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Your GI Guide to Weight Loss
What is GI...?GI stands for glycemic index and was developed in the 1980s by Dr David Jenkins of Tornto University. It measures the rate at which your blood sugar rises over a number of hours after eating a certain food. It is compared to the blood sugar rise caused by a fixed dose in calories of dextrose.A score of 100 is the highest, 0 the lowest. Basically, the higher the number 0-100 the greater the blood sugar rise and the higher the sugar craving. Low GI foods cause a small rise, high GI foods a big rise. A GI over 55 is high, below 55 is low. A list of a selection of foods showing their glycemic values is shown below. However, GL is important too...
What is GL...?A drawback of the glycemic index is that it only tells you how rapidly a carohydrate turns to sugar, not the amount of carbohydrate in the food. You need to know both to really understand the impact of a food on blood sugar.The most frequently quoted example of this is the carrot. The carbs in a carrot have a high GI, they are converted to sugar quickly. But the amount of carbohydrate in a carrot is low so it doesn't have a lot of calories. The term for this is glycemic load or GL. A low GL is below 16. GL is probably more important than GI for weight loss and for health generally. Studies have shown that countries in which people consume a diet rich in foods with high glycemic loads such as the US and the UK are generally fatter and have higher rates of chronic disease, such as heart disease and diabetes. Countries where the diet is rich in fruit and vegetables, which are generally low GL foods have lower rates of obesity and chronic disease. Numerous weight loss studies have confirmed that a low GL diet is more effective in promoting weight loss than a high GL diet. So, what does that mean? Simple, cut down on your sugary and starchy foods and eat more fruit and veg if you want to lose weight and keep it off for the long-term! One more proviso, though. Because the glycemic index measures carbohydrates it ignores fat. So, just because a food has a low GI and GL, such as bacon or sausage, it doesn't mean you can eats lots of it! Some foods that score low for glycemic index and load are packed full of fat and calories. Not a good choice for your healthy weight loss plan! Also, don't try and eat just low GI and GL foods. It's more important to get the balance right so the odd serving of pasta and potatoes is fine if eaten in moderation.
Some examples...The below examples are referenced from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, July 2002Low Calorie (<110 cals a serving), Low GI (<55) and Low GL (<16) 1 cup of most cooked vegetables <20, <5, 40 calories Low Calorie (<110 cals a serving), High GI (>55) and Low GL (<16) 1 cup of pineapple cubes 59, 7, 75 calories Moderate Calorie (110-150 cals per serving), Low GI and Low GL 1 thick slice of wholegrain bread 51, 14, 110 calories Higher Calorie (150-300 cals per serving), Low GI and Low GL 40 grapes 46, 13, 160 calories Low GI and Low GL, but High Fat and High Calorie 1/2 a cup (large handful) of peanuts 14, 1, 330 calories High GI >55 and High GL >16 1 small baked potato 85, 34, 220 calories
To get some simple ideas about how to incorporate low GI and GL foods into you plan, check out our
free weight loss menus.
Alernatively, you could check out the GI Diet at eDiets...Introducing The Glycemic Impact Diet. Lose 10 Pounds in 5 weeks
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