Article: What is a Glycemic Index?

The glycemic index or glycaemic index (GI)

Sugar can be a dangerous legal drug. If you are diabetic or pre-diabetic or your family has a history of diabetes, you need to take action as soon as possible in order to reverse or prevent this awful and life threatening disease. The first call for action is knowing the glycemic index ( GI ) of food in general and especially of the foods you eat regularly.

So what is a GI? It is a measure of how quickly the food you eat turn into sugar in your blood stream. That means that foods with a high GI value turn into blood sugar very quickly; they create a sugar rush, which spikes your output of insulin rather suddenly. There is usually a ‘crash’ after the ‘rush’. Have you ever noticed the energy spike when you eat something sweet? Do you also remember the sluggishness or fatigue that follows rather quickly afterwards? That happens with foods that have a high glycemic index, or a high glycemic load. The glycemic load measures the amount of carbohydrate in each serving of food, which is also very helpful to know when preparing your meals. What follows now are some statistics. I don’t want this to become boring, but it is too important to know at least the worst culprits that create sugar rushes in your blood.

The highest glycemic index foods come from the starchy carbohydrate group.

The GI of a regular serving of a food should not be much above 30. Most starches, including bread, have a higher GI. It is somewhere around 60, except for corn bread and baked potatoes; they take the lead at over 100. Yes, I am sorry to say, but just one slice of corn bread has a GI of 110 and a glycemic load of almost 31. The only way to lessen the assault of sugar overload in your blood is to immediately do at least 100 jumping jacks, or run like you were chased by a predator for at least 30 minutes. That way, a good amount of sugar would be used up as energy. But you don’t do this, do you? You probably have one or two slices of corn bread even before lunch or dinner, followed by some more simple carbohydrates like potatoes, pasta or rice. You have no idea how damaging this is to your metabolism. Of course most, if not all of it ( unless you actually do the 100 jumping jacks, or run like hell ) will go into storage. Where? In your fat cells around your waist, your buttocks, thighs, arm and unfortunately, around your inner organs. A fatty liver is a dangerous condition, but commonly seen in overweight people.

Did you know that a baked potato has a much higher glycemic index than fried potatoes? That one cup of corn flakes is worse than 3 full teaspoons of sugar? Any product made from corn carries a very high glycemic index and load. The second worst ‘sugar devil’ comes with potato products. If you eat sweet potato instead of white potato, you will do better. It may sound strange, but white potatoes turn into sugar much faster than sweet potatoes. Another interesting food comparison is the soda versus a juice. Of course the juice has a higher nutritional value ( the soda has actually none), but did you know that for example cranberry juice cocktail has a higher GI than a can of coke? But please don’t think it is better to drink coke than cranberry juice cocktail! I only want to show you that we cannt assume to know when we do not know unless we inform ourselves through scientific research. Or course there are lists out there showing the GI and GL of hundreds of food items. It would be good to print one out and highlight the “sugar devils” so you leave them out of your food shopping cart, or at least eat them only very sparingly like after or before a heavy physical workout.

Do not get fooled by low fat diets, because they are mostly high in sugar. The Mediterranean diet is great for people with Type 2 diabetes or pre diabetes. It is not only good to fight high blood sugar, but is beneficial for healthy weight loss and preventative for most age related diseases. It is high in good fats, vegetables, fruits, nuts and whole grains; everything that nourishes your cells. If you are on a mostly Bahamian diet, you need to cut down on the starches! You should also help your body with the metabolism of sugar by taking daily supplements. One of the most beneficial is “Chromium Picolinate”.

There are others that are helpful. But I was quite astonished about the amazing results of a herb combination called: “Ketsumeisei” in blood sugar regulation, the dangerous complications of Type 2 diabetes, and many associated diseases of metabolic disorders and obesity. This herbal compound, Ketsumeisei, seems to affect the entire body by decreasing insulin resistance in a natural way and improving metabolic and microcirculatory disturbances. I am very excited about this herbal compound from the eastern medicine to control and help reverse Type 2 diabetes and its complications.

Prevention is the first call for action. There is nothing as powerful as the effects of food on your body. It enters every cell and either supports life by helping to restore harmony within organ tissue, or it brings disease and ultimately death to your body. You may have heard the motto: “You are what you eat”. Well it is true. Do not be mindless in what you put into your mouth. You can change your clothes if they don’t represent who you are, but you cannot take out the food that you swallowed; it becomes part of you all the way deep down into your cells. How much do you care for your inside? I hope it is 1000 times more than your outside.

If it is not so, you better choose differently right now!