut Cornflakes Bar   72   19
  Peanuts   14   1   Kellog's Just Right Bar   72   17
2 replies

Comments are closed.