What is Glycemic Index?
The Glycemic Index: A Rational Alternative to Dieting What is the Glycemic Index and Why is it Important?
The Glycemic Index (GI) measures how quickly foods that contain carbohydrates, raise your blood glucose level. The GI is measured by taking a person's blood glucose levels at regular intervals. Foods like cooked white potatoes have a high GI because they raise blood glucose at almost the same rate as eating pure sugar. Foods like raw broccoli have a low GI because it takes a long time for those carbohydrates to increase blood glucose levels.
When we eat high GI foods, our bodies respond by releasing insulin, the hormone that transports glucose to your cells. Here's why this is so important: Our bodies are in fact designed to use glucose as our fuel, when we eat low GI foods, this fuel is absorbed at a gradual pace, allowing our body to burn this fuel as we need it. On the other hand when we eat high GI foods, they are converted to glucose very rapidly, which will often trigger a release of too much insulin into the blood, otherwise known as an insulin reaction. |