The Glycemic Index In Plain and Simple Terms

This is a good standard to assess the effects of various foods on one’s blood sugar level; not only for diabetic but also those interested in improving their health and well-being.

Foods with a “high GI” like sugar is an example of a high GI food. Your body easily makes the sugar into glucose that it can use, but this sudden spike in blood sugar is like an overdose. Then the body must make a sudden rush of insulin to counter act the overdose and bring it back to a normal healthy range as quickly as possible.

Your body knows this is dangerous to you, but we like the sugar anyhow. We like how it tastes and makes us feel. It gives us a quick boost of energy although later it drops our energy so we soon get hungry again look for more sugar or highly refined carbohydrates to give us another spike of energy.

The GI of the food affects the size of the spike but so does the amount eaten and what it is eaten with. For example: if you had a bite of a candy bar that might not effect most people much but if you ate 4 big candy bars all at once, most people might not feel so good. Now if you ate one candy bar and it had many almonds in it, the protein and the fiber in the almonds would slow down the digestion and the blood sugar would not spike so far or maybe not at all. This 'total affect" is known as the glycemic load.

Whereas “low glycemic foods” don’t do this at all. It takes a bit of getting use to, but once you aren’t eating high GI foods you lose the cravings, your energy will be more consistent and evens out because the glucose is release slowly into the blood in a natural way that your body is designed to work. Then you will feel so much better and your body will tend to lose weight as well.

So, if you want to feel more energy and enjoy better health; slowly switch over to low GI foods.

http://www.ajcn.org/content/76/1/5.full