The glycemic index of foods is important to regard as a constituent element, but the main one for choosing food for people with unstable blood sugar levels. Almost every product contains carbohydrates, which are necessary to saturate the body with energy. They are easily digestible and difficult to digest. And the glycemic index of food indicates the rate of breakdown of carbohydrate compounds by the human body, increasing its blood sugar level. The indicator is abbreviated as GI.
What is the glycemic index of food: scale and units of measurement
This parameter is abbreviated GI and is calculated in units on a scale of 100 points. Zero is no carbohydrate at all, 100 points are rich in carbohydrates, numbers from 1 to 99 indicate strong or weak saturation, depending on whether the product is closer to zero or a hundred on a scale. Foods with a high glycemic index contain fast-digesting carbohydrates, which, when ingested, are broken down within 2 hours. Energy passes quickly to the body, food is digested within an hour.
Ifthe product index is high, which means there are a lot of carbohydrates there too. Fiber is necessarily present in the composition - it slowly breaks down and gives energy to the body for a long time. A typical menu of products with a GI of products above 60 units is digested within 8-10 hours.
Frequent consumption of such food leads to the following consequences:
- Metabolism is disturbed.
- A negative effect on the blood structure is formed.
- Blood sugar rises.
- Overweight appears.
Also, a person may notice that the feeling of hunger appears more often than in the case of consuming low GI foods. It's all about the peculiarities of the "behavior" of complex and simple carbohydrates.
What is the difference between a complex carbohydrate and a simple one?
Fast, or simple carbohydrate digested at a high speed, increases sugar levels, leads to excess weight and metabolic disorders. For example, a light breakfast sandwich will give you a quick boost of energy. Carbohydrates fulfill their purpose, a person becomes physically active, but after an hour he feels hungry again, although the remains of carbohydrates can still be processed without giving the necessary level of “charge to recharge” the body. After the next meal, undigested carbohydrates accumulate, which leads to excess weight.
Complex carbohydrates contain saccharides and hundreds of additional elements that are useful and necessary for a person for long-term mental and physical work. They are digested in the stomachslowly, gradually and evenly filling the body with energy. The main advantage of such products is the systematic appearance of hunger, which gradually increases without preventing a person from concentrating on work. Mental activity does not decrease during the day, and children do get a boost of energy for the whole day.
Frequently consumed foods by humans - what is their index?
Long-term satiety is a feature of complex carbohydrates, and below is a table of values: sugar content in total carbohydrates and its percentage, as a manifestation of a high glycemic index of foods.
| Product | Total carbs per 100g | Sugar content, % of total carbohydrates |
| Sugar | 100g | 100 |
| Honey | 100g | 100 |
| Rice (raw) | 78-89 g | <1 |
| Pasta (raw) | 72-98g | 2-3 |
| Buckwheat and other cereals | 68-70g | 0 |
| Bread | 40-50g | 12 |
| Sweet pastries | 45-55g | 25 |
| Ice cream | 23-28 | 92-95 |
| Fruit juices and nectars | 15-20g | 100 |
| Cola and other carbonated sweet drinks | 15g | 100 |
Thus, it can be noted that cereals and bakery products, consumed daily, can be the main components of a good diet. Sweet foods, such as sodas, juices and ice cream, are best avoided from the daily diet, minimizing their consumption.
Why are fast carbs dangerous?
Fast carbohydrates, due to the content of glucose, fructose, sucrose and lactose, when they enter the gastrointestinal tract (gastrointestinal tract), are transformed almost immediately into sugar, entering the bloodstream. An increase in sugar levels negatively affects the circulatory system, and the body, to eliminate the danger, tries to neutralize it by producing insulin in large quantities. The simplest and safest way is to convert carbohydrates into fats. The sugar level begins to fluctuate, and the person experiences hunger. Wanting to refresh himself with something sweet, he snacks, and does not eat fully. A vicious circle arises - a person gains weight, but cannot refuse sweets, as he becomes insulin dependent.
It can also cause type 2 diabetes, an acquired form of the disease due to the consumption of foods with a glycemic index higher thanallowable for a person. You should try to exclude:
- Jams, preserves, honey.
- Marmalade, sweets.
- Sugar, soda, juices.
- Pastries and white flour bread.
- Sweet fruits - most of them.
- White Rice
You should also include exercises or half-hour sports in your daily routine. This will help you quickly get rid of simple carbohydrates that have not had time to "settle" in the tissues in the form of fat reserves.
Why do we need fast carbohydrates - maybe they are good?
Fast carbohydrates are saturated with glucose, which is given in excess. Unspent energy is stored in the form of fats. Some people still need these products to gain weight, due to which they can gain a little mass. High GI provides:
- Energy expenditure of the body throughout the day - necessary for coaches, athletes who spend hours in the halls.
- Glycogen replenishment is the main source of muscle growth. Also needed by some athletes in their sports.
- Accumulation of a reserve for building mass - wrestlers whose sport is associated with high body mass may be interested in this.
Immediately after a workout, such products will benefit - muscle mass builds up, strength increases in them, tissues become more elastic. Other than that, no extra sugar is needed. It provokes excessive production of insulin, which subsequently may not be produced at all, and you will have to take insulin in the form of medicines.
What are complex carbohydrates?
