People suffering from diabetes probably
know they need to monitor their carbohydrate intake. But different
carbohydrate-containing foods affect the blood sugar levels differently
and these can be quantified by measures known as glycemic index and
glycemic load. While most of us are aware of glycemic index, there is
not much clarity on the glycemic load.
Read ahead to know the
difference between the two and which is a better measure to consider for
keeping your blood sugar levels in control.
Glycemic index
The glycemic index of food
indicates how quickly a carbohydrate gets digested and released as
glucose into the bloodstream, which can be measured by blood sugar and
how rapidly it rises.
The GI index scale is from 0-100 and
cooked and processed food feature on the top of the ladder, while high
fibre foods fall at the bottom.
People suffering from diabetes
are recommended to eat low GI foods. But the limitation of the scale is
that it only measures the effect of the carbohydrate on raising blood
sugar levels and fails to address a standard serving size of
carbohydrates. This makes it an inaccurate measure for the real impact a
food item can have on the blood sugar level.
GI can only assess
whether food has readily available carbohydrates that can be absorbed
quickly. A simple example of this is a carrot which has a GI ranking of
71. As per this number, the vegetable can raise the blood sugar,
however, because it has good water and fibre content, the effect of
carrot on blood sugar is minimal, hence the low glycemic load ranking of
3.
Thus, if we use GI to choose our foods, we can lose out on
many health benefits of various foods. Like carrots have antioxidants,
minerals and potent anti-cancer substances - alpha-carotene.
Glycemic load
Many dietitians and doctors feel that
Glycemic Load (GL) is a better scale to know which food will affect
blood sugar and sugar reducing hormones. Glycemic load is a measure of
the number of carbohydrates in a serving of food, making it a better
predictor of what will happen to the blood sugar level. Foods ranked
less than 10 are considered as foods with low GL. While those with more
than 20 GL are considered foods with high GL.
The limitation
of the ranking system is that if you choose to eat foods with a low GI,
you won't necessarily end up having a nutrient-rich diet.
Which ranking system should you use?
When used together, both ranking
systems represent effective ways to select appropriate foods. More
important is the glycemic response, which measures the magnitude and
duration of the elevation of blood glucose concentration after eating.
But
because all these systems are so technical, it is best to go back to
basics like consider eating food as close to its natural form, eating
good fats, plant-based protein and healthy carbohydrates. If we follow
such a diet, we will naturally fall into the line of low GI and low GL
foods - leading to moderate glycemic response.
So, it's best not to focus on numbers but on eating nutrient-dense foods.
Also,
you can follow the 80/20 rule - where you eat 80 per cent raw
plant-based foods and 20 per cent cooked food. This way you will enhance
the bioavailability of the nutrients you consume. Eating this way also
leads to a reduction in the body inflammation.