In the early 1980's researchers invented a way to help control diabetes. The Glycemic Index (GI). The GI ranks carbohydrate foods by their effect on blood sugar levels. This is a diet strategy for helping control diabetes. The GI assigns carbohydrate-containing foods a number based on how they affect your blood sugar after you eat them. Foods with a GI less than 55 cause a little blip in blood sugar; those 55 to 70 range raise it a little higher; and cars with GI's more than 70 send blood sugar soaring.
What explains the difference in numbers? No matter what form the card initially takes-the lactose in milk, the starch in a bagel, the sucrose in table sugar-your body eventually breaks it down to glucose. Glucose winds up in your bloodstream, fueling your cells. What makes a GI number high or low is how quickly the food breaks down during digestion. The longer your body has to wrestle with the carb to break down into glucose, the slower the rise in blood glucose and the lower the GI.
The problem with eating lots of high-GI foods is this: When your blood sugar soars, so does the hormone insulin. Insulin's main duty is to scoop up excess blood sugar and store it safely in muscle tissue. Insulin is a good thing, in moderation, but it becomes a killer when its levels spike repeatedly, triggering diabetes, heart disease, and possibly cancer. You can use the GI to choose meals and snacks that give you an edge against diabetes.
1. One per meal. Try to choose one-third to one-half of your daily starches from the low GI list. For instance, a bowl of old fashion oatmeal, one-half cup beans or some lentil soup-per meal.
2. Go whole grain. Their high fiber content serves to slow digestion.
3. Rough it up. The least processed and rougher the grain, the lower the GI. Wheat pasta has a low GI, even if it's not whole grain.
4. Bring it down low. Only have time to make instant rice? Just add some beans. Throwing in a low GI food brings down the GI rating of the entire meal. Adding some fat or protein also lowers the GI level.
5. Be savvy about snacks. When you snack, you tend to have just one food. That's fine if you're having a low-cal snack, whether the GI is high or not, but if you are having a high GI bagel or doughnut with hundreds of calories, the glucose won't get blunted by other foods. So avoid starchy, high GI foods as snacks.
6. Load up on fruits, veggies and legumes. Most have a low GI, and you would have to eat pounds of the ones that don't to affect blood sugar.
