Question

Describe the use of glycemic index utilizing examples of foods with both high glycemic index and low glycemic index.

Answer 1

Glycaemic index (GI) is a scale which is used to rank the carbohydrate consisting food. The basis of this scale is the effect of these food on blood sugar level over a period of time.

The food that increases the blood sugar level more has higher glycaemic index as compared to the food that increases blood sugar level less.

The examples include,

• Higher GI: The food that has the index of 70 and more. Some examples include potatoes, white bread and short-grain rice.
• Medium GI: The food that has the index ranging from 55 to 70. Some examples include honey, basmati rice and orange juice.
• Lower GI: The food that has the index that is less than 55. Some examples include milk, pasta, lentils, beans and soy products.

There are various factors that affect the GI of a food,

• Ripeness and storage time: more the ripeness, higher the GI.
• Method opted for cooking: More cooked the food, higher the GI.
• Variety of the food: Short grain white rice has higher GI than brown rice.
• Processing: more the processed the food is, higher the GI.

The amount of carbohydrate one consume affects the blood glucose level. It can be described by the glycaemic index. But it is not important to always choose the low GI foods. The nutrients intake should always be fulfilled first. Hence, the high GI foods such as fruit intake should not be compromised.

Also glycaemic load should always be considered. It is not a good practice to consume small serves of the high GI foods if you are diabetic because according to the GL concept, small serves high GI foods also have equal amount of capacity to increase the blood sugar level.

GI is a concept to make healthy food choices, such as picking up oats over cornflakes.