Health Bites : Eating Right      

                                  Glycemic Index

Posted on 2nd September, 2009/comments                                                         

Health Bites :Eating Right 

                      Gear-up your Glycemic Index

"Studies from Harvard school of Public Health indicates that risks of  diabetes and coronary heart diseases are strongly related to Glycemic Index of the overall diet."

Glycemic Index (GI) is a measure of the effect individual foods have on blood sugar level. It is an index to rank carbohydrates (present in food) on a scale from 0 to 100 according to which they raise blood sugar level after eating.

According to this scale sugars don't make your blood glucose rise any more rapidly than some complex carbohydrates do. Compare the GI of  certain food categories :

                          Glycemic Index

Glucose                       100

Fructose(fruit sugar)    20

Honey                         75

Table sugar                 65

Nuts                           13

Soya beans                 18 

High GI food : are those food which get absorbed very fast thus bringing a sharp rise in the blood sugar level. Food prepared using refined flour or maida , white rice and all the junk fried food fall under this category.

Low GI food : below 55 on the glycemic index get absorbed slowly and bring moderate and slow changes in blood sugar level. Food prepared using whole-grains, legumes, milk, yogurt(curd) fall in this category.

A few exceptions :

1.Though raw vegetables are low on GI and are loaded with fibres, cooking changes the quality (breaks down the cell walls) of the fibres. Thus making it easily available for absorption and raising their  GI.

2.Similarly fats have low GI, but that doesn't help either as eating excess of fats is not always healthy. Olive oil and flax seed oil are a better choice.

A Prudent diet : Make use of Glycemic Index in planning your daily meal for long term health benefits. Incorporate food which have low GI and produce small fluctuation in blood sugar and insulin level.

A few worthwhile options are : 

• Switch to whole-grains and avoid refined flour or maida.
• Brown rice and basmati rice with low GI are better option than white rice.
• Soyabean with 18 GI tops the list. Mix soya flour with whole wheat flour to make bread, chapattis or any baked dishes. Since idlies (steamed rice cake) are high in GI add soya flour to reduce the glycemic number. 
• Use lot of legumes(beans, lentils), barley and bran in daily diet.
• Make oatmeal with nuts a regular on the breakfast table.
• To maintain a low to moderate GI, concentrate on fibre rich food as they take longer to digest and slower to release sugar in blood. Raw vegetables and fruits are great option.

Time to gear-up your glycemic index to prepare healthy food and stay fit. 

Happy healthy cooking ! 

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