Watch your glycemic load

Glycemic or ‘glycaemic’ is a highly searched term on google nowadays so - chances are - you’ve already heard something about the glycemic index. Go back five or ten years and most people wouldn’t have a clue what GI foods were or why they mattered.

So just what is the glycemic index and why should you know about it?

The glycemic index (GI) is a ranking of carbohydrates on a scale from 0 to 100 according to how much they raise blood sugar levels after eating. Foods with a high GI are said to have a high glycemic load and are rapidly digested and absorbed resulting in marked fluctuations in blood sugar levels.

Foods with a low-GI are said to have a low glycemic load. Low GI foods are slowly digested and absorbed, producing a gradual rise in blood sugar and insulin levels. From a health and fitness point of view - low GI is good and high GI is bad.

And it’s not just another food or health fad either - this stuff is backed up by some very serious research.

Studies from Harvard School of Public Health show that the risks of diseases such as type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease are strongly related to the GI of the overall diet. In 1999, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recommended that people in industrialised should base their diets on low GI foods in order to prevent heart disease, diabetes and obesity.

Apart from preventing life threatening diseases - low GI foods can also have an extremely positive impact on your weight. In an Australian study published in July 2006 a low GI diet carbohydrates may be was linked to increased weight loss of five percent or more compared to a diet based on foods with a high GI load.

Low GI foods do this by delaying the release of sugar - or energy - into the bloodstream. So foods with a low glycemic load keep us feeling more satisfied after meals for longer lowering the likelihood of snacking.

Foods that have a high GI value may give you a sudden energy bursts but leave you feeling hungry again after a short period of time. This see-saw pattern of energy release generally leads to weight gain and is also linked to type 2 diabetes in the worst case scenario.

It’s probably the weight loss associated with a low GI diet that has made us all aware of the glycemic index in recent years. There’s been a rush of books and guides many giving lists of the glycemic index of all common foods.

So watching your glycemic load is now much easier than you might think!