What is the Gycemic Index of a food and how does it affect us?

The glycemic index is a number between 1 and 100 used to rank carbohydrates on how much they raise blood sugar after being eaten.  If the number is over 55, the food is considered,”high glycemic.”  Foods that are quickly digested and absorbed cause more fluctuations in blood sugar and insulin levels. Low Glycemic foods cause a gradual rise in blood sugar and insulin level promoting a healthy weight by decreasing food cravings. No sudden blood sugar drop means no sudden uncontrollable need for food. Low GI diets reduce overall insulin levels and insulin resistence. This is a real plus for diabetics. Here is a link for more information about Glycemic Index.     Glycemic Index Info

So, what this means to me is that if we adjust our diet by taking out some of the simple sugars like candy, white flour, white rice, white potatoes(mainly the fried ones), and processed foods we could reduce our “glycemic index,” significantly.  And, remember alcohol(darn it!) is a sugar too.

Also what about “hidden sugars,”like dextrose, fructose, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, sorbitol, fruit juice concentrate, mannitol ,galactose, lactose, polydextrose,  maltodextrin. There are just so darn many of them!  Rule of thumb-  if a premade or processed food has more than 3 ingredients(and one is sugar), or less than 4 grams of fiber then we should just walk on by………..


Oh yeah and how about those commercials that try make high fructose corn syrup Ok……not.

More about Hidden Sugars
For a Glycemic Index Table Click Here