Glycemic Articles

Getting to Know the Glycemic Index Chart

The glycemic index chart can be pretty confusing at times, if you don't know what everything means. While the glycemic index was originally developed to help doctors and patients to plan their diet, if you do not understand the numbers, it will not help you much at all.

Don't think of the glycemic index chart as a big, scary beast. It can be a wonderful thing, and can really help your health, so step back watch and learn.

Numbers:

High, Moderate and Low

The numbers illustrate how your blood sugar will increase. A ranking of 92 will mean that it digests fast in your system, and will your blood sugar will spike.

When looking at the glycemic index chart, there is quite a lot of different numbers that are assigned to the foods listed. They range from 0 to 100 depending on where the food is ranked in the list.

Deciphering the numbers takes some work, but understanding the numbers is simple. With most charts a number of less than 55 means that it would fall into the low category. Between 55-70 is a middle range, and more than 70 is considered high.

The lower the number, the slower you body digests the food you have eaten. This means that it will alter your blood sugar slower making it much healthier for your body (particularly if you're diabetic).

Most of the charts available today won't list foods based on their index number. They are listed in food categories, or food types. Each chart is a slightly different, but they all use the same principles.

Why Some Foods Have A Lower Ranking Than Others

People who look quickly at the glycemic index chart would be confused on many levels. After all, who would believe that a Snickers bar ranks in at 40, but a bagel will put you up to 70.

The main reason this happens is a Snickers bar not only has chocolate, but it has peanuts, which very high in protein. The protein contained in the peanuts slows down the digestion of the rest of the food. This means the food will take longer to digest.

This is the glycemic index loophole. If you eat something high on the index, you should balance this with protein. So put some peanut butter on that toast, and don't feel free to have a tuna sandwich.

This is why you may notice some foods are oddly ranked. If you didn't know better, it would look like it was a listing of random numbers!

How Does This Information Help Us

The glycemic index is being applied by various people, diabetic and people watching their weight. Being able to master the index is a great step towards health and longevity.

It will take you quite some time to really understand how to use the glycemic index chart properly, but you shouldn't hesitate to eat according to it before you master it. After all, you learn from experience!

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