Complex carbohydrate is distinguished by the presence of starch - the main source of energy for a long period of time. Starch is a carbohydrate of vegetable origin, which is already considered less dangerous than animal fats. Glycogen, as the main source of muscle life, is indispensable, so it must be enough in the body. Cellulose is a dietary fiber that is both useful and important in the digestive system. Breaking down a set of simple carbohydrates (a complex type of carbohydrate) takes not only time but also energy. Sometimes it is withdrawn from the reserves that a person has - adipose tissue. Fiber consists of many compounds and is only partially broken down in the stomach, and the rest is used to process food into human waste products.
If you need to calculate the glycemic index of products for weight loss, then you need to know: it must be kept within 25 units. Complex carbohydrates of such a GI include:
- Whole grain cereals.
- Durum wheat pasta.
- Green vegetables.
- Brown rice.
- Beans and other legumes.
The simpler the composition, the lower the index, which indicates that the product belongs to the type of complex carbohydrate. Once in the blood, it saturates the cells evenly and for a long time, which prevents the level from “jumping” and causing severe hunger.
Comparative product data
As an example, the same in name, sometimes in appearance, product, which belong to a complex or fast type of carbohydrates.
| Good example– complex carbohydrate | A bad example is a fast (simple) carb |
| Brown rice | White polished rice |
| Fresh seasonal fruit | Exotic fruits |
| Whole grain toast | White bread with jam |
| Buckwheat porridge (groats) | Mashed potatoes |
| Oatmeal porridge (full cooking type, not steaming) | Corn flakes in the form of a quick breakfast (storage cereal) |
No matter how much you would not like to buy something "dietary" in the store, you should take into account the fact of production of products and raw materials that are not extracted from plants. There, of course, stabilizers and other E-components are added. Therefore, if you need to lose weight, you need to roughly calculate the glycemic index of weight loss products for each meal. And this should be done regularly.
Tips for diabetics
Since insulin depends on blood sugar levels, the GI indicator is correlated with sugar content data. Therefore, every diabetic should know how to determine the exact glycemic and insulin index of foods. The method of preparation of the product, the combination with other food, the processing temperature and not only is considered important. To understand the relationship between the two parameters, you need to highlight the rule -the glycemic index indicates the rate at which sugar enters the blood, and the insulin index indicates the rate at which that degree of sugar is absorbed. The full glycemic index of foods compared to the insulin index (AI) is shown below:
| High indices of both indicators (units) | Same AI and GI (units) | Low AI and high GI (units) |
| Yogurts – 93-95 | Bananas - 80 each | Eggs – 35 |
| Cottage cheese – 130/45 | Candies - 75 each | Muesli – 46 |
| Ice cream – 88/73 | White bread – 105 each | Pasta – 45 |
| Cupcakes – 89/63 | Oatmeal - 78 each | Cookie – 89 |
| Beans – 150/120 | Flour products - 96 each | Rice – 68 |
| Grapes – 85/79 | Hard cheeses – 50 | |
| Fish – 62/30 |
The last column shows the values of the insulin index. At the same time, products with high AI and low GI are acquired “new” components that were formed after several heat treatments. They also include alcoholic beverages. A complete list of foods with a glycemic index can be found in medicalarticles on this topic, it is quite difficult to find it in AI.
Insulinemic response of dairy products
Dairy products should be singled out separately, since they are the results of the processing of animal raw materials. However, the same AI of cottage cheese is 120 units, and its GI is only 30 units. Therefore, glycemic indexes of products for diabetics are not as important as insulin parameters. Dairy products do not allow the body to burn fat, because lipase, a powerful fat burner, is blocked. Insulin is produced, although blood sugar does not rise. Fats are deposited because the gland reacts to the dairy product as an excess of fatty components. In this regard, the insulin surge causes the hormonal system to change slightly.
How to combine products for diabetics?
In order for diabetics to eat cottage cheese, it must be combined with complex carbohydrates - splitting will occur slowly, but fats will not be deposited. An ideal such breakfast would be oatmeal in milk or water with the addition of granulated 5% cottage cheese. When low-fat foods are combined with those that have low GI levels, the combined food will end up with a high glycemic index. For example, low-fat cottage cheese and porridge will give a burst of GI, although in the previous example, regular fat milk was used.
Research scientists
Studies from Harvard University found that dairyproducts always cause insulin production, so people with type 2 diabetes should carefully choose products to combine with raw milk. Milk protein, surprisingly, does not cause an insulin response. An exception is whey, which is added in the manufacture of dry infant formula. Diabetics will especially benefit from these low AI and GI foods.
Whey protein in a diabetic caused an insulin response in the form of a 55% release of the hormone, and the glucose response dropped to 18%. The subjects were offered bread with milk, and after eating the food, the AI increased to 67%, and the GI remained the same, which did not cause a jump in blood sugar. Pasta with milk gives out 300% of the hormone release, and sugar will not change. As a result, it was concluded that the body reacts differently to milk and products containing it.
GI for dairy products
It is worth considering that the glycemic index of dairy products is very diverse. You can see this if you take a closer look at the table shown in the photo below.
Important! Sometimes the fat content of a dairy product affects the GI and AI, so pay special attention to the percentage of fat.
Dairy: glycemic index and calories
Fat content also determines the calorie content of the product, this is especially important for dairy products. They depend on GI and AI. So, for example, some types of cheese can be absorbed up to 98.9% without raising the sugar level by a single gram:
- Suluguni.
- Cheese.
- Adyghe.
- Mozzarella.
- Ricotta.
- Hard cheese.
Processed cheeses, tofu and feta cheese are high in fat and GI. Much depends on the type of processing, additives and method of preparation.
